294  Alleged  Decomposition  of  Quinine. 
NOTE  ON  THE  ALLEGED  DECOMPOSITION  OF  QUININE 
IN  CONTACT  WITH  LIME.^ 
By  F.  W.  Passmore. 
In  a  recent  communication  to  the  Journal  de  Pharmacie/^^  M. 
Masse  expresses  an  opinion  that  the  lime  used  in  the  ordinary  pro- 
cesses of  cinchona  bark  analysis  exercises  an  injurious  influence  upon 
the  yield  of  alkaloid,  especially  at  the  temperature  of  the  water-bath. 
This  opinion  he  considers  to  have  been  confirmed  by  the  results  of 
some  experiments  made  directly  upon  quinine  sulphate^  of  which  he 
describes  the  following : 
One  gram  of  the  crystalline  salt,  containing  12  per  cent,  of  Avater, 
and  therefore  representing  0*88  gram  of  anhydrous  sulphate,  was  dis- 
solved in  50  cc.  of  water,  acidulated  with  1  cc.  of  hydrochloric  acid. 
The  solution  was  divided  into  two  equal  parts,  and  10  grams  of  lime 
having  been  added  to  each  portion  both  were  evaporated  to  dryness, 
one  upon  a  water-bath  at  a  temperature  of  91  °C.,  the  other  in  the  cold 
under  a  bell-glass  connected  with  a  water- pump.  The  dry  mixture 
which  liad  been  submitted  to  the  temperature  of  the  water- bath,  when 
extracted  with  chloroform,  gave  a  solution  which,  according  to  M. 
Masse,  yielded  a  residue  of  quinine  equal  to  only  0*389  gram  of 
sulphate  of  quinine  dried  at  100°  C.  The  other  mixture,  which  was 
air-dried,  when  treated  in  the  same  manner  yielded  a  residue  equal  to 
0*430  gram  of  dry  sulphate  of  quinine.  As  the  theoretical  quantity 
that  should  have  been  obtained  in  each  case  was  0*440  gram,  there  was 
a  deficiency  in  the  former  case  of  0*051  gram  and  in  the  latter  of  0*010 
gram  of  sulphate  of  quinine,  which  M.  Masse  attributes  to  the  action 
of  the  lime. 
If  this  statement  could  be  substantiated  it  would  be  of  considerable 
importance,  as  pointing  to  a  loss  of  upwards  of  1 1 J  per  cent,  of  alkaloid, 
and  therefore  constituting  a  source  of  serious  error  in  the  analysis  of 
bark  by  methods  ordinarily  followed.  In  order  therefore  to  test  its 
accuracy,  M.  Masse's  experiment  was  repeated.  0*5  gram  of  pure 
quinine  sulphate,  containing  5*3  per  cent,  of  water  and  equivalent,  to 
^  Read  at  an  Evening  Meeting  of  the  "  Pharmaceutical  Society  "  of  Great 
Britain,  April  1,  1885.  Reprint  from  "  Pharm.  Jour,  and  Trans.,"  April  11, 
1885,  p.  829,  communicated  by  the  author. 
2  "Journal  de  Pharmacie  et  de  Chimie,"  March  1,  1885,  p.  260. 
