Am.  Jour.  Pliarm. ) 
Jan.,  1881.  j 
Barh  of  Alstonia  Speetabilis. 
31 
THE  BAKK  OF  ALSTONIA  SPECTABILIS. 
By  O.  Hesse. 
Alstonia  bark,  the  cortex  Alstonise"  of  pliarmacognosists,  is  nearly 
allied  to  dita  bark.  This  bark,  which  in  Java  is  called  '^poele/'  comes 
from  the  Alstonia  spedabilis,  R.Br.,  a  species  which  from  its  charac- 
teristic properties  has  been  named  by  De  Candolle,  Blaberopus  vene- 
natus.  This  Alstonia  grows  in  Timor,  the  Moluccas,  and  in  the  eastern 
parts  of  Java,  especially  in  the  neighborhood  of  Malang. 
Wiggers,  on  his  Pharmacognosie,''  {"  Pharmakognosie,^^  5th  edit. 
1864,  p.  358 j,  gives  an  extremely  true  description  of  this  bark,  to 
which  I  would  refer. 
Poele  bark  differs  from  dita  bark  not  alone  by  its  extraordinarily  bit- 
ter taste,  but  also  in  its  anatomical  structure.  For  comparison  a  speci- 
men of  dita  bark  was  obtained,  which  was  apparently  stem  bark,  and 
a  branch  bark  of  the  other  kind.  Herr  Professor  Ahles,  who  has 
examined  both  barks  microscopically,  kindly  tells  me  that  the  differ- 
ence in  the  structure  of  the  two  barks. does  not  depend  alone  upon 
their  age,  but  also  upon  the  peculiarities  of  the  respective  plants. 
Formerly  the  poele  bark  was  used  in  Java  against  fever  with  favor- 
able results,  and  in  Batavia  especially  it  came  much  into  use  for  this 
purpose.  Apothecary  Scharlee  (^^  Geneeskundige  Tijdsclirift  voor 
Nederl.  Indie,'^  vol.  x,  p.  209,  1863,)  there  examined  this  bark  and 
found  in  it  a  special  alkaloid,  which  he  named  "  alstonine.'^  This  was 
occasionally  prepared  in  Batavia,  but  does  not  appear  to  have  ever 
eome  into  use  either  in  the  hospitals  or  in  private  practice. 
As  the  name  "alstonine^^  had  already  been  given  to  a  substance 
obtained  from  the  Australian  Alstonia,  I  have  before  proposed  that 
Scharlee's  alkaloid  might  be  named  "  alstonaniine.''  In  the  following 
remarks  I  shall  use  this  name  for  the  alkaloid  in  question. 
Scharlee  obtained  the  alkaloid  by  extracting  the  coarsely  powdered 
bark  with  alcohol,  and  after  previous  filtration  precipitating  the  tinc- 
ture with  tannic  acid.  The  white  flocculent  tannate  was  washed  with 
water,  suspended  in  alcohol,  and  decomposed  with  freshly  precipitated 
lead  hydrate.  The  alcoholic  solution,  upon  evaporation  over  sulphuric 
acid,  yielded  the  alkaloid  in  brilliant  oblique  rhombs  and  prisms.  In 
its  reactions  it  presented  relatively  great  similarity  to  ditamine.  But 
from  this  alkaloid  it  differs,  as  also  from  echitenine,  by  its  power  of 
easily  crystallizing. 
