404 
Quinine  Jesting. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\      August,  1887. 
small,  will  be  partially  precipitated  even  in  the  presence  of  free 
hydrochloric  acid.  The  dispenser  should  therefore  direct  the  bottle 
to  be  shaken,  for  however  bright  the  mixture  may  be  when  first  made 
up,  a  precipitate,  dangerous  because  of  its  weight,  may  separate  after 
the  lapse  of  some  little  time. — Phar.  Jour.  &  Trans.  June  11th,  1887, 
p.  1010.  
QUININE  TESTING. 1 
By  Dr.  0.  Hesse. 
The  subject  of  quinine  testing  has  recently  been  made  prominent 
by  the  circumstance  that  the  long-known  presence  of  cinchonidine 
sulphate  in  commercial  quinine  sulphate  has  been  again  discovered  by 
De  Vrij,  and  an  importance  has  been  attached  by  him  to  his  dis- 
covery which  it  does  not  possess,  and  probably  will  never  acquire. 
But  the  vehement  outcry  raised  by  De  Vrij  as  to  this  fact,  supported 
by  the  incorrect  results  he  had  obtained  by  the  optical  method  of 
testing,  has  at  least  had  the  effect  of  directing  more  critical  attention 
to  the  test  of  the  German  Pharmacopoeia,  the  defects  of  which  I  had 
previously  pointed  out.  Though  Vulpius  some  weeks  ago  expressed 
the  opinion  that  the  problem  in  question  had  been  solved  by  means 
of  Schafer's  oxalate  test,  it  is  evident,  from  the  fact  of  Schafer  having 
very  soon  supplemented  that  test  by  the  tetra-sulphate  test,  which 
was  represented  as  giving  better  results  than  the  oxalate  test,  that  it 
was  not  altogether  free  from  defect. 
In  this  position  of  the  matter,  and  in  order  to  satisfy  the  demands 
made  upon  me,  it  appeared  appropriate  that  I  should  take  up  the 
discussion.  But  before  entering  more  in  detail  upon  the  subject  of 
quinine  testing,  I  think  it  desirable  that  I  should  endeavor  to  answer 
the  question  as  to  what  admixtures  of  alkaloids  may  be  expected  to 
obtain  in  the  manufacture  of  quinine  sulphate,  and  to  inquire  to  what 
extent  there  may  be  any  justification  for  the  assertions  of  De  Vrij 
that  the  therapeutic  value  of  quinine  sulphate  is  reduced  by  the  pres- 
ence in  it  of  these  possible  admixtures. 
Chemically  pure  quinine  sulphate,  free  even  from  hydroquinine, 
crystallizes  in  heavy  needles,  according  to  my  observation.  By  means 
of  certain  mechanical  devices  it  may  indeed  be  obtained  in  a  some- 
1  From  the  Pharrnaceutische  Zeitung.  Reprinted  from  Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans., 
May  28, 1887. 
