366 
Gleanings  in  Materia  Medica. 
j  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I      July,  1882. 
through  a  single  distillation,  possesses  an  odor  recalling  somewhat  that 
of  chinoline.  I  have  already  previouslj  called  attention  to  a  similar 
smelling  constituent  of  cinchona  bark  ("Berichte/' x.,  2162).  Possibly 
ohinoline,  Avhich  is  known  to  stand  in  very  near  relation  to  cinchonine, 
also  occurs  in  cinchona  barks. — Phar.  Jour,  and  Traris.,  May  6,  1882  ; 
Jrom  Berichte  d.  deutschen  chemischen  Gessellschaft,  xv.,  854. 
GLEANINGS  IN  MATEEIA  MEDICA. 
By  the  Editor. 
Alkaloids  of  Aspidosperma  Quebracho. — Hesse  has  isolated  six 
alkaloids  from  the  bark  of  quebracho  bianco  (see  "Am.  Jour.  Phar./' 
18^1,  p.  169);  but  some  specimens  of  the  bark  contain  only  three. 
The  mixed  alkaloids  are  obtained  by  boiling  the  bark  with  alcohol, 
distilling  off  the  alcohol,  adding  excess  of  caustic  soda  and  extracting 
with  ether  or  chloroform  ;  the  solvent  is  evaporated,  the  residue  treated 
with  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  the  red-brown  solution  filtered  and  precipi- 
tated with  soda. 
Aspidospermine,  C22H3QN2O2,  is  obtained  from  the  mixed  alkaloids  by 
dissolving  them  in  warm  dilute  acetic  acid,  adding  to  the  warm  solu- 
tion ammonia  so  long  as  a  precipitate  becoming  immediately  crystal- 
line results,  and  filtering  at  once.  Or  the  mixed  alkaloids  are  dis- 
solved in  a  little  boiling  alcohol,  when  on  cooling  aspidospermine  and 
quebrachine  crystallize  together  and  are  separated  by  treating  the  alco- 
holic solution  with  hydrochloric  acid  and  evaporating  to  crystalliza- 
tion, when  aspidospermine  remains  in  the  mother  liquor,  is  precipitated 
by  ammonia  and  purified  from  hot  alcohol  or  ligroin  (boiling  between 
70°  and  120°C.)  The  alkaloid  crystallizes  in  pointed  prisms  or  deli- 
€ate  needles  of  dazzling  whiteness,  melts  at  205°  to  206°  C.,  a  small 
portion  subliming,  is  rather  freely  soluble  in  absolute  alcohol,  less 
freely  in  ether,  ligroin  and  petroleum  benzin,  and  freely  in  benzol  and 
chloroform.  It  is  Isevogyre,  contains  no  water  of  crystallization,  has 
no  effect  on  litmus  paper  or  on  ferric  chloride,  and  yields  with  platinic 
chloride  a  blue  precipitate  and  with  perchloric  acid  on  heating  a  fuch- 
sine  red,  but  never  a  blueish  solution.  The  solution  in  concentrated 
sulphuric  acid  is  colorless,  even  in  presence  of  a  little  molybdic  acid, 
and  yields  with  potassium  bichromate  a  red-brown  color,  changing  to 
dark-green. 
Aspidospermine  does  not  neutralize  acids  and  is  partially  withdrawn 
