6 
AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  ACONITE  ROOT. 
soluble  in  strong  ether,  the  liquid  was  agitated  with  two  fluid- 
ounces  of  washed  ether  to  remove  the  oleoresin  ;  after  decanting, 
the  washing  was  repeated.  The  aconite  liquor  was  now  treated 
with  an  excess  of  solution  of  ammonia  to  liberate  the  aconitia, 
and  the  alkaline  mixture  washed  by  agitation  and  decantation 
with  three  separate  portions  of  ether,  of  two  fluidounces  each. 
The  ethereal  liquids,  united,  were  evaporated  spontaneously  in  a 
tared  capsule  :  the  residue  weighed  sixty  grains,  and  was  dark 
colored,  strongly  alkaline  and  not  entirely  hard,  owing  to  a  little 
oleoresin  present  that  had  not  been  completely  removed  by  the  pre- 
liminary washing.  The  impure  mass  was  mixed  with  a  fluid- 
ounce  of  distilled  water,  and  diluted  sulphuric  acid  carefully 
dropped  in,  with  the  application  of  heat,  until  the  acid  ceased  to  be 
neutralized,  and  the  liquid  remained  slightly  acicl.  A  residue  of 
dark  brown  oleoresin  remained.  The  fact  of  this  occurring 
shows  the  importance  of  well  washing  the  solution  before  separat- 
ing the  aconitia.  The  solution  of  impure  sulphate  of  aconitia 
was  now  filtered  and  the  filter  carefully  washed.  The  filtrate 
weighed  585  grains  troy.  To  ascertain  the  aconitia  strength  of 
this  liquid,  it  was  assayed  by  the  process  of  Prof.  F.  F.  Mayer, 
(Arner.  Jour.  Pharni.,  vol.  xxxv.  p.  23,)  with  iodohydrargyrate 
of  potassium.  Five  grains  of  this  solution  diluted,  required 
sixty-eight  grains  of  the  test  liquor,  a  preliminary  trial  having 
been  made  to  get  an  idea  of  the  strength  of  the  solution.  Then 
as  68  grs.  of  test  liquor  represent  -36312  gr.  of  aconitia  present 
in  5  grains  of  the  solution  of  sulphate  of  aconitia,  therefore 
585  grains  equal  42-483  grs.  of  aconitia  from  5000  grains  of  the 
root,  or  nearly  0-85  per  cent,  (585  —  5  =  117  X  -36312  — 
42-483.) 
The  residual  liquor  after  the  extraction  of  the  aconitia,  was 
then  treated  with  an  ounce  of  chloroform  and  a  little  more  am- 
monia, but  owing  to  the  ether  present  and  the  density  of  the  ex- 
tractive solution  it  did  not  separate.  To  effect  its  separation, 
sufficient  ether  was  added  to  make  the  mixed  chloroform  and 
ether  lighter  than  the  extractive  solution,  when  it  was  decanted, 
evaporated,  and  heated  with  a  fluidounce  of  water.  The  addi- 
tion of  diluted  sulphuric  acid  liberated  a  bulky  hydrated  oleo- 
resin ous  precipitate  which,  on  standing,  gradually  lost  its  water 
