126 
REMARKS  ON  PROPYLAMINE 
true  nature  of  the  malady.  The  author  has  treated,  by  means  of 
this  remedy,  250  patients  in  the  hospital  of  Kaulinkin  at  St. 
Petersburg,  between  March  1854,  and  June  1856  ;  and  besides,  it 
has  been  employed  in  outside  practice  in  a  considerable  number 
of  acute  and  chronic  cases  of  rheumatism.  In  acute  cases,  the 
pain  and  fever  always  disappear  the  next  day.  The  remedy  was 
prescribed  in  the  following  manner,  viz. 
R.  Propylamin  .       .       .       gtt.  xxv. 
Distilled  water,    ,       .       .       f-3vj.  Mix. 
and  when  necessary,  add 
Oleo  saccharum  of  peppermint  ^ij. 
Dose.    A  tablespoonful  every  two  hours. 
It  is  necessary  to  carefully  ascertain  if  the  medicine  is  fresh 
and  pure." 
Propylamin  was  discovered  by  Werthiem  in  1850,  and  may  be 
obtained  from  various  sources.  Artificially  from  narcotina,  co- 
deia,  bone  oil,  and  by  the  action  of  ammonia  on  iodized  propy- 
lene, and  naturally,  combined  with  an  acid,  in  herring  pickle, 
the  flowers  of  the  white  thorn  (Crsetagus  oxycantha),  those  of 
the  service  berry  (Sorbus  aucuparia),Chenopodium  vulvaria,  &c, 
It  is  most  conveniently  prepared  from  herring  pickle  or  ergot, 
by  distillation  with  potash.  Propylamin  is  a  colorless,  trans- 
parent liquid,  with  a  strong  pungent  odor  that  reminds  one  of 
ammonia.  As  made  from  some  sources  it  has  a  fishy  odor,  whilst 
from  others  this  character  is  wanting,  and  as  it  is  metameric 
with  both  trimethyiamin  and  methyl-ethylamin,  it  is  possible 
that' the  latter  may  be  mistaken  for  propylamin.  (G-melin.) 
Propylamin  is  soluble  in  water,  has  a  strong  alkaline  reaction, 
forms  erystallizable  salts,  and  like  ammonia,  when  a  rod  dipped 
in  muriatic  acid  is  presented  to  it,  dense  vapors  of  the  hydro- 
chlorate  become  visible  by  their  union.  Its  composition  is  C6H9N. 
which  is  that  of  ammonia  with  an  equivalent  of  propyl.  Most 
of  the  salts  of  propylamin  are  soluble  in  water  and  alcohol  but 
the  sulphate  is  insoluble  in  the  latter  menstruum  (Winckler). 
The  hydrochlorate  is  soluble  in  alcohol,  and  crystallizes  in  large 
tables  as  obtained  from  Chenopodium  vulvaria.  All  the  salts  are 
decomposed  with  a  herring  pickle  odor  by  the  mixture  of  potash, 
and  when  heated  in  solution  the  same  fishy  odor  is  perceptible. 
