138 
American  Tinctura  Quittajce. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
I      March,  1889. 
and  precipitates  on  cooling.  It  is  soluble  in  alcohol ;  sparingly  so  in 
ether.  It  reddens  litmus,  decomposes  the  carbonates,  unites  with  al- 
kalies, and  gives  salts  which  precipitate  the  acetates  of  lead  and  the 
nitrate  of  silver,  but  not  the  acetate  of  copper,  even  with  heat.  It 
combines  with  acids  and  with  bases.  On  submitting  it  to  distillation 
with  alkalies,  and  to  oxidation,  we  became  assured  that  it  belongs  to 
the  pyridine  series.  Its  formula  is  C9H13N03,  thus  differing  from  ty- 
rosin  only  by  having  2H  more.  To  separate  morrhuic  acid,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  exhaust  the  oils  methodically  with  alcohol  at  35°  C.  (95° 
F.),  acidulated  with  5  per  cent,  of  hydrochloric  acid.  The  alcoholic 
liquors  are  saturated  with  carbonate  of  potash  and  distilled  in  vacuo 
at  45°  C.  (113°  F.).  The  residuum  is  again  acidulated,  carried  for  an 
instant  to  100°C.  (212°  F.),  and  again  taken  up  by  alcohol  at  85°  C. 
(185°  F.).  Evaporation  leaves  the  thick,  viscous  oil  which  consti- 
tutes morrhuic  acid. —  Comptes  rendus  ;  JJ  Union  Phar.,  Dec,  1888. 
THE  AMERICAN  TINCTURA  QUILLAJiE.1 
By  J.  Rutherford  Hill. 
On  looking  over  the  "  National  Formulary  of  Unofficinal  Prep- 
arations," issued  by  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  I  was 
struck  by  the  .process  given  for  the  preparation  of  tinctura  quillajse, 
which  is  as  follows  : 
Quillaja,  in  fine  chips   8  troy  ounces. 
Alcohol   1  pint. 
Water   enough  to  make  3  pints. 
Place  the  quillaja  in  a  suitable  vessel,  with  two  (2)  pints  of  water, 
and  boil  for  fifteen  minutes,  then  strain  and  add  enough  water  through 
the  strainer  to  make  the  strained  decoction,  when  cold,  measure  two- 
(2)  pints.  Pour  this  into  a  bottle  containing  the  alcohol,  let  the  mix- 
ture stand  twelve  hours,  then  filter  it  through  paper,  and  add  enough 
water  to  the  filtrate  to  make  it  measure  three  (3)  pints. 
A  footnote  states  that  each  fluid  drachm  represents  10  grains  of 
quillaia.  This  seems  to  imply  that  the  process  is  practically  perfect 
and  that  the  drug  is  completely  exhausted. 
T  Read  before  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain,  at  an  Evening 
Meeting  in  Edinburgh,  Thursday,  January  30;  reprinted  from  Phar.  Jour,  and 
Trans.,  Feb.  9,  p.  626. 
