2l8 
Quinine  Salts. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t       May,  1910. 
therefore,  about  50  per  cent,  of  the  theory.  The  filtrate,  however, 
continued  to  yield  further  crops  of  the  salt  which,  if  it  had  been 
desired  to  collect,  would  have  increased  the  obtained  yield  still 
further.  An  analysis  of  this  salt  showed  it  to  be  96.5  per  cent, 
pure  sodium  bisulphite,  NaHSOg. 
It  is  thus  seen  that  when  having  the  anhydrous  sodium  sulphite 
we  can  readily  obtain  a  sulphurous  acid  solution  containing  about 
14.5  per  cent.  S02  (the  U.S. P.  requires  not  less  than  6  per  cent. 
S02)  ;  and  that  by  adding  to  such  a  sulphurous  acid  solution  an 
equivalent  of  the  solid  anhydrous  sodium  sulphite,  we  can  readily 
obtain  a  very  strong  solution  of  the  acid  salt  (which  could  be  used 
as  such  in  at  least  many  cases  where  the  bisulphite  is  required)  ; 
while  by  adding  a  sufficient  amount  of  alcohol  to  such  an  aqueous 
solution  of  the  bisulphite  we  can  readily  obtain  the  latter  even  in  the 
solid  state  and  in  a  condition  of  higher  purity  than  that  required 
by  the  U.S. P.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  in  addition  to  the 
substitution  of  the  anhydrous  sodium  sulphite  in  place  of  the  hy- 
drated  sulphite  (Na2S03.7H20)  given  in  the  present  U.S. P.,  and  the 
omitting  of  the  acid  salt  or  bisulphite  from  the  list  of  substances 
having  a  fixed  standard  of  purity,  it  might  also  be  well  to  substitute 
anhydrous  sodium  sulphite  as  the  source  of  the  S02  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  sulphurous  acid  instead  of  obtaining  the  latter  by  the  indirect, 
and  certainly  not  very  simple,  method  of  reducing  sulphuric  acid  by 
means  of  charcoal,  which  is  the  method  adopted  in  the  present 
U.S.P. 
Hygienic  Laboratory,  P.H.  and  M.H.S. 
Washington,  D.  C. 
NOTES  ON  QUININE  SALTS  AND  OTHER  CHEMICALS 
OF  THE  U.  S.  PHARMACOPOEIA. 
By  George  L.  Schaefer. 
The  following  notes  on  the  solubilities  of  a  few  important 
quinine  salts  in  ether  and  other  solvents  are  given,  for  the  reason 
that  there  are  a  considerable  number  of  discrepancies  in  the  liter- 
ature regarding  these  data.  I  have  also  included  a  few  corrections 
of  the  melting  points  and  other  tests  of  a  few  other  chemicals  in 
the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia,  which  may  be  of  interest  to  pharmaceutical 
chemists  at  the  present  time. 
