134 
INVESTIGATION  OF  STRYCHNIA. 
The  red  base  is  more  oxidized  than  the  orange  one.  They 
are  both  insoluble  in  water,  soluble  in  alcohol  (the  red  one 
more  than  the  other),  and  insoluble  in  ether.  They  contain  no 
water  of  crystallization,  are  decomposed  at  about  572°  F.,  fuse 
on  a  plate  of  platinum,  and  burn  with  a  brilliant  flame.  Their 
taste  is  bitter,  but  less  so  than  that  of  strychnine. 
The  orange  base  dried  at  482°  F.,  loses  nothing  at  a  higher 
temperature,  and  gave  on  analysis, — 
C  62-5 
H  7-06 
It  also  gave  7-05  per  cent,  of  nitrogen,  leading  to  the  formula 
C42H2SN2012  =  C42H22]Sf204_|_6HO_1_02> 
v,   ,  ; 
v  
Strychnine. 
Theory, — 
C  62-37 
H  6-93 
N  6.93 
The  c1  ioroplatinate  gave  16-10  per  cent,  of  platinum ;  the  for- 
mula Ct2H28N2G12Cl  HCPPt  requires  16-2  per  cent.    This  base 
may  be  called  oxy strychnine. 
The  red  base  gave — 
Calculated. 
C  .  .  59-76  60-00 
H  .  .  6-85  6-6 
N  6-52  6-6 
Leading  to  the  formula 
C42I128N20i4==  C42H22N204  x  6HO  x  O4. 
The  chloroplatinate  gave  15-65  per  cent,  of  platinum  ;  cal- 
culated 15-8  per  cent.  This  alkaloid  contains  2  equivalents  of 
oxygen  more  than  the  preceding,  and  may  be  named  binoxy- 
strychnine. 
From  numerous  analyses  of  strychnine,  the  author  concludes 
that  this  body  is  not  constant  in  its  composition.  His  analyses, 
and  those  of  Regnault  made  with  octahedric  strychnine,  agree 
with  the  formula 
C40H22N2O4. 
The  most  common  strychnine,  from  numerous  analyses,  has 
the  formula  adopted,  namely, — 
C42H22N204. 
