Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
December,  1902.  J 
Color-Compounds. 
58s 
A  very  small  amount  of  a  yellow  color  body  was  obtained  from 
Stylophorum  diphyllum  by  a  slight  modification  of  the  above  method. 
Qualitative  tests  made  with  this  substance  led  the  writer  to  believe 
in  the  presence  of  berberine  instead  of  a  new  principle.  The  amount 
at  hand,  however,  was  too  small  to  warrant  positive  statements.  In 
order  to  more  fully  study  this  interesting  substance,  about  eighty 
pounds  of  the  dried  root  of  Stylophorum  diphyllum  was  extracted 
by  the  ammonia-chloroform  method,  which  consists  in  moistening 
the  dry  drug  with  ammonia  water  for  the  purpose  of  releasing  the 
alkaloids  from  their  natural  combinations  in  the  plant,  drying  at 
room-temperature,  and  then  exhausting  with  chloroform.  The  white 
alkaloids  are  very  soluble  in  chloroform  while  the  yellow  coloring 
matter  is  only  slightly  soluble. 
The  chloroform  continued  to  slowly  dissolve  the  yellow  coloring 
matter  even  after  all  of  the  white  alkaloids  had  been  removed. 
After  the  chloroformic  extract  had  been  removed  from  the  receiver, 
it  was  noticed  that  a  thin  coating  of  brownish-yellow  color  had 
accumulated  on  the  wall  of  the  vessel.  A  little  was  removed  with 
a  spatula  and  boiled  with  water,  the  latter  becoming  yellow.  Dilute 
nitric  acid  almost  completely  precipitated  the  yellow  coloring  matter 
in  the  form  of  fine  needles.  Potassium  iodide  precipitated  the  color 
so  completely  that  the  supernatant  liquid  was  absolutely  without 
color.  This  reaction  pointed  to  the  existence  of  a  salt  of  some  base 
in  which  the  acid  transposed  with  the  hydriodic  acid  of  the  potas- 
sium iodide.  Gordin  has  shown  that  berberine  breaks  up  chloroform 
with  the  formation  of  hydrochloric  acid,  the  latter  uniting  to  form 
the  hydrochloride  of  berberine.  The  same  is  true  with  this  color 
compound,  for  when  the  aqueous  solution  was  treated  with  nitric 
acid  and  to  the  almost  colorless  filtrate  silver  nitrate  added,  a  white 
precipitate  formed  which  readily  dissolved  in  ammonia  water. 
Enough  distilled  water  was  now  poured  into  the  receiver  to 
completely  cover  the  coating,  then  heated  for  several  hours,  and 
the  liquid  filtered.  The  yellow  solution  of  the  hydrochloride 
was  precipitated  with  dilute  nitric  acid,  the  precipitate  collected  on 
a  filter  and  thoroughly  washed  with  water.  It  was  then  dissolved 
in  hot,  75  per  cent,  alcohol,  slightly  cooled  and  dilute  sulphuric  acid 
added  in  excess.  Two  volumes  of  ether  were  added,  the  whole 
shaken  and  set  aside  for  several  hours.  Fine  needles  of  the  sulphate 
formed  in  considerable  abundance.    By  purifying  several  times,  the 
