OPIUM BASES. 439 



precipitates the free base from it. White amorphous 

 powder; somewhat soluble in water, soluble in alcohol, 

 ether, and chloroform. Turns green rapidly in the air, 

 and then forms an emerald-green solution in water. 



Apomorphine hydrochlorate, C 17 H 17 N0 2 .HC1. 



Forms colorless crystals, which, when heated or when 

 exposed to the air in a moist condition, also become 

 green. 



2, Narcotine, C 22 H 23 ^0 7 . Colorless, shiny prisms, 

 without taste; fuses at 176, and is decomposed when 

 heated a few degrees higher. Insoluble in cold water 

 and caustic potassa, soluble in boiling water and in 

 alcohol and ether. Less poisonous than morphine. 



Monatomic base. The salts crystallize either badly 

 or not at all. From their solutions alkalies precipitate 

 narcotine in an amorphous condition. 



Narcotine dissolves in concentrated hydrochloric 

 acid, the solution having a yellow color; and this solu 

 tion becomes blood-red when gently heated, and dark- 

 violet when the heat is increased. 



Narcotine, when heated with water to 250, yields 

 trimethylamine, together with other products; heated 

 with concentrated hydrochloric or hydriodic acid, three 

 methyl groups are successively eliminated, and in this 

 way there are formed three new bases: C 21 H 21 N0 7 , 

 C 20 H 19 N0 7 , and C 19 II 17 N0 7 , which as yet have not been 

 further investigated. 



Heated with dilute sulphuric acid and manganese 

 peroxide, narcotine yields opianic acid (p. 382) ^ and 

 cotarnine; boiled for a long time with water it is 

 resolved into meconin (p. 382) and cotarnine ; warmed 

 with dilute nitric acid, there are formed opianic acid, 

 cotarnine, meconin, hemipinic acid (p. 382), and other 

 bodies. 



Cotarnine, C 12 H 13 N0 3 -f H 2 , is most readily ob 

 tained by heating narcotine with diluted (with ten 

 times its weight of water) nitric acid at 49 until 

 solution results. From the solution, filtered after 



