40 ACTION OF HALOGEN COMPOUNDS OF ETHYL AND AMYL 



of carbonic acid gas is passed, it being deposited in this casein beautiful crystals. 

 I have carefully gone over those experiments, and satisfied myself that the sub- 

 stance in both cases is the pure base. A carbonate is certainly obtained by double 

 decomposition, between hydrochlorate of strychnine and carbonate of silver, but it 

 exists only for a short time, even in solution, as the gas escapes on standing, and 

 the pure alkaloid is deposited in fine, though small, crystals. 



I could obtain no dry carbonates of morphia, codeine, papaverine, or narcotine ; 

 they behave like strychnine under the same circumstances. While these experi- 

 ments were in progress, my attention was called to the production of a definite 

 carbonate of quinine by Langlois,* and I gave up the idea I had entertained of ex- 

 tending the observations to the vegetable alkaloids generally, as it is possible the 

 subject will be gone into at greater length by this chemist. 



Hydrate of Ethylostrycknine. — I have mentioned already that potass and ammo- 

 nia fail to separate this base from its iodine combination, which is thrown down 

 unaltered from its aqueous solution by strong potass, and is also less soluble in 

 ammoniacal than in pure water. Oxide of silver readily effects the elimination of 

 the iodine ; in fact, when the solid salt is covered by moist oxide of silver, a few 

 minutes' contact, in the cold, suffices to complete the change, iodide of silver re- 

 maining undissolved, and a fluid of a red purple colour being formed, which 

 contains all the base. When this is suffered to evaporate to dryness sponta- 

 neously, a crystalline purplish mass results, which contains some carbonic acid, 

 and dissolves in a small quantity of cold water ; leaving, however, constantly, a 

 minute residue of the nature before spoken of in describing the monocarbonate. 

 Evaporation in vacuo over sulphuric acid produces a less crystalline residue, of a 

 similar colour, which is found to be completely soluble in hot absolute alcohol to 

 a purple fluid ; a concentrated solution of this kind deposited, on cooling, a sub- 

 stance in colourless, small, prismatic crystals. These were collected on a filter, 

 washed from the coloured mother liquor with a little absolute alcohol and ether, 

 and finally dried out of contact of air. Tests, to be mentioned presently, having 

 shewn the deposit to be, as nearly as it is possible to be procured, the pure base, 

 it was retained in vacuo till it ceased to lose weight, and then gave these results 

 on analysis : — 



( 4-643 grains, dried in vacuo, gave 



< 



11-600 ... 

 { 3-425 ... 



Experiment. 



. . 68-13 

 . . 8-19 



carbonic acid, and 

 water. 



Calculation. 





Carbon, . 

 Hydrogen, 

 Nitrogen, 

 Oxygen, 



67-81 

 7-61 

 6-87 



17-71 



c 46 



H 31 



o 9 



276 

 31 

 28 



72 



100-00 407 



Chemical Gazette, 1853, p. 470. 



