Am. jour.  Pjarm.  j        Determination  of  Morphine.  693 
of  chloroform  and  water  in  a  short  time.  (5)  That  washing  with 
"  morphinated  "  water  only  becomes  necessary  when  large  volumes 
are  employed. 
It  is  therefore  logical  to  avoid,  when  possible,  the  precipitation 
of  morphine  in  the  presence  of  alcohol.  If  the  latter  solvent  is  used, 
even  approximately  quantitative  results  cannot  be  obtained. 
The  Actoin  of  Barium  Hydroxide  on  Solutions  which  contain 
Salts  of  Morphine. — Many  secondary  authorities  state  that  morphine 
is  soluble  in  barium  hydroxide  solution,  but  they  give  no  references. 
While  the  statement  was  inherently  probable,  the  point  became  one 
of  such  great  importance  that  it  was  necessary  to  verify  it.  Ex- 
periments 14  and  15  show  that  barium  hydroxide  dissolves  morphine 
and  that  the  latter  is  not  thus  precipiated  to  any  important  extent 
by  an  excess  of  sulphuric  acid  or  by  starch.  Even  a  large  excess  of 
barium  hydroxide,  however,  will  not  bring  morphine  completely  into 
solution  in  the  presence  of  lead,  as  is  shown  by  Experiment  16.  This 
point  is  one  of  practical  importance. 
Action  of  Ammonium  Salts  on  Morphine. — It  is  no  new  ob- 
servation that  morphine  liberates  ammonia  when  evaporated  with 
solutions  of  ammonium  salts,  but  Experiment  17  was  made  to  show 
the  extent  to  which  this  action  might  produce  an  analytical  error. 
That  the  same  action  is  appreciable  even  at  the  ordinary  temperature 
is  shown  by  Puckner's  results  (loc.  cit.)  on  the  extraction  of  mor- 
phine from  its  solutions  in  the  presence  of  a  large  excess  of  am- 
monium chloride. 
The  Action  of  Acids  on  Morphine. — It  is  well  known  that  several 
of  the  stronger  acids  act  on  morphine  under  certain  conditions, 
forming  apo-morphine  and  other  derivatives,  but  the  limits  of  these 
reactions  have  not  been  studied.  It  is  therefore  important  to  know 
whether  morphine  is  acted  upon  by  these  acids  under  analytical  con- 
ditions ;  whether,  for  instance,  appreciable  loss  of  alkaloid  will  re- 
sult from  evaporation  with  a  certain  acid  on  the  water  bath.  Ex- 
periments 18,  19,  20  and  21  indicate  that  some  change  occurs  when 
morphine  is  heated  on  the  water  bath,  under  such  conditions  as 
might  occur  in  the  course  of  an  analysis,  with  dilute  sulphuric  and 
acetic  acids,  but  that  no  such  change  is  produced  by  hydrochloric  or 
salicylic  acids.  All  analytical  procedure  must  be  regulated  accord- 
ingly. 
The  Reactions  of  Morphine  Tartrate. — A.  W.  and  M.  W.  Blyth 
(Poisons:  Their  Effects  and  Detections,  4th  edition,  p.  297)  state 
