216       Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.     { Am-AJpS  m*?™' 
quinine,  which  reacts  whether  as  an  alkaloid  or  as  a  salt,  differing 
in  many  respects  from  either  cupreine  or  quinine. 
ESTIMATION  OF  MORPHINE  IN  OPIUM  AND  ITS  PRINCIPAL  PREPARATIONS. 
Al.  Grandval  and  H.  \jd]o\xK(Jour.  de  Pharm.  et  de  Chim.  [6],  5, 
153)  recommend  a  process  for  the  estimation  of  morphine  which 
they  claim  is  easy  and  rapid  of  execution,  and  yields  a  pure  white 
morphine. 
Opium  is  estimated  by  taking  10  grammes,  triturating  in  a  glass 
mortar  with  40  grammes  of  distilled  water,  until  the  drug  is  finely 
divided,  throwing  on  a  folded  filter  and  washing  the  mortar  with  40 
grammes  of  water,  which  are  also  poured  on  the  filter.  The  mass  is 
allowed  to  drain  well,  the  filter  and  its  contents  are  then  returned  to 
the  mortar  and  triturated  with  40  grammes  of  water  added  in  seve- 
ral portions.  The  whole  is  then  poured  on  a  plain  filter  and  washed 
with  water  until  the  washings  are  free  from  color  and  taste.  The 
filtered  liquid  and  washings  are  then  evaporated  on  a  water-bath  to 
13  grammes;  to  this  residue  are  added  13  grammes  of  95 0  alcohol, 
and  the  mixture  is  allowed  to  stand  a  half  hour  for  the  sulphate 
and  meconate  of  calcium  to  deposit ;  it  is  then  filtered  through  a 
small  filter  moistened  with  6o°  alcohol,  and  the  filter  and  precipitate 
are  washed  with  alcohol  applied  drop  by  drop,  so  that  not  more  than  10 
grammes  of  alcohol  have  been  used  when  the  washing  is  complete. 
The  edges  of  the  filter  are  kept  from  drying  during  the  washing  by 
covering  the  funnel  with  a  watch  crystal.  Ammonia  is  next  added, 
drop  by  drop,  to  the  liquid  until  the  odor  is  just  apparent,  and  the 
whole  is  agitated  for  some  minutes,  then  set  aside  for  twelve  hours 
in  a  cool  place.  The  precipitate  of  morphine  and  narcotine  is  col- 
lected on  a  plain  filter,  previously  dried  at  1000,  tared  and  moistened 
with  alcohol  of  6o°.  When  the  liquid  has  run  through,  the  precipi- 
tate is  washed  with  alcohol  of  400  until  the  filtrate  runs  colorless, 
when  not  more  than  25  c.c.  should  have  been  used.  The  filter  and 
its  contents  are  then  dried  at  1000,  weighed  and  returned  to  the 
funnel,  where  5  c.c.  of  ether  are  added  in  order  to  permit  the  mor- 
phine being  moistened  by  the  chloroform ;  then  10  grammes  of 
chloroform  are  added,  which  dissolve  the  narcotine.  Finally  the 
morphine  and  filter  are  dried  at  100°  and  weighed.  The  morphine, 
being  in  the  state  of  hydrate  and  crystalline,  is  not  dissolved  by  the 
chloroform,  which  only  dissolves  morphine  when  in  the  state  of 
anhydride. 
