122 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[August 12, 1S71 
ment is quite correct, as far as the solution of the 
dry alkaloid is concerned, and it is by no means easy 
to prepare a solution even of that strength. But we 
may readily dissolve the quinia in ether, either at 
the moment of its precipitation from one of its salts, 
or at all events while yet in a moist state. The 
ethereal solution thus obtained may be concentrated 
to such a strength, that 2 minims of it will contain 
1 grain (and even more) of quinia, although in this 
state the solution is too tliick for use, and too liable 
to solidify. Hence quinia (recently precipitated and 
yet moist) may be said to be soluble in ether in all 
proportions, as has been stated already by Bussy 
and Guibourt (Journal de Phcirmacie et de Chimie, 
vol. xxii. 1852, pp. 413, 414). 
The strength of the ethereal solution, as employed 
by many practitioners, is such that 5 minims contain 
1 grain of quinia. 
Preparation .—Take 304 grains of sulphate of 
quinia, which has been (previously to weighing) de¬ 
prived of its water by drying it at 212° F., mix it 
with 1 pint of water, and add to it just sufficient 
dilute sulphuric acid to dissolve it. Filter if neces¬ 
sary, and wash the filter carefully. Introduce the 
solution into a 4-pint bottle, and add sufficient water 
to make it measure 32 oz. The next step is to pre¬ 
cipitate the quinia, and in order to avoid too great 
an excess of aqua ammonite, it is best to make a 
preliminary trial of the dilute sulphuric acid and aq. 
ammonite to be employed in the process. Introduce 
into a graduate 1 fl. oz. of the dilute acid, add some 
strips of litmus paper, and, while stirring, drop in 
very gradually from another graduate (or burette) 
aqua ammonias, until the litmus paper turns blue. 
The amount of aq. ammoniae used is the quantity 
necessary to saturate 1 fl. oz. of the acid. Now pour 
upon the solution in the 4-pint bottle a little more 
than double the amount of aqua ammoniae, corre¬ 
sponding to the amount of diluted sulphuric acid 
used, in order to precipitate the quinia ; for it is not 
only necessary to neutralize the amount of acid 
added, but also the other equivalent already con¬ 
tained in the original sulphate of quinia. Immerse 
the bottle in ice-cold water to absorb the heat gene¬ 
rated during precipitation. Have a sound and 
tightly-fitting cork ready, through which are passed 
two narrow glass tubes, one of them nearly reaching 
to the bottom of the 4-pint bottle, the other just 
penetrating the- cork, and both cut off at an even 
height on the upper side. When the bottle lias 
been sufficiently cooled, pour into it 15 fl. oz. of 
stronger ether, and shake; the quinia will be dis¬ 
solved, and the contents of the bottle will arrange 
themselves in two transparent layers, the lower one 
an aqueous solution of sulphate of ammonia (holding 
a little ether and also a trace of quinia in solution), 
&nd the upper one an ethereal solution of quinia. 
Introduce the cork into the mouth of the bottle, 
keeping the finger on the orifices of the glass tubes, 
and invert the bottle. Hold it for a short time in a 
somewhat inclined position, to allow the watery so¬ 
lution adhering to the sides and bottom to drain 
down into the lower layer-; then remove the finger, 
and allow the lower layer to flow off into a vessel 
placed below. As soon as the line of demarcation 
approaches the cork, allow the liquid to pass only 
very gradually, and, as soon as all the aqueous 
solution has run off, receive the ethereal solution in a 
lfi-oz. graduate. Pause the bottle with ^ fl. oz. of ether, 
and add it to the former. Allow the ethereal solu¬ 
tion to evaporate in a warm place (110°-120° F.), 
until reduced to 2j fl. oz. llemove it, cover it well 
to prevent further evaporation, and cool it to the tem¬ 
perature of 60° F. Then measure off into a weighed 
graduated tube (or minim graduate) 5 minims, and 
evaporate to dryness. Should there be no scales 
sufficiently accurate to indicate fractions of a grain, 
use an aliquot multiple of 5 minims, such as 50 
minims, in which case, of course, you will have to 
divide afterwards again by 10. There will probably 
be found more than 1 grain of quinia contained in the 
5 minims; hence it is now only necessary to dilute 
it with ether to the required strength. Let us sup¬ 
pose that the residue of 5 minims weighed 1^ grains, 
and that our remaining solution measures 2\ fl. oz.; 
now in order to make the solution contain 1 grain in 
every 5 minims, we have the proportion:— 
1 (grain req.) : 1^ (grains found) = 2^ (fl. oz.): 
x (fl. oz. req.) whence x = 3^- (fl. oz.); hence we have 
to dilute the solution with stronger ether so as to 
measure 3-r fl. oz. 
The original amount of sulphate of quinia (304 grs.) 
employed contains 40 grs. of sulphuric acid, and 
324 grs. of quinia now, if all the latter were to 
remain in solution, we should obtain (at the rate of 
1 grain in 5 minims) 1020 minims, or 3 oz. 180 
minims ; but during the evaporation a portion of the 
quinia lias attached itself to the sides of the 
vessels, and this should not be scraped into the 
solution, since it will not only fail to redissolve, 
but will generally produce a further separation of 
quinia. 
It will sometimes occur that, on pouring the ether 
upon the precipitated quinia in the bottle, the latter 
absolutely (or nearly so) refuses to dissolve; tliis is 
owing to the presence of undecomposed solution of 
bisulpliate of quinia, which seems to prevent the 
solvent action of ether. By adding a little more 
ammonia and shaking, the solution will at once take 
place. But too much ammonia must be avoided, 
since this gives a tendency to the ethereal solution 
to deposit the quinia in a short time; at least, such 
is my experience. 
The quinia adhering to the sides of the evapora¬ 
ting vessel may be dissolved off by the aid of a little 
diluted sulphuric acid, and kept in solution for future 
use; its amount may be determined by drying and 
weighing the graduate together with the crust of 
quinia, and ro-weighing it after its removal. Sup¬ 
posing the former weight is 1020 grains, the latter 
1000 grains, the difference will be the quinia, 20 
grains. Now as 
324 (equiv. of quin.): 304 (equiv. of sulpli. qu.)=20 : x 
x = 22ff or about 22^ grains of sulphate of quinia. 
The ethereal solution prepared according to the 
above directions must be kept in well-stoppered 
bottles, and should not be long exposed to light. I 
have kept some samples unaltered for over one year. 
— Amer. Journ. Pharm. 
* Tlie author’s calculations are slightly incorrect. Crys¬ 
tallized sulphate of quinia must he heated to between 110° and 
120° C. (230° and 248° F.) to lose all its water of crystalliza¬ 
tion, when it still retains 1 HO of constitution, its formula 
being C4 oH 2 iN 2 0 4 ,HO,S0 3 , and its equivalent weight 373, 
containing 324 dry quinia and 49H0,S0 3 . (See Amer. 
Journ. Pharm. 1855, p. 243.) 364 grains sulphate of quinia, 
deprived of all its water of crystallization, contain, therefore, 
316 grains dry quinia.— Ed. Amee. Jouen. Puaem. 
