672' 



^s fnopit^AL Amicvtf\jm$% t^pmt t, i 



app'ied is more to be relied upon than K^.rner's am- 

 mo ia te>t, t-ven wheu a boiling teuiperaiure is 

 appliO I in making the sol a do i, because the maui- 

 pulation IS more simple, an^l the c nchoiudiue can 

 be actually weighed instead of being estimated from 

 the quantity ot ammonia solution required to dis- 

 aolvo it. There are alt^o possible sourct-s of error in 

 the ammonia test which do not apply in the other 

 case. Perhaps the best testimony to the excellence 

 of the mo lifted ether test is, however, to be fount 

 in the circumstance that very shortly after the read- 

 ing of my paper hfire it was adopted and specially 

 recommended by so high an authority on this sub- 

 ject as Dr. He<se, who published witri that o 'ject a 

 paper in the Archiv dcr Phannaa^' describing a mode 

 of applying this tfst which has been commonly re- 

 ferred to since as Dr. Ht-f^se's test. 



But to return to the test of the British Pharm- 

 acopo^i. So far as concerns the details hithero men- 

 tioued the principles to be obs-^rv-^d are correctly 

 applied ; but I think it is unfortunate that th^ 

 addition of acid kIiouM have been directed in making 

 the solution, for except in so far as perfect neutral- 

 ization is concerntd, every drop of acid addel pro- 

 portionately inv<ilidates the result by intr )ducing in- 

 to the mother liquur so much the more q linioe, and 

 thus, for the ret^on already mentioned, reducing the 

 delicacy of the test for cinchonidine. Aoothpr objec= 

 tionable feature of this test is the treatment of such 

 a large volume of liquid with ether and ammonia. 

 Five ounces of the solution will dissolve at least half 

 an ounce of ether before there is any separation of 

 ether to dissolve the alkaloid, and in th»t way a liquid 

 will be produced which is itself a solvent of cinchon- 

 idine to such an extent as to inteifere with the in- 

 dications of its presence. The proper mode of operat- 

 ing would be to evaporate the mother liquor of the 

 crystallization to a small bulk before treating it with 

 ether and ammonia, and then the result of the test 

 would be much more distinct and accurate. 

 2. Determination of Caffeine. 



The method adopted for th's purpose, and described 

 in the Pharmaceutical Journal a few weeks ago, by 

 myself and Mr. Cownley, has since then been 

 applied to the examination of a number of different 

 samples of coffee from various sources, and we have 

 found that in accordance with the view we then 

 suggested as being probable, the amount of caffeine 

 in coffee berries is n tolerably constant quantity. 

 For the samples examined, we are indebted to the 

 kindness of Messrs. Patry and Pasteur, who very 

 obligingly provided us with material representing the 

 produce of different countries where coffee is grown 

 npon the large scale. In these further analyses, for 

 carrying out u'hich I am indebted to Mr. Cownley, 

 the coffee berries have first been dried at 212 ' F. , 

 since it was found very difficult to reduce them to 

 powder when in the air-drie I condition. The fixtures 

 in the following table, therefore, apply to the dried 

 raw berries, and the results previously published, 

 have been corrected so as to allow for the amount of 

 moisture in the berries. 



Caffeine. 

 Berries dried Air dried 

 Kinds of Moisture at 212^ F. berries, 

 coffee. per cent. per cent. per cent. 



Coorg 80 1-20 l-IO 



Guatemala ... S'6 1'29 118 



Tr.ivancore ... lO'O 1-29 116 



Liberian 80 1'30 1-20 



Siberian S'O 1-39 1-28 



Kio 9-1 r20 — 



Santos Brazil. 90 1"29 — 



Maila &'Q 1*20 — 



Ceylon 6-2 1-24 -^ 



Perak 7-3 1'22 — 



Costa Eica ... 7^2 1'24 — 



Pale Jamaica.. 8-7 1'21 — 



Mysore S'O 1'28 — 



Jamaica 9"0 1-38 — 



It is evident from the results cjuoted in this table 

 tiMt tb9 ducsTda&t ^tatemeote bitbecto publisbed ia 



reference to the amount of caffeine in coffee must be 

 ascribe! to defective methods of analysis, and thnt, in 

 reality, the determination of the amount of caffeine 

 in a sample of coffee by the method we have des- 

 cribed would be one of the most concluB'vo data to 

 rely upon in any question as to the adulteration of 

 coffee. 



