THE  AMEKICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
A  CRITICISM  OF  THE  UNITED  STATER PH ARM ACpN^T A 
WITH  RESPECT  TO  THE  NAMlN5Q^FNTfi^K>M- 
POUND,  C17H21N04.HBr  +  3H20,  AND  WITH  REGARD 
TO  THE  PRESCRIBED  TESTS  FOR  ITS  IDENTITY  AND 
PURITY. 
Director  of  the  School  of  Pharmacy,  University  of  the  Philippines. 
On  the  Origin  and  Usage  of  the  Terms  Hyoscine  and 
Scopolamine. 
The  term  "  hyoscin  "  was  first  used  by  Reichardt  and  Hohn1  in 
1871  to  designate  a  basic  substance,  C8H15N02,  obtained  by  the  action 
of  barium  hydroxide  upon  hyoscyamine.  In  1880,  Ladenburg3  iso- 
lated an  alkaloid  from  the  mother-liquor  obtained  in  the  preparation 
of  the  so-called  amorphous  hyoscyamine  from  the  seeds  of  Hyoscya- 
mvis  niger.*  Ladenburg  found  the  composition  of  this  base  to  be  repre- 
1  Ann.  d.  Chem.  (1871),  157,  p.  107. 
2  Later,  the  composition  of  this  basic  substance  was  found  to  be  CSH13NO2 
and  became  known  under  various  names,  in  accordance  with  the  fancies  of 
the  respective  investigators — "  pseudotropin  "  (Ladenburg),  "  oxytropin  " 
(Ladenburg  and  Roth),  "  scopolin  "  (E.  Schmidt),  and  "  oscin  "  (Hesse). 
The  esters  of  the  base  CsHisNO;,  the  acetyl-,  benzoyl-,  and  cinnamyl- 
esters  were  manufactured  by  the  firm  of  E.  Merck  previous  to  the  year 
1898,  and  were  sold  under  the  name  of  "  Scopoleins,"  with  the  name  of  the 
acid  radical  as  a  prefix,  e.g.,  "  acetyl-scopolein." — Arch.  d.  Pharm.  (1898), 
236,  p.  33- 
3  Ber.  d.  deutsch.  chem.  Ges.  (1880),  13,  p.  1549. 
4  Bucheim  was  probably  the  first  investigator  to  isolate  the  so-called 
"  hyoscin."  He  obtained  two  basic  substances  from  the  seeds  of  Hyoscyamas 
niger,  one  of  which  he  describes  as  being  amorphous  and  oily,  the  other  as 
being  crystalline.  To  the  former  he  gave  the  name  "  hyoscyamin  "  and  to  the 
latter  the  name  "  sikeranin."  Cited  by  Ladenburg,  Ann.  d.  Chem.  (1881), 
206,  p.  283. 
AUGUST,  i9U 
By  A.  G.  DuMez, 
(339) 
