135 
CHLOHATE OE QUININEA^ 
BY CHAELES E. C. TICHBOENE, F.C.S., ETC. 
We Lave determined upon bringing before tbe Britisli Pbarmaceiitical Con¬ 
ference, a resume of our experiments upon wbat promises to be one of tbe 
most useful of tbe quinine salts. 
Tbe chlorates and perchlorates of tbe organic bases have not been so far 
much investigated, although some of them seem stable compounds, easily 
crystallized, and are, many of them, of great beauty. 
Composition .—This point was determined (as regards the neutral salt) by 
the estimation of each component,—each serving as a check upon the other. 
The results may be formulated as follows:— 
4 (C2oH24N2 02,HC103) 7 H 2 O. 
The centesimal composition being :— 
Theory. 
Practice. 
C^uinine . 
* • • 
. . 73-65 . 
. . 73'9 
rii. . 
. . '23 . 
• • 
HCIO 3 .< 
Cl. . 
. . 8-07 . 
. . 8-04 
LO . . 
. . 10-90 . 
. . 10-53 
HO . . 
. . 7-15 . 
. . 7-18 
100 - 
The above analysis was made, of the salt, after drying twenty-four hours 
over sulphuric acid or well-dried in the air. On continuing the drying over 
sulphuric acid, it gradually lost nearly the whole of the water. The loss of 
water at 100° C. was constant. 
The quinine was estimated by Professor Jelletts, with the aid of his saccha- 
rometer. We may remark that tlie accurate estimation of quinine can only 
be accomplished in the above manner, or by the combustion of the carbon,—it 
having been lately pointed out that even the determination of the nitrogen 
cannot be relied on. 
Chemical and Physical Properties .—Chlorate of quinine presents many of 
the characteristics of the alkaline chlorates, only in a less marked degree. 
When pure, it crystallizes from a watery solution, in small mushroom-shaped 
masses, which, on examination, are found to consist of'filiform snowy-white 
crystals. Some chemical salts, and many well-known minerals, are found to 
take this character. They present the appearance of an amorphous mamil- 
lated exterior, perfectly devoid of crystalline structure, yet, when broken 
through, are found to consist of exquisite geometrical forms, which are pro¬ 
duced by needles or prisms radiating from some axis or point towards the 
amorphous circumference. The beautiful and well-known mineral wavellite 
may be cited as a specimen of this characteristic crystallization. Many of 
the quinine salts present the same peculiarity, and none more so than the 
chlorate. When a boiling solution of pure chlorate of quinine is allowed to 
Chlorate of quinine was made at the request of Dr. Lyons for some experiments performed 
at the Whitwoi'th hospitals, Dublin, in connection with two or three cases of “Black Death.” 
It has since been employed by that gentleman with great success as a new febrifuge. Vide 
Dr. Lyon’s Clinique, ‘Medical Press and Circular,’ vol. i. p. 653. In its therapeutical effects,, 
it must be borne in mind that the particular advantage that it possesses over the other salts 
of quinine, is supposed to arise from the fact, that over ten per cent, of the salt assimilated is 
available oxygen, and that from the fact of its being a chlorate of an organic base, it will be a 
more probable yielder of oxygen to the system than such a salt as chlorate of potassium. 
