ACTIVE  CONSTITUENTS  OP  ERGOT  OF  RYE.  195 
which  had  then  completely  separated,  collected  on  a  filter, 
washed,  suspended  in  water,  decomposed  by  hydro-sulphuric 
acid  and  finally  filtered. 
The  filtrate  from  the  mercurious  precipitate  being  similarly 
and  successively  treated  as  at  first  until  no  farther  precipitate 
was  obtained,  and  each  precipitate  marked  or  numbered  accord- 
ing to  its  succession.  Of  the  six  precipitates  thus  obtained,  the 
first  three,  Nos.  1,  2  and  3,  were  greyish  white  and  voluminous, 
and  the  remaining  three,  Nos.  4,  5  and  6,  were  nearly  white 
and  very  dense.  Solutions  Nos,  1  and  2  each  exhibited  the 
color  of  sherry  wine,  and  preserved  an  acid  reaction,  and  on 
evaporation  left  no  crystalline  deposit.  Potassa  did  not 
eliminate  propylamina.  The  solution  was  found  to  consist  of 
Ecbolina  together  with  a  small  quantity  of  Ergotina,  both  in 
combination  with  hydrochloric  acid. 
Solution  No.  3  was  colored  and  reacted  similarly  to  the  pre- 
ceding solutions.  It  turned  quite  dark  during  the  evaporation. 
Liquor  potassse  eliminated  propylamina.  No  Ecbolina  was 
detected.  Ergotina  was  apparently  the  principal  alkaloid 
contained  therein. 
Solutions  Nos.  4,  5  and  6  consisted  principally  of  chloride 
of  propylamina  and  ergotina,  accompanied  by  considerable 
free  hydrochloric  acid. 
Seeing  that  even  fractional  precipitations,  although  success- 
fully employed  for  the  discovery  of  the  two  bases,  did  not 
prove  entirely  successful  to  separate  them  completely  from 
each  other,  the  following  method  has  ultimately  afforded 
more  satisfactory  means  of  isolating  each  alkaloid,  and  depends 
upon  the  property  of  Ergotina,  of  not  being  precipitable  from 
acidulous  solution  by  bichloride  of  mercury,  and  that  propyl- 
amina is  not  precipitated  by  phospho-molybdic  acid. 
A  cold  prepared  infusion  of  Ergot  is  to  be  precipitated  with 
acetate  of  lead,  the  filtered  solution  treated  with  sulphide  of 
hydrogen,  the  filtrate  concentrated,  and  then  finely  powdered 
bichloride  of  mercury  added  and  shaken  after  each  addition, 
as  long  as  a  precipitate  may  be  formed.  This  precipitate, 
after  washing,  decomposing  with  S.  H.,  and  filtering,  will  be 
found  to  contain  the  Ecbolina  alone  in  the  state  of  a  chloride,. 
