596  Hyoscine-Scopolamine  Question.        { ^vSeS™' 
To  return,  after  this  little  digression,  to  my  main  topic,  I  would 
once  more  summarize  our  laboratories'  experiences  regarding  the 
latter,  to  wit:  With  due  consideration  of  the  various  solanaceous 
drugs,  and  with  the  use  of  very  considerable  quantities  of  them,  the 
results  so  far  have  failed  to  show  the  possibility  of  obtaining  a  base 
possessing  the  properties  of  hyoscine  and  answering  to  Ladenburg's 
formula  of  C17H23N03.  Thus,  this  whole  question  has  by  this  time 
dwindled  down  almost  exclusively  to  a  controversy  between  O.  Hesse 
and  E.  Schmidt  as  to  the  propriety  of  designating  the  surely-estab- 
lished alkaloid  C17H21N04,  either  as  "  scopolamine  "  or  as  "  hyoscine." 
The  polemics  between  the  two  investigators  named  have,  how- 
ever, recently  extended  into  still  another  chapter  of  the  solanaceae- 
alkaloid  research,  which  bears  close  relations  to  the  one  I  have  here 
discussed.  O.  Hesse  published  an  observation  made  by  him  in  the 
scopolamine  hydrobromate  of  commerce,  to  this  effect :  He  fre- 
quently found  this  salt  to  contain  also  notable  quantities  of  another 
base,  differing  from  scopolamine  by  the  absence  of  optical  rotatory 
power.  This  would,  of  course,  have  the  result  that  such  a  mixed 
salt  would  show  a  smaller  arc  of  rotation  than  that  due  to  the  pure 
scopolamine  hydrobromate. 
He  succeeded  in  isolating  this  inactive  base  and  gave  it  the  name 
of  "  atroscine."  Hesse  argues  against  any  supposition  of  identity  as 
between  his  "  atroscine  "  and  the  so-called  "  inactive  scopolamine," 
found  by  E.  Schmidt.  His  reasons  herefor  are  two :  Firstly,  he  did 
not  succeed  in  obtaining,  by  the  treatment  of  hyoscine  with  alkalies,, 
an  inactive  base  of  equal  composition.  Secondly,  he  claimed,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  the  decrease  in  optical  activity  resulting  in  hyos- 
cine upon  treatment  with  alkalies  is  due  altogether  to  a  splitting  of 
the  hyoscine  into  a  "split-base,"  which  he  calls  "  oscine,"  and 
tropic  or  atropic  acids.  O.  Hesse's  "  oscine "  is  stated  as  being 
identical  with  E.  Schmidt's  split-base  "  scopoline." 
E.  Schmidt,  again,  gives  the  genesis  of  his  "  inactive  scopolamine  "' 
as  being  likewise  brought  about  through  the  action  of  alkalies  on 
scopolamine,  with  the  additional  statement  that  it  can  also  be  pro- 
duced by  using  silver  oxide  instead  of  the  alkalies.  He  states  that 
he  never  encountered  any  "  atroscine  "  in  the  process  of  isolating 
alkaloids  from  commercial  scopolia  roots  or  hyoscyamus  seeds. 
Schmidt  further  explains  that  accordingly  as  the  liquors  from  sco- 
polia root  are  treated  with  less  or  more  intensively-acting  alkalies^ 
