DETERMINATION  OF  QUINIA  IN  PERUVIAN  BARK.  565 
want  of  employment  in  the  country  districts,  were  employed  on 
this  task,  the  opium  necessary  for  medical  purposes  might  be 
entirely  grown  in  France.  4.  The  growing  of  opium  might  be- 
come very  profitable  in  France,  where  poppy-oil  is  manufactured 
to  the  amount  of  from  25,000,000f.  to  30,000,000f.,  and  where 
it  would,  consequently,  be  easy  to  add  a  new  branch  to  that 
trade  by  the  extraction  of  opium ;  and  it  might  even,  in  course 
of  time,  become  an  article  of  exportation.  Home-grown  opium 
has  been  tried,  at  M.  Roux's  request,  by  M.  Duval,  first  chief 
Navy  Surgeon  at  Brest,  and  found  to  answer  very  well,  owing 
to  the  qantity  of  morphine  it  contains. — Lon.  Pharm.  Journ. 
Aug.  1859. 
ON  THE  DETERMINATION  OF  QUINIA  IN  PERUVIAN  BARK. 
By  R.  Kleist,  Chief  Apothecary  of  the  Staff. 
One  ounce  of  the  bark  in  coarse  powder  is  digested  for  24 
hours  at  112°  F.,  and  this  is  repeated  four  times,  or  until 
thoroughly  exhausted,  with  water  containing  in  17  ounces  4 
scruples  of  muriatic  acid ;  the  first  time  5,  every  other  time  4  oz. 
of  the  acidulated  water  being  employed.  The  clear  liquors  are 
precipitated  by  caustic  soda ;  the  precipitate  is  after  two  hours 
re  dissolved  in  muriatic  acid  to  entirely  separate  the  cinchotan- 
nic  acid,*  heated,  and  after  cooling,  the  tannin*  is  separated  by 
filtration,  the  filtrate  is  precipitated  by  caustic  soda,  the  precipi- 
tate collected  upon  a  filter,  the  moisture  pressed  out  between 
folds  of  bibulous  paper,  and,  while  still  moist,  together  with  the 
filter  put  in  a  wide  mouth  (opodeldoc)  vial;  it  is  then  repeatedly 
shaken  with  chloroform  until  completely  exhausted,  so  that  a 
little  of  the  last  portion  when  evaporated  upon  a  glass  plate 
leaves  no  stain  behind.  To  avoid  loss,  the  chloroform  solution 
is  not  filtered  off,  but  decanted  from  the  sediment,  and  then 
evaporated  in  a  small  dish  which  has  been  carefully  tared,  when 
the  cinchona  alkaloids  remain  behind. 
By  the  experiments  made  with  many  different  kinds  of  Peru- 
vian bark,  it  has  been  ascertained,  that  in  all  cases,  if  the 
*In8tead  of  tannin,  coloring  matter  or  cinchona  red  appears  thus  to  be 
separated. 
