ON  LUPULINE. 
811 
varieties,)  Boliviana,  and  ovata,  var.  rufinervis.  These  all  con- 
tain quinine,  quinidine,  and  cinchonine,  but  the  two  latter  alka- 
loids in  small  quantity.  Other  species  present  them  in  very  dif- 
ferent proportions,  sometimes  one,  sometimes  another  forming 
the  chief  part  of  the  febrifuge  constituents.  In  some  the  bitter 
taste  of  the  bark  appears  to  be  due,  not  to  any  of  these,  but  to  a 
curious  acid,  the  kinovic,  which,  like  the  fatty  acids,  is  very 
sparingly  soluble  in  water,  but  possesses  a  strong  bitter  taste, 
expecially  when  combined  with  alkalies. 
It  is  obvious  that  the  extraction  of  the  quinine  from  these 
barks  may  be  much  more  troublesome  in  one  case  than  in  an- 
other ;  but,  in  the  first  place,  the  quinine  contained  in  them  is 
identical  in  all.  I  do  not  speak  only  of  its  giving  identical 
results  by  ultimate  analysis — all  its  chemical  properties — its 
solubility  in  a  certain  quantity  of  hot  or  cold  water,  ether,  alco- 
hol, and  other  solvents — its  behavior  with  different  re-agents — 
its  powers  of  forming  the  artificial  tourmalines,  discovered  by 
Dr.  Herapath,  and  of  giving  the  other  optical  results  which  have 
justly  gained  an  European  celebrity  for  their  discoverer — its 
physical  properties  of  taste,  form  of  crystal,  &c,  all  are  precisely 
identical,  from  whatever  species  obtained.  In  fact,  it  would  be 
as  "  scientific  "  to  question  whether  gold  from  California  and  from 
Australia  were  the  same  thing,  because  one  was  found  in  combina- 
tion with  more  silver  than  the  other,  as  to  admit  the  doubts  sug- 
gested by  the  paper  to  which  I  refer. 
Secondly.  No  very  delicate  operations  are  required  to  separate 
these  alkaloids,  so  as  to  obtain  each  in  a  state  sufficiently  pure 
for  all  practical  purposes. 
Thirdly.  The  tests  in  common  use,  already  described  in  your 
Journal,  are  amply  sufficient  to  ascertain  whether  the  care  needed 
to  secure  this  result  has  been  taken  in  the  manufacture. 
I  remain,  yours  respectfully, 
Ibid.]  Robert  Howard. 
ON  LUPULINE. 
By  J.  Personne. 
Lupuline  is  the  yellow  powder  so  readily  obtained  by  rubbing 
the  catkins  of  hops.    To  this  powder  the  peculiar  properties  of 
