788 
Determination  of  Morphine. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Nov.,  1.918. 
From  this  experiment  we  may  observe  that  hypoisotonic  saline  solu- 
tions increase  the  size  of  the  red  blood  cells  and  pharmaceutically  speaking 
may  be  said  to  have  a  solvent  effect  on  these  corpuscles,  while  hyperisotonic 
solutions  produce  a  most  marked  toxic  effect  and  crenate  the  erythrocytes 
(either  by  dehydrating  or  due  to  its  high  osmotic  pressure).  It  is  perhaps 
due  to  similar  reasons  that  hypotonic  saline  solutions  (30  grains  to  the 
pint)  were  used  in  severe  malarial  conditions  (British  Medical  Journal,  ii-i, 
197)  and  hypertonic  solutions  were  used  in  ascites  and  more  recently  recom- 
mended by  Sir  A.  E.  Wright  in  5  per  cent,  solutions  as  an  irrigation  in  war 
wounds. 
Department  of  Bacteriology  and  Hygiene, 
Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy. 
THE  DETERMINATION  OF  MORPHINE  IN  COMPLEX 
PRODUCTS. 
Part  II.    Mixtures  Containing  Morphine  as  a  Simple  Salt. 
By  Alfred  Tingle,  Ph.D. 
introduction. 
The  object  of  the  work  here  described  was  to  devise  a  reliable 
and  fairly  general  method  for  the  determination  of  morphine,  not 
only  in  simple  powders  or  tablets,  but  in  pills  of  complex  composi- 
tion. The  examination  of  opium  and  preparations  thereof  does  not 
come  within  the  scope  of  the  present  communication,  but  will  be 
dealt  with  in  Part  III. 
The  writer  has  found  no  method  yet  published  which  could  be 
applied  to  much  of  the  material  which  has  come  into  his  hands  for 
analysis.  The  greater  part  of  it  has  been  of  Asiatic  origin,  and  till 
the  methods  about  to  be  described  had  been  evolved,  the  analytical 
difficulties  corresponded  to  the  unusual  methods  of  preparation. 
The  simple  extraction  method  proposed  by  J.  B.  Williams  (Amer. 
Jour.  Pharm.,  1914,  86,  308-312)  is  excellent  within  its  limitations, 
but  as  it  stands  is  useless  for  wide  general  application. 
In  dealing  with  pills  (and  especially  Asiatic  pills)  analytically, 
the  first  difficulty  is  to  obtain  a  filterable  solution.  The  most  usual 
result  of  digestion  with  water  is  to  produce  a  "  mush,"  or  an  emul- 
sion, in  which  the  solids  remain  indefinitely  suspended.  The  addi- 
tion of  alcohol,  acids,  lime  and  lead  acetate  seldom  has  any  effect, 
