May 11,1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
901 
OBSERVATIONS ON TESTS FOR QUININE 
AND MORPHINE.* 
BY mOFESSOR FLUCKIGER. 
The most characteristic test for ascertaining the 
presence of quinine is the formation of the splendid 
green compound called Tludleioeliine, which is pro¬ 
duced if solutions of the alkaloid or its salts are 
mixed with chlorine-water and then a drop of am¬ 
monia added. 
It is known by Pelletier’s researches that some 
other alkaloids are also altered by the above treat¬ 
ment, yet without assuming the same colorations. 
Morphia, for instance, shows a red hue, very quickly 
turning dark brown. 
I was induced by a lamentable poisoning case to 
examine the behaviour of the two alkaloids when 
mixed. The first question was to ascertain the 
smallest quantity of quinine which, in solution, 
displays the green colour. If one part of quinine is 
dissolved in 4000 parts of acidulated water and then 
about of the volume of the liquid of chlorine-water 
and a drop of ammonia added, a green zone will be 
readily formed if the liquids are cautiously placed 
in a flask without shaking. If the solution of qui¬ 
nine contain no more than -g- p^ j, the green zone may 
Still be obtained, but in more diluted solutions the 
success becomes more and more uncertain. From a 
practical point of view we may state that sdno °f 
the alkaloid is the smallest quantity whose pre¬ 
sence can thus be discovered with certainty. Kernel- 
(1870) has succeeded with but I ivas not able 
to corroborate this statement. 
As to morphine, its solutions assume a yellow hue if 
chlorine is added, whereas chlorine does not at all 
alter the colourless solutions of quinine. The dark 
brown coloration of morphine in solution, to which 
chlorine-water and ammonia have been added, is no 
longer produced if less than of morphine is 
present. 
From these observations it may be foreseen what 
must happen if a mixture of salts of both those 
alkaloids be tested by chlorine and ammonia. The 
green colour, tlialleiochine (thalleioquine), will ap¬ 
pear notwithstanding the morphine if the amount 
of the latter is less than tt'oo of the solution. But 
the test for quinine fails if there be more than 
__i__ of morphine present, even when the quinine is 
in considerable quantity. The green colour of the 
thalleioquine is enveloped by the dark dingy-brown 
colour due to the salt of morphine. 
In a specimen of quinine containing morphine, or 
vice versa, the presence of either of them can be 
shown as one pleases by means of chlorine and 
ammonia. In the comparatively concentrated solu¬ 
tion the brown colour of morphine will make its 
appearance, whereas tlialleiochine results as soon 
as the quantity of the solvent much exceeds the 
proportion of 1000 parts to one of morphine. 
This is an illustration of the importance of not 
relying upon one test alone. In the fatal case 
alluded to, the presence of quinine happened to be 
ascertained, but morphine was overlooked. There 
was certainly no reason for presuming the presence 
of the latter, but one drop of nitric acid poured on 
the supposed hydrochlorate of quinine would have 
* Abstract of a paper contained in the ‘Neues Jakrbuckfur 
Pharmacie,’ April, 1«72, p. 136. 
T(iird Series, No. 98. 
pointed out the presence of morphine, and spared the 
lives of two women. 
I was curious to know the effect of bromine instead 
of chlorine in the above tests. The salts of morphine 
are apparently not altered by bromine and ammonia, 
but salts of quinine are more intensely coloured by 
the latter process. The thalleioquine is then in¬ 
deed produced in solutions which contain only 
Touoo °f quinine. Yet the behaviour of bromine 
displays some striking differences. Chlorine alone, 
as already stated, causes no immediate alteration of 
somewhat diluted solutions of quinine, whereas they 
become turbid on addition of bromine as long as 
there is about or more of quinine present. 
Now the precipitate which is produced by bromine 
in the solution of quinine does not turn green if a 
little ammonia is subsequently added, or, at least, 
the thalleioquine thus obtained is rather greyish. 
But in more dilute solutions of quinine, bromine 
acts more readily than chlorine. An excess of 
bromine is to be carefully avoided. This is easily 
performed if the vapour of bromine, not the liquid 
bromine itself, is allowed to fall down on the surface 
of the solutions of quinine; their superficial layer 
only must be saturated with bromine by gently 
moving the liquid. Then a drop of ammonia will 
produce the green or somewhat bluish zone, which 
is much more persistent than that due to chlorine. 
Consequently, for demonstration of the test under 
notice, chlorine is to be used in comparatively con¬ 
centrated solutions. In solutions containing so 
little quinine (less than ), that it is no longer 
precipitated by vapour of bromine, the thalleioquine 
test succeeds much better with bromine, and goes 
much further, as shown above. 
A well-known test for morphine is iodic acid, 
which is decomposed by the alkaloid, and forms a 
beautiful violet solution with bisulphide of carbon 
or chloroform. This test succeeds with solutions 
containing no more then -johoo °f morphine. 
EMULSIONS. 
BY R. ROTHER. 
A perfect emulsion is a homogeneous liquid, more 
or less fluid, in which an oily substance, in an ex¬ 
treme state of mechanical division, is permanently 
suspended. The requisite ingredients of which an 
emulsion is composed are, primarily, an oily sub¬ 
stance which constitutes the medicinal agent to be 
administered, then a mucilaginous or viscid body, by 
means of which the oil is divided and suspended, 
and finally an aqueous liquid, which, rendering the 
action of the second component available, also serves 
as the diluent and vehicle. 
Emulsions may be classified as of two kinds, ac¬ 
cording to their origin, namel} r natural and artificial, 
—the first being the result of organic action, and 
the second, as the name implies, the work of art. 
Natural emulsions are, firstly, milk and the yolk 
of eggs; secondly, the gum resinous juices of many 
plants, of which familiar examples are myrrh, am¬ 
monia and assafoetida ; and, thirdly, numerous olea¬ 
ginous seeds, familiar examples are the almond, flax 
and hemp seeds. The natural emulsions are all 
perfect, however much they may at first di.ier m 
physical appearance. The apparent difference is 
caused by a predominance or deficiency ot water. 
The seeds finely triturated and gradually mixed with 
