AmAuguUst*  iP9Hrm'}     Criticism  of  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia,  343 
hydrobromid  "  with  the  specific  rotatory  power  as  a  test  for  its 
identity  and  purity,  German  manufacturers  began  producing  the 
lsevo-salt  to  the  exclusion  of  that  having  little  or  no  rotatory  power. 
Hence  the  name  scopolamine  hydrobromide,  in  Germany  at  least,  now 
signifies  the  lsevo-compound. 
That  the  present  tendency  in  England  is  to  apply  the  name 
scopolamine  hydrobromide  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  of  the  Ger- 
man Pharmacopoeia,  while  hyoscine  hydrobromide  is  being  used 
to  designate  the  salt  having  the  weaker  rotatory  power,  is  evidenced 
in  the  following: 
(a)  Spencer  Sheill23  states  that  scopolamine  is  used  by  some  to 
represent  the  laevo-compound,  while  hyoscine  is  applied  by  others  to 
the  mixture  of  the  lsevo-  and  inactive  varieties  having  the  weaker 
rotatory  power. 
(b)  A  statement  similar  to  the  latter  is  also  given  in  the  Extra 
Pharmacopoeia  of  Martindale  and  Westcott.24 
(c)  Finnemore  and  Braithwaite25  report  that  English  physicians 
use  the  term  scopolamine  hydrobromide  when  prescribing  rather 
than  hyoscine  hydrobromide  in  order  to  be  sure  of  securing  the 
German  preparation,  which  is  lsevorotatory. 
From  the  survey  of  the  literature,  it  appears  that  the  designation 
hyoscine  hydrobromide  is  still  given  preference  in  the  United  States, 
although  practically  all  of  the  salt  is  imported  from  Germany  and  is 
now  being  received  largely  as  the  lsevo-variety. 
A  more  concrete  idea  of  the  variations  in  the  naming  of  the  alka- 
loid and  its  salt,  the  hydrobromide,  may  be  obtained  from  the 
following  tabulations : 
TABLE  NO.  1. 
Names  Applied  to  the  Free  Base  or  Related  Compounds. 
Atroscin. 
Hyoscin . 
Hesse,  1896  =  Ci7H2iN04,  isolated  from  commercial  scopolamine 
hydrobromide,  optically  inactive  and  identical  with 
i-scopolamine. 
Reichardt  and  Hohn,  1871  =CsHi5NO,  a  decomposition  product  of 
hyoscy  amine. 
Ladenburg,  1880  =  CnH23N03,  isolated  from  Hyoscyamus  niger. 
Schmidt  and  Henschke,  1 888  =  a  base  isolated  from  Scopolia  japonica. 
Hesse,  1892  =  C17H21NO4,  isolated  from  Hyoscyamus  niger. 
E.  Merck,  1894  =  Ci7H2iN04,  isolated  from  Hyoscyamus  niger. 
23  Lancet  (1910),  11,  p.  29. 
24  Martindale  and  Westcott,  Extra  Pharmacopoeia,  London  (1912),  p.  444. 
25  Year-Book  of  Pharm.  and  Trans.  (1912),  p.  498. 
