120  Complex  Nature  of  Cathartine.  {Vr°cMPS" 
that  an  analytical  method  which  deals,  as  this  does,  with  a  substance 
so  complex  and  variable  in  composition  as  opium,  must  have  an  ex- 
tended trial  before  its  reliability  can  be  placed  altogether  beyond 
doubt. 
Table  of  Results. 
Sample. 

Percentage  of 
1  crude  morphia  ob- 
tained by  B.  P. 
process. 
Weight  of  precipi-  j 
tate  after  washing 
with  chloroform. 
Amount  of  real 
morphia  in  preci- 
pitate estimated 
by  reduction 
process. 
Percentage  of 
real  morphia  in 
sample  as  deter- 
mined by  re- 
duction process. 
C  o  1  o  r  i  - 
metric. 
1 U  U  I  - 
metric. 
Colori- 
metric. 
JLOUl- 
metric. 
1 
138 
12-8 
110 
11-3 
2 
12-0 
10-8 
9-4 
10  0 
112 
10-0 
8-8 
9-2 
4 
10-2 
9  3 
7-7 
7-81 
8-0 
8-1 
5 
5  8 
5-6 
5-0 
5-4 
6 
16  2 
15-0 
13-6 
140 
• 
7 
6-4 
6-1 
5-5 
5-76 
6-4 
6-43 
8 
10-0 
9-4 
9-0 
10-0 
9 
13-8 
12-6 
110 
11-2 
11-5 
11-8 
10 
11-3 
10-6 
9-6 
10  0 
11 
14-2 
13-0 
11-6 
12-0 
12 
6-1 
5  7 
5-0 
5-13 
51 
5-28 
13 
10-4 
9-8 
8-7 
9-0 
14 
12-6 
12-4 
12-0 
12-5 
15 
11-4 
10-1 
8  8 
8-6 
9-6 
9-5 
16 
9-5 
8-7 
7-6 
7-4 
8-3 
8-48 
17 
9-4 
9-2 
8  8 
9-5 
18 
17-4 
15-8 
138 
14-0 
14-5 
14-2 
! 
Sheffield,  October,  1871. 
COMPLEX  NATURE  OF  CATHARTTNE. 
By  E.  Bourgoin. 
After  first  referring  to  the  researches  made  by  Lassaigne  and  Fen- 
nelle,  in  1821,  on  the  senna  leaves,  and  allusion  being  made  to  the 
cathartine  then  discovered  and  considered  to  be  the  active  principle  of 
the  drug  alluded  to,  the  author  states  that,  having  occasion  to  pre- 
pare cathartine,  he  has,  on  experimenting  with  it,  found  it  to  be  made 
up  of  chrysophanic  acid,  a  dextrogyre  glucose,  and  chrysophanine. 
The  cathartine,  prepared  as  described  by  Lassaigne  and  Fennelle,  is 
fi,r$t  treated  with  ether,  whereby  the  chrysophanic  acid  is  eliminated  > 
next,  the  residue  is  treated  with  water,  whereby  the  dextrogyre  glu- 
