192 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



druggist the necessity of exerting his in- 

 fluence in the direction of having this 

 law enforced. We ask you to personally 

 present this subject in all its bearings on 

 pharmacy to the attention of your Con- 

 gressional Representatives. The Com- 

 mittee requests the attention of pharma- 

 ceutical journals and pharmaceutical 

 associations to this, the most important 

 question afiecting pharmacists that has 

 arisen in years. We solicit your earn- 

 est co-operation. Get every pharmacist 

 thoroughly aroused to its importance, 

 and urge upon him the necessity of con- 

 certed action toward ."securing the neces- 

 sary legislation to make the law opera- 

 tive. 



The Committee requests that every 

 druggist promptly send answers to the 

 following : (Address your replies to the 

 "Committee on Alcohol Legislation," 

 Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, 145 

 North Tenth Street, Philadelphia, Pa.) 



(i) What classes of pharmaceutical 

 preparations do you now prepare ? 



(2) With tax-free alcohol what others 

 would you prepare ? 



(3) How much alcohol do you estimate 

 that you have u.sed in the manufacture 

 of pharmaceutical preparations only dur- 

 ing the year 1893? 



(4) What suggestions do you offer as 

 to the character of the regulations that 

 should be prescribed by the Treasury 

 Department to prevent fraud ? 



Yours respectfully, 



George M. Beringer, 



Chairman, 



William McIntyre, 

 Robert England, 

 Rush P. Marshall, 

 Joseph W. England, 



Secretary. 



Committee on Alcohol Legislation. 

 Philadelphia, November i, 1894. 



Different Deportment of A tropiti and Strych- 

 nin in VitalVs Reaction. — If strychnia is- 

 moistened with nitric acid, evaporated to dry- 

 ness, and then the dry, cold residue is treat- 

 ed with alcoholic solution of potassium hy- 

 drate, a red to violet color results. This reac- 

 tion can readily be mistaken for that of 

 Atropin (Vitali's reaction). 



Vitali calls attention to the following diflFer- 

 ences: 



1st. After the oxydatiou of the alkaloid, and 

 all of the nitric acid has been driven ofiF, atro- 

 pin emits a fragrant odor, while the strychnia 

 residue remains odorless. 



2d. Strychnia on being moistened with ni- 

 tric acid turns a yellow color, this remains even 

 after drying, while atropin under the same con- 

 ditions retains its white color. 



3d. If the dry, cold residue remaining after 

 evaporating off the nitric acid from the atropin^ 

 is moistened with alcoholic potash a violet color 

 results. If this residue is again evaporated to 

 dryness and then moistened with alcoholic pot- 

 ash a second time the violet color is intensified- 

 In the case of strychnia the violet color pro- 

 duced by the action of alcoholic potash, dis- 

 appears on drying to a reddish yellow color. 



4th. On evaporating atropin to dryness with 

 nitric acid and then moistening the resid ue 

 with aqua ammonia, a yellow colored solution 

 results, this on addition of alcoholic potash, 

 turns a violet color. The same experiment 

 repeated with strychnia gives on addition of 

 aqua ammonia an orange-red color, while the 

 subsequent addition of the alcoholic potash 

 produces only a transient violet, which quickly 

 passes into a blood-red colored solution. If 

 the above ammoniacal solution of the oxidized, 

 alkaloidal residue be shaken with chloroform 

 and the chloroformic solution evaporated to 

 dryness, in the instance of atropin an almost 

 colorless residue results, which upon additioa 

 of alcoholic potash gives rise to a permanent 

 violet color. Strychnia under the same cir- 

 cumstances, imparts to chloroform ooly a faint 

 yellow color, this solution on evaporation leaves, 

 a yellowish colored residue which on moisten- 

 ing with alcoholic potash gives rise to a bright 

 orange red coloration. — Bull. Chim. Farm.^ 

 1894--33-449- 



V. C. 



Bulgarian Rose Oil. — The total output from 

 Bulgaria will be about 2200 kilos, which exceeds 

 that of last year by 10 to 15 per cent. Those 

 contemplating purchasing large quantities of 

 otto, will do best by awaiting further develop- 

 ments, as prices may recede. — SchinimeP s Re- 

 port (Oct), 1894. 



