358 
A  Ikalo  Ids  of  Pitur  le . 
f  Am.  Tonr. Pharm,- 
\      July,  1881. 
usual  manner.  Tlie  crystals  so  obtained  were  orange-red  octahedral , 
fairly  soluble  in  warm  water,  but  very  easily  soluble  when  even  a 
trace  of  the  free  alkaloid  is  present;  partly  soluble  in  alcohol,  but 
insoluble  in  ether.  To  insure,  as  far  as  possible,  uniformity  of  com- 
position, the  platinum  salts  were  always  prepared  from  the  same  por- 
tion of  alkaloid  with  the  same  solution  of  platinic  chloride,  and  as 
much  as  possible  under  the  same  circumstances;  notwithstanding  this 
the  percentages  of  platinum  and  of  chlorine  obtained  were  never  the 
same  for  the  sahs  prepared  at  different  times,  neither  did  they  fit  in  or 
correspond  with  the  above-mentioned  formula.  The  amount  of  chlo- 
rine was  too  small  for  the  usnal  proportion  of  1  Pt  to  6  CI  met  with 
in  the  normal  doable  salts  of  })latiiium ;  in  some  cases  it  was  even  less 
than  1  :  5.  Tlie  amount  of  platinum  was  determined  in  twenty- 
three  cases  upon  salts  prepared  at  ten  different  times,  but  from  the  same 
snbstance  and  with  the  same  platinic  chloride ;  the  amount  of  Pt 
varied  from  34*15  per  cent,  to  38 "40  per  cent. ;  seven  analyses  yielded 
between  35'35  and  35'55  per  cent.  Pt.  Nine  determinations  of  chlo- 
rine were  made,  and  they  varied  from  31*32  to  36*86  per  cent.  CL 
The  platinum  salt  is  therefore  clearly  not  of  uniform  composition,  or 
else  very  unstable  :  it  undergoes  decomposition  with  loss  of  chlorine 
during  evaporation,  even  when  conducted  under  the  desiccator  without 
the  aid  of  heat. 
The  mercuric  chloride  double  salt,  prepared  by  adding  an  excess  of 
saturated  solution  of  mercuric  chloride  to  a  solution  of  the  hydrochlo- 
ride of  the  alkaloid,  crystallized  well  in  rhombic  plates  and  prisms ; 
the  double  salt  was  crystallized  from  boiling  water,  dried  at  100°C., 
and  the  amount  of  mercury  and  chlorine  determined  in  it  by 
two  analyses,  giving  as  a  mean  63*175  and  24*620.  The  for- 
mula (C6HsN)2HCl+5HgCl2  requires  63*31  per  cent.  Hg  and  24*72; 
per  cent.  CI,  while  the  corresponding  compound  of  nicotina,  CigHj^Ng? 
HCl  +  5HgC]2,  would  require  64*37  per  cent.  Hg  and  25*15  per  cent. 
CI.  Besides  nicotina  is  said  to  form  under  the  same  circumstances 
a  double  salt  containing  4  HgClo  instead  of  5  HgClj.  (  Vide  Watts^ 
"  Dictionary  of  Chemistry,"  vol.  iv,  p.  47.) 
The  above  two  analyses  appear  to  make  it  probable  that  the  true 
formula  of  the  alkaloid  is  (C6HgN)2  or  Ci2HigN2,  i.  e.  double  that 
yielded  by  its  ultimate  analysis,  but  much  importance  cannot,  or 
course,  be  attached  to  such  a  compound  as  (CgHgN)2HCl -f  5HgCl2y, 
in  which  the  amount  of  alkaloid  present  is  so  very  smalL 
