"SWEET  quinine:"  what  is  it? 
303 
thrown  into  commerce  bj  Mr.  Frederick  Stearns,  under  the 
name  of  sweet  quinine."  In  the  March  number  of  this  jour- 
nal, page  187,  we  gave  a  statement  based  solely  upon  the  man- 
ufacturer's circular  (not  then  having  examined  the  article),  from 
which  we  naturally  inferred  it  to  be  the  alkaloid  quinia,  associ- 
ated with  liquorice  sugar.  The  following  are  the  paragraphs  : 
"  Sweet  quinine  is  as  definite  a  chemical  salt  as  the  sulphate  (or 
bitter)  quinine — is  made  direct  from  the  same  source — Peruvian 
bark  ;  has,  like  it,  positive  tonic  and  antiperiodic  power,"  &c. 
"  In  sweet  quinine  each  atom  of  the  alkaloid  is  enveloped  in 
glicion^  the  sweet  principle  of  liquorice,  and  it  forms  an  aggre- 
gation of  minute  sugar-coated  molecules  of  quinine."  Nothing 
is  said  about  any  other  alkaloid  than  quinia,  and  it  is  clearly  in- 
tended that  the  reader  should  infer  from  the  words  used  that  the 
manufacturer's  skill  has  succeeded  in  combining  free  quinine  with 
glycyrrhizin  in  lieu  of  sulphuric  acid,  so  as  to  mask  its  bitterness. 
Having  within  a  few  days  (June  28)  had  our  suspicion  excited, 
we  determined  to  examine  it,  and  have  satisfied  ourself 
that  this  so-called  sweet  quinine  is  no  quinine  at  all,  but  mainly 
the  alkaloid  cinehonia  precipitated  from  the  sulphate,  dried  and 
triturated  with  an  impure  glycyrrhizin  prepared  from  liquorice 
root.  Cinehonia  is  very  insoluble,  requiring  nearly  4000  parts 
of  cold  water,  hence  the  tastelessness  of  "  sweet  quinine,"  and 
its  bitterness  with  acid  or  alcoholic  fluids  which  salify  and  dis- 
solve it.  The  substance  associated  with  it  is  nearly  all  removed 
by  hot  water,  to  which  it  gives  a  straw-color.  It  froths  much  by 
agitation,  and  has  a  power  of  suspending  or  emulsifying  the  finely 
powdered  cinehonia.  These  statements  are  based  on  the  follow- 
ing experiments  : — sweet  quinine  laid  on  reddened  litmus  paper 
and  touched  with  a  drop  of  alcohol  restores  its  blue  tint  imme- 
diately. The  same  occurs  more  slowly  with  a  drop  of  water.  It 
is  almost  wholly  soluble  in  boiling  alcohol  in  excess,  yielding  a 
light  straw-colored  alkaline  solution.  Treated  with  boiling  water 
and  well  washed  on  a  filter,  it  yields  about  25  per  cent,  of  its 
weight  to  that  fluid,  which  acquires  a  straw  color,  froths  much 
by  agitation,  is  without  bitterness,  and  not  precipitated  by  sub- 
acetate  of  lead  or  alcohol.  Weak  iodine  water  gives  a  greenish 
color  which  soon  fades,  indicative  of  a  trace  of  starch.  Evapo- 
