^'"Apri^'isss'^™  }        Alkaloids  from  Remijia  PurcUeana.  199 
spirit,  so  that  the  higher  percentage  of  alkaloid  cannot  be  due  to  this 
unwarranted  and  illegal  modification  of  the  official  formula.  You  will 
observe  in  the  case  of  No.  6  that  the  percentage  of  extractive  is  high, 
and  if  you  compare  this  with  Mr.  Gibson's  results  you  will  find  that 
high  extractive  indicates  lov)  alkaloid,  but  here  Ave  have  both  extractive 
and  alkaloid  high,  and  the  natural  inference  is  that  the  extract  has 
been  prepared  from  the  cylindrical  bean.  If  my  surmise  be  correct, 
the  use  of  this  bean  cannot  be  too  strongly  deprecated,  because  it  is  as 
dangerous  to  have  preparations  of  too  great  potency  as  it  is  to  have 
them  worthless. 
As  the  introduction  of  physostigmine  and  its  salts  into  the  new  (British) 
Pharmacopoeia  has  been  proposed  by  its  editors,  I  have  no  doubt  that 
its  official  recognition  will  still  further  extend  its  use  in  preference  to 
the  alcoholic  extract.  But  what  shall  be  said  of  the  latter,  which  is  to 
remain  ?  Should  it  be  "  standardized,''  or  in  what  manner  may  we 
ensure  uniformity  ?  Granting  that  a  certain  percentage  of  physostig- 
mine were  fixed,  that  does  not  ensure  the  absence  of  an  undue  amount 
of  calabarine,  which  has  quite  the  opposite  action  of  the  other  alkaloid. 
There  seems  to  be  scope  for  further  work  in  the  direction  of  ascer- 
taining whether  calabarine  and  physostigmine  are  present  in  constant 
relative  proportions  or  otherwise,  and  until  knowledge  on  this  point  is 
gained,  the  extract  cannot  be  said  to  be  one  which  lends  itself  to 
standardizing. — Pharm.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  January  24,  1885,  p.  594. 
ALKALOIDS  FROM  THE  BARK  OF  REMIJIA 
PURDIEANA. 
By  O.  Hesse. 
A  preliminary  notice  of  some  of  the  results  contained  in  this  paper 
has  already  appeared.  A  description  is  given  of  the  structure  and 
properties  of  the  bark.  The  alkaloids  of  this  bark  have  been  previ- 
ously examined  by  Arnaud,  who  found  about  0*2  per  cent,  of  cincho- 
namine,  and  0*8  to  I'O  per  cent,  of  cinchonine.  The  author  confirms 
the  presence  of  these  bases,  but  finds  that  several  other  alkaloids  are 
present,  and  that  the  amount  of  cinchonine  is  only  O'l  to  0'2  per  cent. 
The  separation  of  the  alkaloids  is  eifected  as  follows :  the  finely 
divided  bark  is  extracted  with  liot  alcohol,  the  solution  evaporated, 
and  the  residue,  after  treatment  with  excess  of  caustic  soda,  extracted 
with  ether.    The  etherial  solution  is  treated  with  excess  of  dilute 
