ON  NATURAL  ORGANIC  ALKALOIDS. 
439 
ficient  quantity  (about  2  fl.  oz.)  until  the  desired  yellowish-green 
color  is  obtained.  The  mixture  must  be  stirred  up  briskly  after 
the  addition  of  each  drop  of  ammonia. 
Great  care  should  be  taken  not  to  add  an  excess  of  solution 
of  ammonia ;  the  solution  must,  on  the  contrary,  be  slightly 
acid  to  litmus  paper.  The  liquid  is  then  left  to  evaporate  on 
the  water-bath  until  it  acquires  a  syrupy  consistence,  when  it 
is  spread  with  -a  brush  on  glass  plates,  and  placed  in  a  stove  to 
scale. 
Note. — It  sometimes  happens  that  the  solution  of  the  salt  in 
water  has  a  milky  appearance  ;  this  shows  that  there  was  not  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  citric  acid  in  the  preparation  ;  it  is  obvious, 
then,  to  try  a  little  of  it  previous  to  its  concentration.  For  this 
purpose,  take  a  small  quantity  of  the  liquid,  dry  it  on  a  glass 
plate,  and  examine  the  salt  as  to  its  solubility  and  transparence. 
If,  on  dissolving  the  salt  in  water,  the  solution  is  not  found  to 
be  quite  clear,  add  to  the  preparation,  while  it  is  on  the  water- 
bath,  a  few  grains  of  powdered  citric  acid,  and  repeat  the 
process  of  drying,  etc.,  etc.,  until  you  obtain  a  perfectly  trans- 
parent solution. — London  Pharm.  Journ.,  July  1,  1864. 
THE  DETECTION,  DISTINCTIVE  CHARACTERISTICS,  AND 
ESTIMATION  OF  NATURAL  ORGANIC  ALKALOIDS. 
By  M.  Alfred  Yalser.  . 
[The  following  notice  of  a  recently  published  thesis  will  proba- 
bly supply  our  readers  with  a  few  useful  hints  on  the  subject  of 
which  it  treats— Ed.  C.  N.] 
The  thesis  is  divided  into  three  parts.  The  first  gives  the 
means  for  filling  up  the  hiatus  in  Stas's  process  for  morphine, 
and  indicates  a  general  reagent  for  alkaloids.  The  second  part 
treats  of  the  reactions  peculiar  to  each.  The  third  part  con- 
cerns the  determination  of  their  equivalents. 
In  the  first  part  of  his  paper  M.  Valser  clearly  shows  the 
insufficiency  of  Stas's  process,  an  insufficiency  already  pointed 
out  by  MM.  Lefort  and  Reveil  relative  to  the  detection  of  mor- 
phine in  poisoning  cases.  Being  insoluble  in  ether,  morphine 
could  not  be  obtained  free  by  that  method.    The  author  has 
