Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
January,  1900.  J 
Constitution  of  the  Alkaloids. 
21 
It  is  very  interesting  to  observe  the  very  close  similarity  be- 
tween the  three  alkaloids,  narcotine,  papaverine  and  hydrastine, 
constitutionally  speaking,  and  I  imagine  that  a  closer  comparative 
pharmacological  study  of  these  three  in  connection  with  one  another 
would  prove  of  interest,  for  it  certainly  seems  more  than  likely  that 
three  substances  that  are  so  closely  allied,  atomically  speaking, 
should  possess  very  similar  physiological  properties  : 
C.OCH, 
HC 
I 
HC 
C.OCH3 
ceo 
HC 
I 
HC 
I 
CH-O 
I 
CH  CH 
C.OCH3 
/\ 
COCH3 
I 
C.CO 
K/ 
c 
I 
CH— O 
I 
CH  CO 
CH3N 
I 
H2C 
>CH, 
CH2  CH 
Hydrastine. 
C2iH21N06 
CO. 
I 
CO 
;CH, 
H,C 
CH2  CH 
Narcotine. 
C22H23N07 
coy 
I 
COCH, 
HC 
I 
HC 
C.OCH3 
COCH3 
I 
CH 
I 
CH2 
I 
C  CH 
N 
HC 
COCH3 
I 
C.OCH3 
CH  CH 
Papaverine. 
C20H21NO4 
According  to  Freund,  narceine,  another  opium  alkaloid  C23H.27N08, 
is  closely  related  to  narcotine  chemically,  and  all  his  results  and 
work,  covering  a  period  of  a  year  or  more,  point  to  the  fact  that 
it  is  not  an  isoquinoline  derivative,  but  that  the  nitrogen  is  part 
of  an  open  chain.  This  would  account  for  its  unusually  weak  alka- 
line reaction,  for  its  salts  are  not  stable,  and  its  alkalinity  is  very  un- 
pronounced. 
