578 
A.  New  Double  Iodide. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec,  1878. 
From  these  results  it  is  evident  that  the  salt  is  a  compound  of  tri-iodide 
of  bismuth  and  hydriodate  of  quinia,  in  the  proportion  of  two  mole- 
cules of  the  former  to  one  of  the  latter  substance,  and  it  would  there- 
fore have  the  formula  (BiI3)2C20H24N2O2.HI. 
The  theoretical  and  actual  results  bear  the  following  relations : 
Calculated.  Found. 
Bismuth,        ....       2,57  26*2 
Quinia,    .               .               .               .               19*9  20*2 
Iodine,           ....        54-4  53-4 
The  salt  is  very  sparingly  soluble  in  cold,  but  more  freely  in  hot 
water. 
Rectified  spirit  dissolves  it  slightly  in  the  cold,  but  very  readily  when 
warmed. 
It  is  completely  taken  up  by  an  alcoholic  solution  of  potassium 
iodide,  forming  a  brilliant  crimson  solution. 
It  is  decomposed  by  the  stronger  acids  with  liberation  of  iodine. 
Digested  in  strong  solution  of  ammonia,  its  color  is  destroyed,  and  an 
insoluble  residue  of  oxide  of  bismuth  and  quinia  remains. 
Gradually  heated  in  a  porcelain  crucible,  it  at  first  fuses  to  a  shining 
purplish-black  mass,  and  as  the  temperature  increases,  fumes  of  iodine 
together  with  scarlet  colored  vapors  are  evolved,  which  condense  upon 
a  cold  surface,  in  a  particolored  deposit,  which  presents  under  the 
microscope  a  crystalline  structure. 
When  a  few  grains  of  the  salt  are  rubbed  upon  paper  and  gently 
warmed,  like  the  double  iodide  of  mercury  and  copper,  it  becomes 
black,  regaining  its  original  color  gradually,  if  allowed  to  cool  sponta- 
neously, and  instantly  if  the  paper  be  laid  upon  something  cold,  such 
as  a  steel  knife  or  bottle  of  water. 
Whether  this  compound  possesses  any  special  medicinal  value  is  a 
point  which,  of  course,  experiment  can  alone  determine.  All  that  can 
at  present  be  said  is,  that  if  it  is  desired  to  administer  quinia  and  bismuth 
in  conjunction  with  iodine,  the  salt  under  notice  affords  an  admirable 
me:hod  of  doing  so. 
From  a  chemical  point  of  view,  the  salt  is  interesting,  and  the 
decomposition  which  gives  rise  to  its  formation  might  possibly  be  found 
of  value  as  the  basis  of  a  volumetric  process  for  the  estimation  of  salts 
of  bismuth  and  quinia. — Pharm.  'Jour,  and  Trans.  [Lond.],  Sept.  28. 
