446 
Jaborandi  and  Its  Alkaloids. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1     August,  1896. 
is  always  the  same  substance.  This  uncertainty  is  very  evident 
from  the  account  given  of  pilocarpine  in  Husemann's  "  Pflanzen- 
stofTe,"  as  being  «  difficultly  crystallizable,"  and  from  the  statements 
in  Watts'  "  Dictionary  of  Chemistry"  and  Thorpe's  Dictionary  that 
it  is  "  crystalline ;"  while  in  other  places  the  alkaloid  is  described  as 
a  syrupy  liquid,  very  soluble  in  water. 
The  characters  and  tests  given  in  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  and 
other  pharmacopoeias  are  not  sufficiently  distinctive  for  the  identifi- 
cation of  pilocarpine,  and  they  furnish  no  proof  of  absence  of  other 
bases  capable  of  forming  crystallizable  salts  with  nitric  or  hydro- 
chloric acid.  In  the  examination  of  several  kinds  of  jaborandi 
leaves  described  by  Mr.  Holmes,  in  his  papers  on  the  botanical  part 
of  the  subject,1  we  have  endeavored  to  test  the  individuality  of  the 
basic  products  extracted  by  the  melting  points  of  the  nitrate,  and 
have  in  that  way  obtained  evidence  of  differences  which  appear  to 
point  to  the  desirability  of  more  minute  investigation  than  we  have 
yet  been  able  to  carry  out,  on  account  of  the  small  quantity  of  mate- 
rial at  our  disposal.  In  testing  samples  of  commercial  pilocarpine 
nitrate  obtained  from  Mr.  Martindale,  similar  differences  of  melting 
point  have  been  observed ;  in  one  instance  the  salt  melted  at 
141-7°  C,  another  sample  was  found  to  melt  at  167-2°  C,  while  a 
third,  supplied  by  Mr.  Gerrard,  melted  at  150  5 0  C. 
A  sample  of  the  small-leaved  jaborandi,  described  by  Mr.  Holmes 
as  maranham,  and  named  by  Dr.  Stapf,  Pilocarpus  microphyllus, 
yielded  o  84  per  cent,  of  alkaloid,  which  was  converted  into  nitrate, 
and  gave  o  45  per  cent,  of  a  crystalline  salt  melting  at  160°  C.  A 
solution  containing  2  grains  in  the  fluid  ounce,  when  applied  to  the 
eye,  produced  contraction  of  the  pupil.  On  recrystallization  from 
alcohol  the  salt  was  separated  into  two  portions,  the  larger  portion 
melting  at  162-7°  C,  while  the  other  melted  at  147-7°  C. 
From  the  leaves  described  by  Mr.  Holmes  as  Aracati  jaborandi, 
Pilocarpus  spicatus,  we  obtain  only  0-16  per  cent,  of  alkaloid.  This 
gave  two  crystalline  nitrates,  melting  respectively  at  151-5°  and 
130-5°  C,  an  amorphous  nitrate,  the  base  of  which  was  soluble  in 
water  ;  also,  an  amorphous  alkaloid  insoluble  in  water,  correspond- 
ing to  the  description  of  jaborine,  by  Harnack  and  Meyer.  Obviously 
these  leaves  are  of  little  value  as  a  source  of  pilocarpine. 
1  Pharm.  Jour.  (4),  1,  520. 
