Oil 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [February 10,1872. 
quantity, its tartrate will be found separated in 
crystalline form, whilst the other tartrates remain 
dissolved; if only traces of cinclionidine be present, 
strife will be observed on every spot of the glass 
which has been rubbed by the glass rod. The tar¬ 
trate of cinclionidine is collected upon a filter, 
washed with a little water, and dried on a water- 
bath. One part of this tartrate represents 0*804 
part of cinclionidine. 
The liquor separated from this tartrate is mixed 
with a solution of iodide of potassium, and well 
stirred by a glass rod. If quinidine is present in 
appreciable quantity, a sandy crystalline powder* of 
liydriodate of quinidine will be precipitated, which 
is collected upon a filter, washed with a little water 
and dried on a water-batli. One part of this hy- 
driodate represents 0‘718 part of anhydrous quini¬ 
dine. If only a trace of quinidine be present, no 
precipitate will appear, but only strife on every spot 
of the glass which has been rubbed by the glass 
rod. 
The liquor separated from the liydriodate of qui- 
nidine is precipitated by caustic soda, whereby the 
cinchonine is obtained.! It is collected upon a 
filter, washed with water and dried on a water-bath. 
I am perfectly aware that this process is far from 
perfect. So, for instance, the tartrate of cinclioni- 
dine and the liydriodate of quinidine, although diffi¬ 
cultly soluble in cold water, are not insoluble ; and 
therefore the quantities of the alkaloids determined 
by this process are too small, whilst, consequently, 
that of the cinchonine is found too large. The best 
part of the process is the accurate determination of 
the real quinine contained in a bark, and the impos¬ 
sibility of overlooking one of the mentioned five 
alkaloids which may be contained in a bark. 
The Hague , December 28 th, 1871. 
[ The discussion upon this paper is printed at p. 654.] 
SAMADERA IISTDICA, Gcertn.% 
BY DR. J. E. DE VRY. 
The paper of Mr. M. C. Cooke on page 541 of this 
volume of the Pharmaceutical Journal, reminds me 
of some investigations made by me in this direction 
during my stay in Java, which will perhaps prove 
to be of interest in reference to the subject of that 
paper. 
The first investigation of the bark and the kernels 
of the fruit of the tree mentioned, which is called by 
the Malays Gatip pahit, was made, in July 1857,§ 
by D. W. Host van Tonningen, who was at that time 
first assistant to the late Dr. Fromberg, in the then 
existing chemical laboratory of Buitenzorg in Java. 
In 100 parts of the bark of the tree he found :— 
* If the quantity of the quinidine is very small in relation 
to that of the cinchonine, the precipitate will not be sandy 
and crystalline, but often somewhat resinous. This difference 
is caused by some liydriodate of cinchonine, and can easily be 
removed by washing the precipitate with a little alcohol. 
f Sometimes I have found a trace of an amorphous alka¬ 
loid in the thus obtained cinchonine. I suppose, therefore, 
the existence in some barks of a second amorphous alkaloid, 
w hich is insoluble in ether. 
X Read at the Evening Meeting of the Pharmaceutical 
Society of Great Britain, February 7, 1872. 
§ ‘Acta Societatis Scientiarum Indo-Neerlandicie/ vol.iii. 
Part soluble in Ether (fat).1'409 
,, in Alcohol (resin) . . . 5T19 
„ in Water (tannic acid, 
extractive matter, samaderine) . 2*203 
Mineral substances.7 913 
Cellulose.70(550 
Water.1P832 
Loss.0*808 
100-000 
In 100 parts of the kernels of the fruit he found:— 
Part soluble in Ether (oil) .... 34*260 
,, in Alcohol (resin) . . . 8 - 380 
,, in Water (tannic acid, 
extractive matter, samaderine) . . 10*585 
Part soluble in Potash (pectic acid) . 0*100 
Mineral substances.2*733 
Cellulose. 39*000 
Water.4*577 
Loss.0*305 
100*000 
The samaderine was obtained by treating the 
watery extract with small quantities of alcohol, by 
which treatment the greatest part of the samaderine 
was left in crystals. These were redissolved in 
water, the solution digested with animal charcoal 
and reciystallized. 
The samaderine is white, and crystallizes in the 
shape of feathers. Its taste is very intensely bitter, 
much more so than the author ever observed in 
any analogous substance. Its chief and character¬ 
istic reaction is that with concentrated sulphuric 
acid, which gives a beautiful red-violet colour upon 
the addition of a trace of samaderine. The quantity 
of samaderine obtained was too small for further in¬ 
vestigation, and the author intended to return to 
this subject as soon as he was in possession of a 
sufficient quantity of bark and kernels of the fruit. 
This intention, however, he was never able to 
carry out, and as, in April 1863, a small quantity of 
the kernels of the fruit came into my possession, I 
took the matter up, chiefly with the object of obtain¬ 
ing the samaderine. 
640 grams of kernels, dried at 100° C., were 
pulverized and expressed by a press. I obtained 
210 grms., consequently 32*8 per cent, of a clear 
light yellow oil of a bitter taste, and 0*9175 s. g. 
According to the investigation which Dr. A. C. Oude- 
mans made of it, after my return to Europe, it con¬ 
sists of 84 per cent, tri-oleine, and 16 per cent, tri- 
stearine and tri-palmitine. The oil is not siccative. 
After the expression of the oil, the cake was pul¬ 
verized again and treated with alcohol. The alco¬ 
holic tincture was mixed with a slight excess of an 
alcoholic solution of acetate of lead, whereas a 
slightly yellow-red precipitate was formed. This 
precipitate was separated by a filter, and the excess 
of lead removed from the liquor by sulphuretted 
hydrogen. By these manipulations the reddish- 
yellow colour of the liquid was only slightly dimi¬ 
nished. By evaporation I could not obtain any 
crystals, but obtained a yellowish extract, which 
was very hygroscopic. I found, however, that this 
extract contained a lime-salt, and as all my endea¬ 
vours to obtain the crystals of samaderine, described 
by Rost van Tonningen, failed, I suppose that these 
crystals consisted of a lime-salt impregnated by 
