THE  FUSION  POINT  OF  QUINIA. 
567 
Query :  Does  not  the  colorless  solution  contain  the  iodine  in 
a  combined  state,  and  is  not  therefore  the  assertion  that  for  ex- 
ternal applications  iodine  ought  to  be  uncombined,  premature 
and  unfounded  ?  J.  M.  M. 
ON  THE  WATER  OF  CRYSTALLIZATION  AND  THE  FUSING  POINT 
OF  QUINIA. 
By  R.  Kiessling. 
The  statements  on  these  subjects  are  very  defective  and  con- 
tradictory. Liebig  states  that  air-dry  quinia  loses  at  120°  C, 
(248°  F.)  14.2  per  ct.=  8  equiv  .water,  and  that  it  fuses  easily ^to 
an  oily  liquid,  which  on  cooling  congeals  to  a  transparent  mass. 
According  to  Limpricht,  quinia  with  3HO  fuses  at  120°  C.  to 
an  oily  liquid.  In  Hartung-Schwarzkopf  s  Chemistry  of  the 
Organic  Alkaloids,  it  is  related  that  the  flocculent  and  the  crys- 
tallized quinia  contain  1  equiv.  water,  which  escapes  at  a  moder- 
ate heat  in  the  water  bath,  after  which  the  crystals  fall  to  a 
white  powder  ;  quinia  fuses  at  about  150°  C.  to  an  oily  liquid. 
The  author  prepared  some  quinia  from  the  sulphate  ;  the  air- 
dry  alkaloid  was  exposed  to  a  heat  of  212°  F.,  when  it  lost  3-925 
per  ct.;  from  212  to  302°  it  sustained  a  farther  loss  of  1-925 
per  ct.  No  further  loss  occurred  on  heating  to  392°  ;  the  whole 
loss  was  therefore  5-830  per  ct.  or  2-003  per  ct.  of  the  alkaloid 
dried  at  212°.  Quinia=C20  H12  N02  +  3HO  contains  in  100 
parts  63-49  C,  6-35  H,  7-41  N,  8-46  O,  14-29  HO.  The  loss 
below  302°  would  therefore  be  a  little  over  1  equiv.  But  from 
the  amount  of  nitrogen  found  by  analysis,  the  author  concludes, 
that  quinia  dried  at  212°  contains  3HO  and  that  the  loss  sus- 
tained by  the  alkaloid  on  heating,  is  occasioned  by  hygroscopic 
water.  The  author  obtained  7-160  per  ct.  nitrogen.*  The  loss  of 
weight  at  a  higher  temperature,  the  author  ascribes  to  a  slight 
volatilization  of  quinia. 
Quinia  is  rendered  soft  at  a  temperature  between  80  and  90° 
C,  (176 — 194°  F.;)  in  three  experiments  the  author  has  found 
*This  statement  appears  to  require  further  investigation,  as  the  analy- 
ses of  Liebig,  Reguault,  Laurent  and  Strecker  are  all  at  direct  variance 
with  it.    See  Amer.  Jour.  Pharm,  xxvii,  page  242. 
