622 SCIENTIFIC RECOliD FOR 1884. 



exiiLuiuations. About forty alkaloids of autbeutic origin and great 

 l)urity have been examined ; these may be divided into two groups, as 

 follows : 



(1) Alkaloids and derivatives exhibiting Ahsorptionhands in their Spec- 

 tra. — Aconitiue, pseudOaconitine, japaconitine, raorpliiue, narcotiue, 

 codeine, tliebaiue, papaverine, oxynarcotine, apomorphine hydrochlo- 

 ride, cotarniue hydrobromide, tetracetyl morphine, diacetyl codeine, 

 quinine, quinine sulphate, cinchonine sulphate, quinidine sulphate, 

 ciuchouidine sulphate, veratriue, piijerine, brucine, strychnine. 



(2) Alkaloids yielding continuous Spectra. — Narceine, aconitine (foreign), 

 cevadine, atropine, solanine, hyoscyamiue, digitaline, picrotoxiue, nico 

 tine, caffeine. 



Solutions were carefully made of the same strength in most cases, 

 usually in alcohol. Cells, with quartz sides, varied in thickness from 

 l""" to 20""". . By using electrodes consisting of alloys of tin and cad- 

 mium or of lead and cadmium (20 per cent.), well-defined spectra are ob- 

 tained, with lines of the same intensity, numerous and evenly distrib- 

 uted throughout a spectrum extending from wave length 4414.5 to2145.S. 

 The spectra were photographed and the photographic impressions were 

 measured by an ivoij^ scale divided in hundredths of an inch. The ab 

 sorption curves cannot be here reproduced. The conclusions drawn from 

 the investigation are in part as follows : The absorption spectra offer a 

 ready and valuable means of ascertaining the purity of preparations of 

 the alkaloids, and practically of establishing their identity. The quan- 

 tity of some of the alkaloids present in a solution may be estimated by 

 means of the absorption curves. The different character of the various 

 aconitines, so called, may be recognized ; thus, the comparatively harm- 

 less base may be distinguished from those of great physiological ac- 

 tivity by its transmission of a continuous spectrum, while the three 

 specimens of physiologically active aconitines are distinguislied from one 

 another by chaiacteristic absorption curves. The i)urity of quinine and 

 absence of any admixture of cinchonine caii be readily determined; 

 drugs of such potency as aconitine, morphine, strychnine, &c., which 

 ought to be prescribed only when of absolute i)urity, should have their 

 exact nature and degree of purity guaranteed by an examination of 

 their absorption spectra. {Chem. ]!^ews, l, 287.) 



Cocaine Hydrochloride, a neiv Anccsthetic. — The wonderful anaesthetic 

 l)roperties of this substance, discovered by Dr. Koller, of Vienna, have 

 given it an interest entirely new. 



The leaves oi Erythroxylon coca, a plant cultivated in the mountain - 

 (lus districts of Peru and Bolivia, have been extensively used by the 

 natives as a substitute for tobacco, their practice being to chew the 

 leaves to secure power of enduring fatigue even with a scanty sujiply of 

 food. The plant, especially tlie leaves, couuiins an alkaloid which was 

 first extracted in 1853 by Gardekc and named by him erythroxyline ; 



