INVESTIGATION  OP  STRYCHNIA. 
133 
ings ;  and  showing  that  it  is  the  entire  salt  itself,  and  not  the 
acid  of  it,  which  is  the  acting  agent.  The  question,  however, 
arises,  whether  the  bichromate  of  potash  in  the  fibre  is  not  acted 
upon  by  the  acid  of  the  tin  spirits  in  the  dye-bath,  producing 
an  oxidizing  action  at  the  moment  when  most  requisite.  This, 
however,  we  have  found  not  to  be  the  case  by  neglecting  the 
mordanting  with  bichromate  of  potash,  and  placing  some  chro- 
mic acid  in  the  dye-bath  with  the  logwood  and  tin  spirits  ;  when, 
if  oxidation  be  requisite,  we  expected  to  have  a  color  equal  to 
that  obtained  when  bichrome  is  employed  ;  but  in  this  we  were 
disappointed,  for  the  wool  could  not  properly  be  said  to  take  on 
any  color  at  all.  We  are  therefore  of  opinion,  that  the  bichro*- 
mate  forms  a  definite  compound  with  the  hematoxylin  of  the 
logwood,  in  the  fibre  of  the  cloth;  the  more  so,  as  by  adding  a 
solution  of  bichromate  of  potash  to  a  decoction  of  logwood,  on 
being  boiled,  the  liquid  becomes  of  an  intense  black  color. 
It  is,  therefore,  probably  owing  to  a  combination  of  this  black 
matter  and  the  dye  from  logwood,  united  to  oxide  of  tin,  that 
the  tint  of  the  well-known  rich  purple  logwood  blue  is  due.-— 
London  Chemist,  Sept,  1858. 
INVESTIGATION  OF  STRYCHNINE. 
By  P.  SCHUTZENBERGER. 
When  a  mixture  of  sulphate  of  strychnine  and  nitrite  of 
potash  dissolved  in  water  is  boiled,  a  brisk  effervescence  due  to 
the  liberation  of  nitrogen  gas  is  observed.  After  the  reaction 
the  yellowish  liquid  treated  with  ammonia  furnishes  a  light  yel- 
low, flocculent  precipitate. 
The  washed  precipitate  is  dissolved  in  boiling  alcohol.  On 
cooling,  the  liquid  deposits  transparent,  well-defined  crystals  of 
considerable  size  and  of  a  fine  orange-yellow  color ;  they  appear 
to  be  right  prisms  with  a  rectangular  base,  and  with  truncations 
at  the  solid  angles.  The  supernatant  alcohol,  when  concentrated, 
furnishes  a  fresh  deposit  of  separate  prisms  of  a  darker  orange- 
red  color. 
These  two  bodies  form  two  new  alkaloids,  and  represent  two 
degrees  of  oxidation  of  strychnine. 
