THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



253 



guarantee that it will be of a constant quality 

 and free from accidental impurities. Leaves 

 and branches from the parent tree which have 

 been shipped to Europe with consignments of 

 the gum show the kino to be derived from 

 PlerocarpHS erUiaceus, Lam., a tree of which 

 the existence in British East Central Africa was 

 not hitherto known, but which Sir William 

 Hooper identified early in the century as the 

 parent plant of Mungo Park's " kano." 



The African kino occurs in garnet-coloured 

 angular fragments rather larger and less dark 

 in colour than those from Pterocarpus mar- 

 supiuni. The drug dissolves in cold water to 

 the extent of about 75 per cent., yielding a pale 

 red solution. It is almost completely soluble 

 in rectified spirit of wine, and was found to 

 possess a tannin value of 52 per cent, when 

 tested by Lowenthal's method. In all these 

 respects it agrees with genuine Malabar kino, 

 now almost unobtainable. 



Should it prove possible to secure an adequate 

 supply of it, the African kino, or " kano," as 

 its commercial introducers propose again to call 

 it, may prove a boon both from a therapeutic 

 and a commercial point of view. Lancet 3806, 

 p. 400. 



SCOPOLAMINE AND ATROSCINE. 



By O. HESSE. 

 {Abstract.) 

 The alkaloid extracted from the root of 

 Scopolia atropoides together with hyoscyamine 

 has been termed scopolamine, although it was 

 subsequently shown to be identical with hyos- 

 cine. The two names are, however, used to de- 

 note the origin of the alkaloid, the former be- 

 ing employed when it is obtained from the root 

 of scopola, whilst it is termed hyoscine when 

 prepared from hyoscyamus. Scopolamine is 

 said to have more active physiological proper, 

 ties than hyoscine, and investigation has shown 

 that commercial scopolamine hydrobromide 

 contains together with hyoscine hydrobromide, 

 the hydrobromide of a new alkaloid which the 

 author terms atroscine, and identified by its 

 lower rotatory coefficient. The alkaloid, which 

 has the composition CjvHjiNO^, gives a crys- 

 talline hydrate containing 2H0O, melting at 

 37°C. By the action of potash the alkaloid is 

 decomposed into oscine and atropic acid. The 

 substance is a strong base and gives character- 

 istic salts, the solutions of which do not rotate 

 polarized light. Attempts to convert hyoscine 

 into atroscine were not successful. With re- 

 gard to the determination of atroscine in hyos- 



cine or scopolamine hydrobromide which de- 

 pends upon the rotation of the plane of polari- 

 zation, the following details are given : 



Hyoscine hydrobromide, crystallizing with 

 3H2O, gives, in an aqueous solution at ^=15° 

 and/)r=4, [a]„=— 22°.5. In 25 c c. of solution 

 this concentration is obtained by dissolving i 

 grm. ofthe crystaUized, or 0877 grm. of the 

 anhydrous salt. Under these conditions, if the 

 rotation be a and the scopolamine only contains 

 hyoscine and atroscine, then the percentage of 

 true hyoscine hydrobromide in hyoscine or 



scopolamine hydrobromide is 



looa 

 22.5 



or 



looa 

 25-7 



crys- 

 it is 



if the anhydrous salt be used. 



Since a determination of the water of 

 tallization must always precede that of a, 

 preferable to employ the anhydrous salt. Based 

 on this method the author gives some numbers 

 which he has obtained: 



The values can be easily converted into those 

 for the crystallized salt, since both atroscine 

 and hyoscine hydrobromide contain 3H2O. 

 With regard to its physiological properties, 

 atroscine appears to act similarly to atropine 

 and scopolamine so far as its action on the 

 pupil is concerned, but is from two to four 

 times more powerful in affecting the accom- 

 modation. In cases of iritis, too, the new 

 alkaloid acts more powerfully. For the oculist, 

 therefore, it is of importance to have a hyoscine 

 hydrobromide with a low rotation, and the 

 author, in conclusion, points out that the term 

 scopolamine is superfluous, and should be no 

 longer used. — Ber, 2g. 



]V[iscellapeoas Notes, 



The composition of human fat. 

 C. A. Mitchell reports in the Analyst the re- 

 sults of an analysis of human fat, according to 

 which it consists of about 70 per cent, of liquid 

 acids, principally oleic acid, 30 per cent, of solid 

 acids, probably palmitic, with small amounts of 

 stearic and myristic acids, and traces of lower 

 volatile acids. 



FORMAWN AS A DISINFECTANT. 



Two methods are employed for the destruc- 

 tion of bacteria in rooms : i. The spray method 



