49° 
Laboratory  Notes. 
|  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Oct.,  1877. 
of  calcium  sulph 
ate,  aluminium 
and  iron 
oxides, 
and  sodium 
and  potas- 
31UI11    ^IJIUI  1UCS. 
kjyl  UUS   1  >  \J  •  < 
and  4  contained 
magnesium 
carbonate 
Glucose. 
Ash. 
Water. 
Sp.  Grav. 
crooi  per  cent. 
i"4  per  cent 
•  *  * 
2 
2*5  per  cent. 
0-363 
r9 
3 
5'° 
0*140 
09 
.  .  * 
4 
o-oi  5 
O"  1 
.  .  . 
5 
6-7 
0-670 
1 '4 
.  .  . 
.  '    '  ' 
0039 
0"2 
7 
I  "O 
0-028 
°'3 
g 
1  4 
O'l  I  I 
i"6 
9 
°*3 
O'OIO 
o*  1 
10 
trace. 
0-144 
O'l 
Syrups — No.  1 
3i-3 
3-295 
20-0 
1-405 
2 
42-1 
0-876 
18-0 
l'4xf 
3 
33*6 
2-700 
21  0 
1-403 
4 
22"7 
2-900 
25-0 
I.392 
X.  Investigations  relating  to  Husemann's  Test  for  Morphia, 
When  morphia  or  one  of  its  salts  is  exposed  to  the  action  of  concentrated  sul- 
phuric acid  for  twelve  to  fifteen  hours  at  the  ordinary  temperature,  or  for  half  an 
hour  at  ioo°C,  or  for  a  very  short  time  at  i50°C,  there  occurs  (after  cooling)  a 
faint  violet-red  color.  If,  now  (in  the  cooled  solution),  there  be  added  a  drop  of 
nitric  acid,  or  chlorine  water,  or  ferric  chloride  solution,  or  solution  of  chlorinated 
soda  or  chlorinated  lime,  or  a  fragment  of  potassium  nitrate  or  potassium  chlorate, 
there  is  produced  a  beautiful  blue  to  violet-red  color,  soon  passing  into  a  dark  red. 
The  one  hundredth  of  a  milligram  of  morphia  enables  this  color  to  appear  with 
distinctness. — Husemanns  Pflanxenstoffe  (1871),  p.  124.  Husemann  :  Zeitschrift 
analyt.  Chemie,  iii  (1864),  149  5  Annal.  der  Chem.  und  Pbarm  ,  cxxviii,  305.  Modi- 
fication of  the  test  of  Erdmann  :  Zeitschr.  analyt.  C/zemie,  i,  p.  224  5  Annal.  der 
Chem.  und  Pbarm.,  cxx.,  p.  188.  Erdmann's  reagent  is  concentrated  sulphuric  acid 
with  about  o  005  per  cent,  of  absolute  nitric  acid. 
The  effect  of pure  sulphuric  acid  upon  pure  morphia  was  first  investigated.1 
Most  of  the  "chemically  pure"  sulphuric  acid  shows  a  trace  of  nitric 
acid  in  "the  brown  ring  test,"  using  a  crystal  of  ferrous  sulphate  and 
giving  several  hours'  time  to  the  test.  The  purification  of  sulphuric  acid 
from  traces  of  nitric  acid  was  tried  in  three  ways  :  1.  About  two  fluid- 
ounces  of  the  acid  were  heated  in  an  evaporating  dish  on  the  sand- 
bath  until  the  acid  itself  began  to  vaporize,  when  about  a  grain  of 
ammonium  sulphate  was  added  several  times,  and  then  the  heat  con- 
tinued until  the  bulk  of  the  acid  was  reduced  to  a  little  less  than  half 
For  considerations  suggesting  this  inquiry  see  "Am.  Jour.  Phar    xlviii  (1876),  62. 
