402 Royal Society. 



Calculated. Found 



^ — * -s (mean). 



C u 132 3014 2967 



H 10 10 2-27 2-17 



Ag 2 216 4932 49'24 



O 5 80 18-27 18-92 



C n H 10 Ag 2 O 5 438 10000 10000 



The formation of cotarnic acid is therefore represented by the 

 equation 



C 12 H 13 N0 3 + 2H 2 + NH0 3 = C U H 12 5 + N(NCH 8 )0 3 

 Cotarnine. Cotarnic acid. Nitrate of 



methylamine. 

 It is possible that the substance obtained by Anderson by the 

 action of nitric acid on narcotine (Chem. Soc. Quart. Journ. vol. v. 

 p. 265 ; Gerhardt, ' Traite,' vol. iv. p. 80), and supposed by him 

 to be hydrate of meconine (Opianyle, Anderson), may have been 

 cotarnic acid, with the composition of which Anderson's analyses 

 closely agree, as shown by the following comparison : — 



Calculated. Anderson. 



C" 132 58-93 58-83 58-84 



H 12 12 5-36 517 5-42 



O 5 J30 35-71 3600 3574 



224 10000 10000 10000 



If cotarnic acid be represented by the formula 

 (C n H l0 O 3 )" \ 

 H 2 J O 2 , 



cotarnine becomes methyl- cotarnimide — 

 (C 11 H 10 O 3 )" 1 XT 



c h 3 } N ; 



if, however, we retain the formula C 12 H 13 NO 3 for cotarnine, no 

 simple relation is apparent between it and cotarnic acid. 

 V. Conclusion. 

 In the absence of more definite knowledge of the constitution of me- 

 conine and opiauic and hemipinic acids, it is obviously useless to 

 try to assign a rational formula to narcotine. According to the 

 formulae which we have adopted for narcotine and cotarnine, nar- 

 cotine contains the elements of cotarnine and meconine : — 



C 22 H 23 N0 7 = C 12 H 13 NO'-f-C 10 H 10 0\ 

 Narcotine. Cotarnine. Meconine. 



It will be seen that these formulae are the same as those of the 

 methyl-narcotine and methyl-cotarnine of Hinterberger and Wer- 

 theim. The ground upon which Wertheim admitted tbe existence of 

 ethyl- and propyl-narcotine was the formation of volatile bases con- 

 taining C 2 H 7 N and C 3 IT N by the distillation of narcotine with 

 potash. An experiment which we have made goes some way 

 towards explaining the formation of these bases without assuming the 

 existence of more than one variety of narcotine. Having so frequently 

 observed the formation of methyle-compouuds from the derivatives 



