2&m.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Oct ,  1878 
Vinum  Digestivum. 
47 1 
•chloroform  and  hot  alcohol.  The  alkaloid  has  an  alkaline  reaction  on 
litmus  paper,  is  soluble  in  strong  muriatic  acid,  not  colored  by  nitric 
•acid,  and  when  heated  with  strong  sulphuric  acid  a  light  purple  color 
is  produced. 
On  adding  to  the  neutral  mother  liquor  of  hydrastia  an  excess  of  am- 
monia, a  dark-yellow  precipitate  was  obtained,  which  crystallized  from 
alcohol,  the  crystals  being  orange-yellow.  This  alkaloid  dissolved  in 
strong  hydrochloric  and  nitric  acid  without  change  of  color,  and  in  sul- 
phuric acid  with  a  light-yellow.  It  is  insoluble  in  cold  and  hot  ether  and 
in  chloroform,  but  dissolves  in  hot  water  and  alcohol,  and  has  an  acrid 
hitter  taste.  Tested  with  solution  of  iodine,  in  the  same  manner  as  ber- 
berina,  light  brown-colored  spangles  were  obtained,  entirely  different 
from  those  of  the  berberina  test.  This  alkaloid  was  first  noticed  by  A. 
K.  Hale  (1873),  and  further  described  by  J.  C.  Burt  (1875).  As  yet 
it  has  not  been  named,  and  it  is  proposed  to  call  it  Xanthopuccina,  from 
its  yellow  color  and  one  of  the  common  names  of  hydrastis,  yellow 
puccoon. 
PROCTER'S  "VINUM  DIGESTIVUM." 
"Nobody  will  ever  question  the  right  of  a  dealer  or  manufacturer  to 
'bring  his  goods  to  the  notice  of  the  public  by  way  of  advertisement, 
but  when  a  manufacturer  uses  his  advertisement  to  extol  his  prepara- 
tion at  the  expense'of  another  manufacturer,  and  thereby  attempts  to 
damage  the  latter  one,  such  conduct,  I  think,  is  unfair,  to  say  the  least ; 
particularly  so,  when  by  his  statements  he  tries  to  mislead  the  judg- 
ment of  others. 
Wm.  Procter,  Jr.,  Co.  say  in  their  advertisement  of  Vinum 
digestivum  that  1  fluidounce,  mixed  with  20  drops  of  hydrochloric  acid 
and  4  ounces  of  water,  dissolve  out  of  600  grains  of  coagulated  albu- 
men at  least  500,  and  deduct  therefrom  that  the  Vinum  digestivum  is 
six  times  stronger  than  SchefFer's  liquid  pepsin. 
Wm.  Procter,  Jr.,  Co.  have  commenced  manufacturing  pepsin 
almost  immediately  after  I  had  published  my  process,  and  therefore  I 
think  it  impossible  that  they  should  be  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  one  and 
the  same  quantity  of  pepsin  digests  different  quantities  of  albumen, 
according  to  the  smaller  or  larger  quantity  of  acidulated  water  in  which 
the  pepsin  is  dissolved. 
When   1  fluidounce  of  SchefFer's  liquid  pepsin  is  mixed  with  4 
