80 CINCHONA BARKS. 
boiling point, or also by means of alcohol. In the latter case the 
alcohol is distilled off,* the residue taken up bya dilute acid, and 
the alkaloids precipitated from the solution by means of caustic 
soda. From the solutions of the alkaloids in the hydrocarbons the 
bases may be still more conveniently taken up by dilute acids, and 
precipitated therefrom by caustic soda. If the washed precipitates 
are dissolved, by the aid of heat, in dilute sulphuric acid, avoiding 
an excess of the latter, there separates, upon cooling, neutral and 
quite pure sulphate of quinine, while the sulphates of the other 
alkaloids, in consequence of their much greater solubility, remain 
for the most part in the mother liquid. The purification of the 
sulphate of quinine is effected by recrystallization. 
In India, Broughton (1870), in consequence of an impulse given 
by Markham, has taken into consideration the separation of the 
alkaloids in the cheapest manner. According to the suggestion of 
De Vrij (1872), which has been carried out since 1873 by Wood, 
the bark is extracted with water, to which some hydrochloric acid 
has been added, and the bases precipitated by means of caustic 
soda. The precipitate, after being washed, is dissolved in dilute 
sulphuric acid, again precipitated by caustic soda, and subsequently 
washed and dried. In 1876 the average percentage composition 
of such a “ Febrifuge,’* which had been prepared by Wood, in 
Sikkim, from the bark of Cinchona succirubra, was found to be as 
follows: Cinchonine, 33.5; cinchonidine, 209.0; amorphous alka- 
loids, 17.0; quinine, 15.5; and coloring matter, 5.0. It is now 
purified to such an extent as to form a white crystalline powder. 
In 1877 it was calculated by the English Government that the 
‘‘Febrifuge,” with consideration of all expenses, could be placed at 
but little more than 60 marks (about fifteen dollars) per kilogram. 
It should accordingly be presumed that great significance would 
be attributed to this cheap remedy for India; it appears, however, 
at least in Madras, to enjoy no favor. 
? Hereby cinchonine crystallizes out, when it is present in abundant amount. 
? Also designated by De Vrij as “ Quinetum.” Compare Jakresbericht der Pharm., 
1876, p. 142, and 1878, p. 111, as also the Blue Books, 1870-1875, fol. 126. ‘“ Febrifuge’’ 
is now being made at Mungpoo, British Sikkim ; 6196 pounds of it were used in 1881, 
in the Government hospitals and dispensaries in India. 
