A  August.  5,894.rm"}     The.  Technical  Manufacture  of  Cocaine.  397 
savings  and  discount  banks,  workhouses,  insurance  societies,  estab- 
lishments for  the  tutoring  of  nurses,  plans  for  the  formation  of 
canals,  and  for  exploiting  the  mineral  resources  of  the  province. 
Thus  is  presented  a  history  of  a  brief  life,  yet  that  of  one  thor- 
oughly imbued  with  the  ardor  of  his  nationality — a  man  of  intense 
zeal  and  large  philanthropic  purpose.  The  gifts  of  his  mind  were 
generously  and  bountifully  given  for  the  benefit  of  his  race.  His 
varied  knowledge  had  no  selfish  application.  He  appears  to  have 
pursued  and  investigated  truth  for  the  sake  of  truth.  His  life  is  a 
lesson  for  the  studious.  In  philosophy  and  science  there  is  no 
brighter  or  more  illustrious  exemplar  than  Lavoisier.  Let  his 
name  be  forever  honored  and  revered  ! 
Philadelphia,  June  29,  1894. 
THE  TECHNICAL  MANUFACTURE  OF  COCAINE  FROM 
ITS  ACCOMPANYING  ALKALOIDS. 
Alfred  Einhorn  and  Richard  Willstatter. 
Translated  from  the  Berichte  der  deutschen  chemischen  Gesellschaft,  27,  1523. 
By  Frank  X .  Moerk. 
The  manufacture  of  cocaine  from  the  alkaloids  accompanying  it 
is  technically  effected,  as  has  been  known  for  some  years,  by  boiling 
these  alkaloids  with  concentrated  hydrochloric  acid,  which  results 
in  decomposing  them  into  ecgonine  and  acids  belonging  to  the 
aromatic  series;  from  the  ecgonine  the  cocaine  can  readily  be 
obtained  by  synthetic  reactions.  This  partial  synthesis  of  cocaine 
is  accomplished  by  one  of  two  methods:  I.  The  ecgonine  is 
benzoylated,  i.  e.}  converted  into  benzoyl-ecgonine  and  this  is  then 
esterized  with  methyl-alcohol  yielding  cocaine,  the  methyl-ether 
of  benzoyl-ecgonine,  or  more  simply  benzoyl-methyl  ecgonine.  2. 
The  ecgonine  can  first  be  esterized  forming  methyl-ecgonine,  and 
this  can  then  be  benzoylated. 
The  alkaloids  occurring  with  cocaine,  which  have  been  obtained 
in  a  pure  condition,  and  which  are  derivatives  of  ecgonine,  like 
isatropylcocaine  and  cinnamylcocaine,  have  been  proven  to  be 
derivatives  of  methyl-ecgonine  and  the  aromatic  acids ;  it  was 
therefore  reasonable  to  suppose  that  other  alkaloids  which  have  not 
as  yet  been  isolated  would  also  be  found  to  be  derivatives  of 
methyl-ecgonine.    With  this  supposition  the  problem  was  imposed 
