Am.  'onr.  I'harni.-) 
July,  1881.  I 
Alkaloids  of  Piiurie. 
357 
some  wliite  flakes  beiiip;  left  undissolved.  Metatunostate  of  sodium 
forms  with  both  piturina  and  iiicotina  a  white  amorphous  precipitate, 
soluble  only  in  much  dilute  hydrochloric  acid  when  warmed. 
When  iodine  dissolved  in  ether  is  added  to  an  ethereal  solution  of 
the  alkaloid,  the  fluid  becomes  brownish-red  and  turbid ;  after  a  short 
time  yellowish-red  needles  are  deposited,  the  mother  liquor  being  yel- 
low; these  crystals  are  easily  soluble  in  alcohol,  yielding  a  brownish- 
red  solution  ;  when  the  alcoholic  solution  is  evaporated  at  the  ordinary 
temperature,  indistinct  needles  and  oily  drops  are  left  behind.  When 
this  alcoholic  solution  is  treated  with  caustic  soda  in  the  cold,  a  smell 
similar  to  that  of  iodoform  is  emitted^  not  that  of  the  alkaloid  ;  from 
the  nicotina  compound  nicotina  is  liberated,  according  to  Wertheim 
Watts'  Dictionary  of  Chemistry,"  vol.  iv,  p.  47).  The  iodine  com- 
pound of  piturie  melts  at  about  110°C.,  that  of  nicotina  at  100°C. 
From  coniina,  ])iturina  is  distinguished  by  its  aqueous  solution  not 
becoming  turbid  on  heating  nor  by  the  addition  of  chlorine  water.  It 
differs  from  anilin  by  not  being  colored  by  chloride  of  lime ;  it  differs 
from  picolin  in  specific  gravity  (picolin  being  only '9(313  at  0°C.) ; 
from  pyridin  by  its  reaction  with  (H)pper  sulphate,  the  precipitate 
Cu(0H)2  produced  by  pyridin  with  co]>per  sulphate  redissolves  in  an 
excess  of  the  preci])itant ;  and  it  appears  to  be  distinguished  from  nic- 
otina by  its  reactions  with  platinic  chloride,  gold  chloride,  iodine  and 
mercuric  chloride,  also  by  Palm's  test.  According  to  Palm  Russische 
Zeitschrift  fiir  Pharmacie,"  i,  4  and  Husemann's  ^'Pflanzenstolfe  "),  ni- 
cotina when  gently  warmed  with  a  little  hydrochloric  acid  of  1'12  sp. 
gr.  turns  violet,  and  on  the  addition  of  a  little  strong  nitric  acid  the 
color  changes  to  a  deep  orange.  The  only  sample  of  nicotina  to  be 
obtained  in  Sydney  yielded  the  latter  jiart  of  the  above  test  very 
well ;  the  oranore  beins^  verv  stable,  the  violet  color  was  not  so  well 
marked.  The  piturina  does  not  change  color  at  all,  but  \\dien  more 
heat  is  a])plied  it  becomes  yellow. 
The  composition  of  the  alkalaid  was  found  to  be  Cf;HgN,  which  for- 
nmla  requires 
Theory.  Found. 
C,;  =  72  —    7(>'59  per  cent.  76"56  par  cent 
H„  =  8  8-51  .  "•  8-48 
N  =  14  ^    14-9{)  14-94 
.   94       lOO-OO  9f)'98 
To  confirm  this  fornmla,  a  platimim  double  salt  was  prepared  in  the 
