AFebniaryrf9aor8m*}     Chemistry  of  Alkaloid  Estimations.  73 
OH 
C  C      CH2  CH. 
>  \  //  N;  '/  \  / 
HC       CH  C       C        CH  — N— CH, 
I       II  I       II.         !  \ 
HC       CH  CH, 
CH 
C       C      CH— O 
H     I  I 
C  CH 
/  \/ 
HO  COH 
phenol.  morphine. 
This  "  phenolic  hydroxyl  "  gives  to  morphine  the  many  proper- 
ties of  a  phenol,  such  as  the  coloration  produced  by  ferric  salts,  its 
reducing  effects  on  iron  and  on  iodates,  which  reactions  permit  the 
ready  distinction  of  morphine  from  codeine,  dionin  (ethyl  morphine) 
and  heroin  (diacetyl  morphine  hydrochloride),  in  which  the  phenol 
group  has  been  replaced  and  which  therefore  no  longer  give  the 
reactions  of  a  phenol.  When  morphine  dissolves  in  lime  water,  it 
again  shows  phenolic  character.  That  is,  phenols  in  general  are 
dissolved  by  strong  bases  with  formation  of  phenolates.  It  may  not 
be  out  of  place  to  recall  that  upon  this  phenolic  character  also  de- 
pends one  of  the  difficulties  in  the  valuation  of  opium ;  that  is,  while 
morphine  is  precipitated  from  its  solution  as  the  insoluble  morphine 
by  means  of  ammonium  hydroxide,  a  large  excess  of  this  base  must 
be  carefully  avoided  since  by  it  morphine  is  re-dissolved  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  with  formation  of  ammonium  morphinate. 
Separation  of  Strychnine  from  Brucine. — In  1889  Gerock  first 
proposed  a  method  of  separating  strychnine  from  brucine  based  on 
the  ease  with  which  brucine  is  oxidized  by  nitric  acid  and  the  rela- 
tive resistance  of  strychnine  to  such  oxidation.  Since  then  many 
modifications  of  this  method  have  been  proposed.  A  modification 
proposed  by  Gordin  has  been  made  official  in  the  United  States 
Pharmacopoeia.  Largely  because  of  this,  the  process  of  estimating 
strychnine  has  lately  again  been  studied  by  chemists. 
At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association, 
where  the  assay  methods  of  the  new  Pharmacopoeia  were  discussed, 
J.  M.  Francis  remarked  that,  in  his  opinion,  the  now  official  process 
of  determining  strychnine  had  been  dried  out  and  condemned  years 
ago.    This  remark  was,  at  that  time,  not  without  justification.  All 