3. Cocaine Hydkochlorate. 

 In a recent number of 'Ephemeris,' Dr. Squibb 

 has put forward a statem-nt in reference to the con- 

 dition in which this salt sbouid be emploj ed in med- 

 icine and pharmacy, that may be cons(Ueied rather 

 remarkable as coming from him. He proposes that 

 the cocaine as extracted from the coca leaves should 

 be converted into hydrochlonte, and that this salt 

 should be reduced to a dry state by evaporating the 

 solution wi'h constint stirring until a granular crys- 

 talline mass remains. Such a product would probably 

 always contain a certain proportiori of uncrystallizible 

 material, which D.-. quibb thinks is physiologically 

 equal to the crystdlizable portion, and he recommends 

 that the whole should be mixed together for use in 

 medic'ue, because the shparation of the uncrystalliz. 

 able portion would entail coisi lerable loss. Having 

 lately had occasion to operate up )n a large qumtity 

 of crude cocaine, as it is now imported from South 

 America, ray experience of this article has led me to 

 ilisagree with the opinion expressed by Dr. Squibb, 

 as to the propriety of allowing uncrystallizable hydro- 

 chlorate to be mixed with the crystallizable salt, i 

 find that there is no diffijulty in obtaining the salt 

 in a finely crystalline condition, quite colourless and 

 quite free from odour. It is, indeed, produced in this 

 condition by several minufacturers, and for many of 

 the purposes to which it is applied this appears to 

 be the only suitable form of the salt. — Fharamaceuti' 

 cal Journal. 



DISCUSSION. 



Coffee Husks and Oatha Edclis. 



Mr. Allen said he had been entrusted by Mr. Red- 

 house with two specimens. That gentleman had for 

 many years resided in Turkey and other parts of the 

 Eist, and he had continually evinced his desire to im- 

 prove their knowledge of eastern Materia Medica. A 

 short time ago Mr. Redhonse wrote to his friend the 

 Consul at Jedda, with regard to coffee and another 

 matter, and in reply ho had received a letter from the 

 Consul in which occurred the following passage : — 



" I send you by this mail per sample post, a ba^ con- 

 taining a small quantity of the dried ' gisher ' or shell of 

 the coffee berry, so largely consumed both here and in the 

 Yemen for coft'ee. Also, by same means, a quantity of 

 the dried • quat ' so much chewed in the Yemen. This 

 last has been forwariled to me by our Vice-Consul at 

 Hodeidah, who saysr — 'In Yemen they always chew 

 gat green and fresh, but wheoecer they proceed to 

 the Hedjaz for Haj, or go to some other place where 

 gat is not obtainable, they do not fail to provide 

 themselves with a quantity of the gat herb previously 

 dried. The Arabs of the Yemen never make nor have 

 made a decoction from gat to drink.'" 



So far as ha (Mr. Allen) could find there was no record 

 of the coffee husks being used as a beverage. It was a 

 singular thing that the Arabs should discard the seeds 

 altogether, and use only the husk for drink. There was 

 no aroma in the husks. He found that the " kat " had 

 been described in an interesting piper by Mr. Hanbnry, 

 in the Pharmaceutical Journal, [I], sii., p. 209, The 

 •'kat" was r-ally the Cathaedulls. The top shoots weifi 

 probably cut oft' in a fresh state and brought to the mar- 

 ket. They were very eagerly bought by the natives, both 

 rich and poor. The men went into the bazaars or 

 exchanges, and drank water and energetically chewed 

 the herb, an 1 thus got into a pleasant state of exhilar- 

 ation. It would be interesting to ascertain whether these 

 leaves contained an alkaloid or glucoside. In most text- 

 books it was stated that the Catha cdnlin was used for 

 making a driuking decoction as well as for chewing, but 

 in the" consul's letter it w.is distinctly stated that thft 

 Arabs do not make decoction from it. He had found 



in tbe tssHool^ti meatjiou nads oi a, coQa^ wbicb ms 



