ON IPECACUANHA. WINE. 
181 
my investigation, I regret tliat I have not been able to determine the point 
by actual experiment, but in support of my opinion, I adduce the account 
of the chemical characteristics of ipecacuanhic acid, observed by its discoverer, 
Willigk, and given in the Pharmaceutical Journal, 1st series, vol.x., page 608. 
“ A solution of a persalt of iron is coloured green by even a very diluted 
solution of the pure acid ; ammonia produces a violet colour ; by an excess of 
ammonia the liquid becomes black like ink, and a blackish-brown sediment 
is formed in it. If a solution of the pure acid mixed with alkalies be exposed 
to the atmosphere, a dark blackish-brown coloration with absorption of 
oxygen is very soon perceptible. This tendency to absorb oxygen^although 
in a slighter degree, belongs to the pure acid as well as to its salts. 
If, as is thus stated, ipecacuanhic acid absorbs oxygen when combined 
with ammonia, becomes insoluble, and carries down the ammonia, with it, 
there seems fair reason for the presumption that it would do so when com¬ 
bined with a far weaker base, viz. emetina. This a priori reasoning is 
borne out by the investigation which I have described, and I therefore con¬ 
clude that the deposit in ipecacuanha wine, in addition to the bitartrate of 
potash, is emetina combined with ipecacuanhic acid, which has been to some 
extent altered by absorption of oxygen. 
With regard to the second question, viz. “How is the deposit affected by 
the nature of the wine used? ” I reply, only as regards its amount and the 
proportion in it of bitartrate of potash. As I before stated, the samples were 
prepared with eight different kinds of wine, and there is a palpable difference 
between them in the amount of deposit they contain, which fact is accounted 
for by another, viz. that there is as great a difference between them in the 
proportion of their principal constituents, viz. sugar, alcohol, and vegetable 
acids. I have quantitatively examined all these samples of wines, with a 
view to ascertain the percentage in them of the two last substances ; this is 
the result:—■ 
Name of Wine. 
Quantity of free vegetable acid 
in 1 pint, and its percentage. 
Quantity of alcohol in 
Oi, and its percentage. 
Amount of 
deposit, No. 1 
containing most. 
Marsala . . . 
Grains in Oi. 
41- 
Percentage. 
•502 
Sp. grav. -825 
f^iii 5 vii or 19 40 
1 
Cape Madeira 
47-2 
•540 
f^iv 5ss or 20‘3 
Cape Sherrv . . 
33-040 
•377 
fgiv 5i m xvi or 20-79 
o 
Victoria Sherry . 
33-040 
•377 
fgiv 5 i inxl or 22 - 0 
4 
Barsac .... 
not deter 
mined. 
fgi 5 vij or 9-45 
5 
Niersteiner . . 
597G0 
•671 
i'Aiss or 7-5 
6 
Hochheimer . . 
60-0 
•754 
f ~i 5 i rtixl or 6-0 
7 
Chablis.... 
53-660 
•613 
fgij 5 v or 13-12 
8 
It will be observed on inspecting the samples, that the largest amount of 
deposit is contained in those samples prepared with the wines of Sicily, Spain, 
and the Cape of Good Hope, while in the samples prepared with the wines 
of France and Germany, the deposit is conspicuously smaller. On referring 
to the table of percentages of alcohol and acids or acidulous salts for a clue 
to the cause of this notable difference, we are struck by the fact that the 
former contain a large proportion of alcohol, but are deficient in vegeta i e 
acids, while in the latter the acids predominate and the proportion of alcohol 
is comparatively small. But as these latter wines containing much acid and 
little alcohol are those in which there is least deposit, it follows, as a practical 
conclusion, that such wines are much better adapted for the preparation of 
the ipecacuanha wine, than the sherry ordered in the Pharmacopoeia, or the 
