55o 
Laboratory  Notes. 
}Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Nov.,  1877 
LABORATORY  NOTES. 
Brief  abstracts  from  theses  presented  to  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  March, 
1877. 
Copaiba. — Jos.  M.  Fulton  reports  having  examined  seven  commer- 
cial specimens  of  copaiba,  which  he  found  free  from  the  adulterations 
sometimes  met  with  in  this  drug,  such  as  turpentine,  gurjun  balsam, 
castor  and  other  fixed  oils.  The  first  two  mentioned  in  the  table 
below  were  incompletely  soluble  in  a  small  quantity  of  absolute  alco- 
hol, the  remainder  dissolved  readily  therein.  On  being  boiled  with 
water  the  first  four  left  as  residues  a  hard,  the  others  a  more  soft  resin. 
The  other  results  are  tabulated  as  follows  : 
Spec.  gr. 
31  grains  yielded 
on  distillation 
Vol.  oil  Resin 
Loss. 
Number 
30  cc. 
of  drops  in 
1  gram. 
Drops  of 
vol.  oil  in 
20  drops  copaiba. 
Solidified 
with 
magnesia. 
'937 
21'7 
8-5 
•8 
912 
22 
22^ 
not 
•938 
20' 
87 
2*3 
880 
22 
2of 
not 
■950 
17" 
127 
i'3 
832 
21 
in  10  days 
•950 
i7'5 
12-8 
'7 
816 
20 
i9f 
"  12  " 
'957 
1 1 
185 
i*5 
744 
20 
a    ^  " 
•960 
9*5 
20 
i"5 
720 
!9 
«    2  « 
•970 
9 
20*3 
17 
680 
20 
10 
a     a  <c 
The 
copaiba 
was  d 
ropped 
from  a 
1  minim 
measure  ;  1 
gram  oil  0 
copaiba  yields  35  drops. 
Doryphora  Decemlineata.— It  has  been  occasionally  asserted  that 
the  Colorado  potato  beetle  caused  blistering  of  the  hands  of  its  captors. 
These  reports  induced  L.  Dembinski  to  examine  the  full  grown  beetle 
and  its  larva  for  cantharidin,  the  extraction  of  which  was  attempted 
with  choloroform  and  with  ether,  with  negative  results. 
Citrate  of  Iron  and  Quinia.— Oscar  Zinn  procured  six  commer- 
cial samples  of  this  salt,  which  were  separately  dissolved  in  acidulated 
water,  precipitated  by  sodium  carbonate,  the  precipitate  washed  with 
water,  and  the  dissolved  quinia  estimated  in  the  filtrate  by  agitation  with 
ether.  Four  samples  yielded  respectively  117,  14*4,  14*4  and  15*4 
per  cent,  of  this  alkaloid,  the  nature  of  which  was  proven  by  its  solu- 
bility in  ether,  and  the  green  color  resulting  from  the  action  of  bromine 
water  and  ammonia.  The  other  two  samples  contained  6  and  9  per 
cent,  of  cinchonia,  but  no  quinia. 
The  same  ground  was  gone  over  by  Henry  G.  Drueding,  who  pre- 
cipitated the  solutions  of  the  salt  with  ammonia,  agitated  the  mixture 
repeatedly  with  ether,  evaporated  the  etherial  solutions,  and  weighed  the 
