42  Alcohol  in  the  Titration  of  Alkaloids.  {A%JSJ^f1^.m- 
ALCOHOL  AS  A  SOURCE  OF  ERROR  IN  THE  TITRATION 
OF  ALKALOIDS  AND  ALKALOIDAL  RESIDUES. 
By  Chas.  Caspari,  Jr. 
In  August  last,  the  writer  presented  a  paper  on  the  above  sub- 
ject at  the  Montreal  meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Asso- 
ciation, but  not  content  with  the  results  detailed  therein,  decided,  upon 
his  return  home,  to  investigate  the  matter  more  fully  with  the  view 
of  presenting  a  second  paper  on  the  same  subject  at  the  next  annual 
meeting.  Such  a  paper  has  been  made  unnecessary  by  the  publica- 
tion of  an  article,  written  by  Mr.  L.  F.  Kebler,  in  the  December, 
1896,  issue  of  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  wherein  is 
demonstrated  the  fact  that  strictly  pure  alcohol  does  not  interfere 
appreciably  with  the  titration  of  acids  by  alkalies  in  the  presence  of 
color  indicators,  except  in  the  case  of  methyl  orange  and  a  few 
others.  Having  carried  out  a  series  of  titrations  with  strictly  pure 
alcohol  prepared  by  himself,  using  haematoxylin,  Brazil  wood  and 
cochineal  as  indicators,  the  writer  desires  herewith  to  corroborate 
the  statements  made  by  Mr.  Kebler,  that  satisfactory  results  can  be 
obtained  with  such  alcohol  quite  as  well  as  with  water. 
The  writer,  in  his  paper  (see  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy, 
September,  1896,  p.  473).  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  alcohol 
and  absolute  alcohol,  as  available  in  the  market,  exercise  a  decided 
influence  on  color  indicators  and  may  prove  the  fruitful  source  of 
error  in  volumetric  work,  the  statement  being  supported  by  a  large 
number  of  tabulated  results  obtained  in  actual  work.  This  was 
probably  the  first  time  that  attention  had  been  publicly  called  to 
this  matter,  and  inquiry  made  at  the  time  of  several  leading  phar- 
macists and  chemists  failed  to  elicit  any  information  or  experimental 
data.  The  absolute  alcohol  used  in  the  writer's  experiments  last 
summer  and  stated  to  have  a  slight  alkaline  reaction  was  of  E.  R. 
Squibb  &  Sons'  manufacture,  and  taken  from  a  fresh  bottle.  That 
the  error  liable  to  occur  from  the  use  of  commercial  alcohol  will 
be  greater  or  less  in  proportion  to  the 'impurities  present  in  the 
alcohol  is,  of  course,  true,  and  the  question  arises  :  Has  strictly 
pure  alcohol  always  been  used  in  volumetric  work,  and  have 
analysts  been  in  the  habit  of  preparing  it  specially  for  such 
work,  the  market  (at  least  to  the  writer's  knowledge)  not  pro- 
viding the  article  ?    The  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Indi- 
