Am.  Jour.  Pbarui.  | 
Feb.,  1882.  j 
Isolation  of  Strgchnine, 
53 
a  solid  crystalline  mass  is  formed.  Heated  with  nitric  acid,  orange- 
yellow  crystals  are  produced,  nitrous  acid  fumes  being  at  the  same 
time  given  off,  and  when  treated  with  cold  nitric  acid,  crystallization 
takes  place,  forming  methyl-nitrosalicylate.  Treated  with  muriatic 
^icid,  after  standing  several  days,  white  crystals  are  formed  in  quantity. 
On  adding  1  drop  of  the  oil  to  1  ounce  of  lime  water,  the  odor 
entirely  disappeared,  and  a  very  voluminous  white  precipitate  of 
metliyl-salicylate  of  calcium  occurred,  the  same  as  with  oil  of  teaberry, 
previously  noticed  by  Mr.  Wellcome  ("Am.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1875,  p. 
426).  With  sulphuric  acid  a  dark  red  color  is  produced.  This  would 
account  for  the  oil  being  red  when  coal-mine  water  is  used  in  its 
extraction.  Treated  with  iodine  the  color  becomes  much  darker,  and 
the  oil  of  a  syrupy  consistence.  In  all  respects,  except  the  slight  dif- 
ference in  the  boiling  point,  the  oil  appears  to  be  identical  with  that 
of  oil  of  teaberry. 
Mr.  Seidle  has  no  difficulty  in  disposing  of  his  oil ;  it  is  put  up  in 
25-pound  cans,  shipped  principally  to  New  York,  and  sold  as  oil  of 
wintergreen,  no  matter  whether  it  is  made  of  birch,  birch  and  winter- 
green,  or  wintergreen.  At  the  present  time  he  is  paid  $2.65 
pound,  and  makes  about  30  pounds  per  week,  amounting  to  $79.50. 
The  expense  incurred  is  about  $25.00,  leaving  a  net  profit  of  about 
$50.00. 
It  would  seem  proper  that  the  oil  be  sold  as  oil  of  birch,  and  not  as 
oil  of  wintergreen.  Whilst  the  sale  of  it  as  oil  of  teaberry  is  not 
intended  to  deceive  anyone,  since  it  is  believed  to  be  identical  with 
the  oil  of  gaultheria,  I  do  not  apprehend  any  difficulty  in  finding  a 
ready  market  for  it  if  sold  as  pure  oil  of  birch  ;  in  fact,  I  am  of  the 
impression  that  a  demand  could  easily  be  made  for  it  if  sold  by  its 
proper  name.  The  volatile  oil  of  birch  bark  would  even  seem  to 
deserve  a  place  among  the  officinal  drugs  in  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
Isolation  of  Strychnine. — A.  H.  Allen  recommends  a  mixture 
of  equal  volumes  of  ether  and  chloroform  for  the  separation  of  strych- 
nine recently  precipitated  from  an  aqueous  solution.  Ether  alone  has 
very  little  solvent  power,  and  chloroform  does  not  readily  separato 
from  the  aqueous  liquid. — Analysty  1881,  p.  141. 
