580  Emetiafrom  Vinum  Ipecacuanha.  {^JSHJjST' 
form  of  alkaloid  to  deposit  from  this  wine  ;  neither  do  I  ask  you  to^ 
decide  which  course  should  be  followed  by  the  dispenser,  filtration  and 
consequent  weakening  of  the  wine  or  the  use  of  a  turbid  inelegant 
mixture.  Ipecacuanha  wine  will  deposit,  if  made  according  to  the  official 
formula,  and  that  deposit  will  contain  the  most  valuable  and  perhaps 
the  only  valuable  constituent  of  ipecac  root,  and  being  mixed  with  the 
crystalline  tartar  adheres  to  the  sides  and  bottoms  of  the  vessels  con- 
taining the  wine  ;  even  if  it  becomes  detached  it  is  not  readily  or  easily 
diffused  by  agitation,  but  is  often  rejected  and  thrown  away. 
Quite  recently  a  considerable  quantity  of  these  deposits  and  incrusta- 
tions came  under  my  notice,  and  I  determined  to  try  and  see  if  some 
use  could  not  be  made  of  this  waste  product. 
The  semi-crystalline  mass  was  therefore  made  into  a  paste  with  water,, 
and  then  mixed  with  calcined  magnesia  until  a  marked  alkaline  reaction 
was  obtained.  Calcic  hydrate  was  tried,  but  the  evolution  of  ammonia^ 
and  other  changes  led  me  to  suppose  that  the  emetia  might  be  affected 
by  the  lime.  After  standing  for  twenty-four  hours,  the  mixture  was 
slightly  warmed  to  complete  the  reaction,  and  the  resultant  mixture 
spread  in  thin  layers  and  dried  as  rapidly  as  possible  at  a  low  tempera- 
ture. The  mass  was  next  reduced  to  powder  and  percolated  with 
spirit  of  wine.  The  alkaloid  associated  with  some  impurities  was  thus- 
abstracted  from  the  other  salts,  and  it  was  possibly  pure  enough  to* 
fortify  a  "  weakened  "  ipecac  wine  if  the  necessary  proportions  were 
known.  Such,  however,  was  not  my  purpose.  The  alcohol  was 
therefore  removed  by  evaporation  and  the  emetia  dissolved  in  dilute 
acetic  acid  and  then  precipitated  by  ammonia  ;  the  emetia  obtained  was 
fawn-colored  and  tolerably  pure,  completely  soluble  in  acids,  and  pre- 
cipitated by  Sonnenschein's  and  the  other  alkaloidal  tests. 
The  process  I  have  described  is  an  adaptation  of  the  process  of  MM. 
Pelletier  and  Dumas,  and  by  this  method  a  considerable  proportion  of 
alkaloid  may  be  obtained  from  the  brown-colored  crystals  and  slime, 
which  the  pharmacist  in  his  disgust  is  sorely  tempted  to  throw  away  as 
a  nuisance  and  loss. 
In  Watt's  dictionary,  vol.  ii,  page  485,  under  the  heading  "eme- 
tine," I  find  the  following  :  "  The  gailotannate  is  a  white  flocculent 
precipitate  soluble  in  alkalies,  it  is  neither  emetic  nor  poisonous."  May 
not  this  compound  be  formed  in  old  ipecacuanha  wine  and  be  the  cause 
of  its  uncertainty  and  partial  inertness  even  when  the  wine  was  "well 
shaken  before  taken?" — Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.  [Lond.],  Sept.  14. 
