Am. .lour. Pharm  ) 
Dec,  1881.  J 
Alkaloids  from  Nux  Vomica. 
615 
denecl  by  nitric  acid.  Analyses  gave  the  following  results :  C  62*2 
to  62-47,  H  6-77  to  6-79. 
These  analyses  were  made  with  potassium  chroraate  for  al)sorbing 
nitrous  fumes,  as  first  proposed  by  Perkin  ;  probably,  therefore,  they 
are  not  quite  trustworthy,  as  I  did  not  tind  that  process  work  very 
well,  and  had  some  difficulty  in  effecting  complete"  absorption.  I  quote 
them,  however,  as  they  agree  rather  closely  with  those  required  for  the 
g  and  h  igasurines  of  Schiitzenberger,  coming  between  the  percentages 
required  for  the  two  formulae.^  It  seems  very  likely  that  the  various 
igasurines  of  this  experimenter  were  bodies  like  this,  which,  as  I  shall 
presently  show,  is  almost  certainly  nothing  but  brucine  with  some  very 
persistent  impurity.  When  a  portion  was  rendered  alkaline  and 
extracted  with  chloroform,  as  much  as  89*7  per  cent,  was  taken  up  by 
the  chloroform.  In  order  to  examine  the  base,  several  grams  were 
dissolved  in  water,  and  potassium  iodide  was  added  to  the  solution. 
A  copious  precipitate  fell,  which  was  purified  by  recrystallizing  from 
spirit  and  regenerated ;  it  was  then  found  to  contain  70'8  per  cent,  of 
C  and  6*42  per  cent,  of  H.  As  it  had  a  slightly  brown  color  the 
product  was  again  converted  into  hydriodide,  crystallized  and  the  base 
regenerated  and  analyzed,  giving  70'19  per  cent,  of  C  and  6'8  per 
cent,  of  H. 
These  numbers  correspond  so  closely  with  those  required  for  brucine 
that  there  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  nature  of  the  base.  I  may  add  that 
its  reactions  agree  precisely  with  those  of  brucine.  The  proportion  of 
base  extracted  by  chloroform  was  so  high,  and  the  proportion  of  car- 
bon and  hydrogen  so  much  lowered  by  the  small  amount  of  other 
substances  present,  that  it  was  hard  to  imagine  this  could  be  a 
definite  compound  of  brucine  with  any  organic  acid;  I  am  more 
inclined  to  think  that  the  89'7  per  cent,  taken  up  by  chloroform  still 
included  some  impurity,  but  I  had  not  material  enough  to  decide  the 
point.  Notwithstanding  this  opinion,  I  made  careful  search  Avith  the 
object  of  detecting  any  definite  acid  constituent,  by  treating  with  acids 
and  distilling,  and  by  extracting  acidified  solutions  with  ether  and 
other  solvents;  I  met  with  no  success,  however.  I  also  examined  the 
action  of  solutions  of  it  on  various  metallic  salts,  but  although  it  gave 
a  precipitate  with  copper  salts  the  amount  was  too  inconsiderable  to 
offer  any  hope  of  obtaining  any  results  in  that  direction.    In  con- 
^  g  Igasurine,  62*37  per  cent,  of  C  ;  6'9  per  cent,  of  H. 
h  Igasurine,  62*68  per  cent,  of  C  ;  6*47  per  cent,  of  H. 
