20 
EDINBURGH MEETING. 
for the preparation of sulphate of bebeerine from the bark of the tree, a mix¬ 
ture of the sulphates of several bases is obtained. The product does not differ 
in a marked manner from sulphate of bebeerine as it occurs in commerce. 
From the mixture of bases the authors separated, by repeated treatment with 
chloroform, a base which is very soluble in that menstruum. This base, when 
purified, occurs in the form of a white non-crystalline powder, possessed of an in¬ 
tensely bitter taste. It differs from bebeerine in the following particulars 
1st. It fuses when placed in boiling water. 
2nd. It is much less soluble in ether than bebeerine. 100 parts of pure ether, 
of density 0*715, dissolve 0*96 part of bebeerine. 100 parts of the same ether 
dissolve *04 part of the new base. 
3rd. When treated with strong sulphuric acid and binoxide of manganese, a 
magnificent green colour is first developed ; this slowly passes into a violet of 
great beauty, not unlike that produced by the action of the same reagents on 
strychnine. 
4th. The new base has a higher atomic weight than bebeerine. The mean of 
live determinations of the platinum in the platinum compound of this base 
showed the percentage of platinum to be 17*72. The mean of four ultimate 
analyses of the alkaloid gave the following numbers :— 
Carbon.......... 70 02 
Hydrogen. 6*73 
Nitrogen.4*53 
Oxygen.18*71 
100*00 
To this new alkaloid the authors assign the formula C 20 H 23 O 4 N (C=12), 
and the name Nectandria. 
Calculated. 
Found. 
Carbon 
. . 70 38 
70*02 
Hydrogen 
. . 6*74 
6*73 
Nitrogen . 
. 4*10 
4*53 
Oxygen . 
. . 18*78 
18*71 
100*00 
100*00 
The difference between the composition of bebeerine, as ascertained by Yon 
Planta, and that of nectandria, may be seen by comparing their formulae,— 
Bebeerine.C lg H 21 0 3 N 
Nectandria .... 
After separating nectandria from the mixed bases obtained from the wood, 
the authors succeeded in separating a base which is much more soluble in hot 
and cold water, and which is insoluble in chloroform. It is deposited from a 
boiling solution in the form of yellow nodules. Its taste is both bitter and as¬ 
tringent. It appears to have a lower molecular weight than either bebeerine or 
nectandria. The percentage of platinum in the platinum compound was found 
to be 20*3. 
Besides this base the authors have ascertained the existence of a third, whose 
characters have, however, not yet been carefully determined. 
The authors intend continuing their chemical investigations on these alkaloids, 
and examining their physiological and therapeutical action. They express their 
great obligations to the firm of Messrs. Macfarlane and Co., without whose 
generous aid the materials for the investigation could not have been obtained 
by them. 
