124 
Veratrum  Alkaloids. 
Am  .Jour.  Pharm. 
Mar.,  1878. 
left.  The  alkaline  filtrate  from  the  above  precipitate  was  agitated  with 
chloroform,  this  solution  separated  and  the  choloform  evaporated,  leav- 
ing an  amorphous  light-yellowish  residue,  B. 
A  proved  to  be  jervia,  containing  some  veratroidia,  while  B  was  a 
mixture  of  veratroidia  with  some  jervia.  A  was  dissolved  in  dilute 
acetic  acid,  filtered  and  mixed  with  dilute  sulphuric  acid  until  a  distinct 
turbidity  appeared.  The  yellowish-white  granular  precipitate,  collected 
after  several  hours,  was  jervia  sulphate  not  yet  quite  pure.  The  filtrate 
was  rendered  alkaline  by  ammonia  and  agitated  with  chloroform  which 
left  but  a  slight  amorpnous  pale-yellow  residue. 
B  was  contaminated  with  wax,  and  contained  so  little  jervia  that  its 
solution  in  acetic  acid  gave  no  precipitate  with  sulphuric  acid  ;  through 
an  accident  it  was  lost. 
The  resin  collected  as  above  from  the  concentrated  liquid,  after  dilu- 
tion with  .water,  still  contained  alkaloid.  To  obtain  this,  Bullock's 
method  ("Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1876,  p.  147)  was  tried  with  indifferent 
success.  The  powdered  resin  now  mixed  with  an  equal  weight  of 
lime,  enough  water  was  added  to  produce  a  soft  mass,  and  this  dried  at 
40°C  (i04°F.)  From  the  powdered  lime  resin  soap  the  alkaloid  could 
be  extracted  with  ether,  but  hot  85  per  cent,  alcohol  was  also  found 
serviceable.  The  alcohol  was  partly  distilled  off,  then  dilute  acetic  acid 
added  and  all  alcohol  evaporated  ;  the  filtrate  was  treated  with  sodium 
carbonate,  the  precipitate  C  washed,  freed  from  lime  by  dissolving  in 
alcohol,  and  this  solution  evaporated. 
The  alkaline  filtrate  from  C  was  agitated  with  chloroform,  which, 
on  evaporation,  left  an  amorphous  light-colored  residue,  consisting  of 
veratroidia  with  a  little  jervia. 
C,  consisting  of  veratroidia  with  larger  quantities  of  jervia,  was  dis- 
solved in  dilute  acetic  acid,  the  solution  divided  into  three  parts,  which 
were  precipitated  respectively  with  muriatic  acid,  sp.  gr.  1*2,  nitric  acid, 
sp.gr.  1*13  and  diluted  sulphuric  acid  (1  to  7  water).  The  filtrates 
were  mixed  and  marked  Z),  the  brown-red  soft  granular  precipitates 
were,  after  Bullock's  recommendation,  freed  from  resin  with  95  per 
cent,  alcohol,  and  the  residue  dissolved  in  boiling  strong  alcohol,  previ- 
ously diluted  with  an  equal  part  of  water.  The  filtered  solutions  left 
on  spontaneous  evaporation,  crystals  agreeing  with  those  figured  by 
Bullock  and  by  Wormley  (loc.  cit.) 
Pure  jervia  was  obtained  from  the  nitrate  by  treating  it  with  a  warm 
