Am,May?if9b6arm'}    Menstruum  for  Fresh  Kola  Nuts.  255 
that  extracted  with  strong  alcohol,  but  had  about  the  same  physical 
properties. 
III.  100  grammes  of  the  red  and  white  fresh  kola  nuts,  finely 
sliced,  were  macerated  during  four  weeks,  with  a  menstruum  of 
160  c.c.  alcohol,  40  c.c.  glycerin,  and  2  c.c.  of  acetic  acid. 
This  preparation  also  had  an  astringent  taste,  characteristic  of  the 
kola  nut.  Upon  standing  for  about  a  week,  it  showed  signs  of 
cloudiness,  and  deposited  a  slight  sediment. 
Duplicate  assays  of  each  of  these  preparations  yielded  the  fol- 
lowing amounts  of  total  alkaloids  for  100  c.c.  of  the  preparation, 
equivalent  to  50  grammes  of  drug. 
o'33 
0-36 
average  0*345  grammes. 
II.  0  43  !  average  0*440  grammes. 
o-45 
III.  0  4°  !  average  0*385  grammes. 
o'37 
In  order  to  determine  whether  hydrolysis  would  increase  or  de- 
crease the  yield  of  total  alkaloids,  a  portion  of  I  was  hydrolized  by 
heating  in  a  reflux  condenser,  with  I  per  cent,  hydrochloric  acid, 
during  one-half  hour.  On  assaying  the  product,  I  found  it  to  yield 
0  370  gramme  of  total  alkaloids  in  100  c.c,  showing  that  the  yield 
of  alkaloids  had  not  been  affected  by  heating  with  an  inorganic  acid. 
The  above  assay  was  conducted  on  10  c.c.  of  the  preparation,  by 
Lloyd's  method,  and  the  figures  represent  the  amount  of  purified 
alkaloids. 
The  chloroform  extracts  from  the  original  preparation  some  fatty 
matter,  and  purification  of  the  alkaloids  had,  therefore,  to  be 
resorted  to. 
It  will  be  seen  that  diluted  alcohol  and  2  per  cent,  of  acetic  acid 
extracted  the  largest  amount  of  total  alkaloids. 
In  this  connection  it  may  be  of  interest  to  note  Nathan  L.  Thomp- 
son's contribution  to  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  1895,  P- 
518,  wherein  he  reported  that  fresh  kola  nuts  contain  56  65  per  cent, 
of  water  and  0  75  per  cent,  of  caffeine  and  theobromine,  indicating 
that  by  Professor  Ryan's  processes  the  drug  was  completely 
exhausted  of  its  total  alkaloids.  The  taste  and  other  characters  of 
the  marc  indicated  thorough  exhaustion. 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  April  14,  1896. 
