584 
Alcoholic  Extract  of  Belladonna  Leaves. 
(  Am,  Jour.  Pharm. 
I      Nov  ,  1885. 
liquid  is  diluted  with  about  an  equal  volume  of  water  made  slightly 
acid  with  hydrochloric  acid.  The  chlorophyll,  fat,  etc.,  are  then 
removed  from  the  slightly  warmed  liquid  by  repeatedly  extracting  it 
with  chloroform  until  nothing  further  is  removed  by  the  solvent.  The 
aqueous  liquid  is  made  alkaline  with  ammonia  and  the  alkaloids 
extracted  by  chloroform,  by  evaporating  which  a  residue  of  pure  alka- 
loid is  obtained,  and  dried  by  heating  it  at  100°  until  a  constant 
weight  is  attained.  We  have  not  yet  been  able  to  make  an  extensive 
series  of  estimations  of  the  amount  of  alkaloid  which  is  contained  in 
various  sj^ecimens  of  belladonna  leaves.  A  specimen  of  dried  foreign 
leaves  contained  0*22  per  cent,  of  total  alkaloid,  and  a  specimen  of 
English  leaves  which  had  been  somewhat  overheated  in  drying  con- 
tained 0*1 5  per  cent.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  both  these  spe- 
cimens contain  less  alkaloid  than  English  leaves  which  have  been  care- 
fully grown  and  gathered.  To  these  and  other  questions  we  may 
return  at  a  future  time. — Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  Sept.  12,  1885, 
p.  237. 
THE  ALCOHOLIC  EXTRACT  OF  THE  LEAVES  OF 
ATKOPA  BELLADONNA. 
By  Professor  Wyxdham  Dunstax^  and  Frax^cis  Ransom. 
This  extract,  as  far  as  we  know,  has  not,  up  to  the  present  time, 
received  a  chemical  examination,  and  no  attempt  has  hitherto  been 
made  to  determine  its  alkaloidal  value.  In  order  to  extract  the  alka- 
loids in  a  pure  state  from  this  highly  heterogeneous  mixture  a  great 
number  of  different  methods  have  been  tried,  and  the  investigation 
has  occupied  a  considerable  amount  of  time.  The  extract  was  first 
dissolved  in  various  liquids,  and  purification  was  then  attempted. 
Among  the  liquids  which  were  experimented  with  were  chloroform 
alcohol,  ether,  solutions  of  potassium  and  sodium  hydroxide,  and  car- 
bonate and  dilute  acids. 
The  difficulties  which  were  encountered  in  attempting  to  isolate  the 
alkaloids  in  a  pure  state  were  so  great,  owing  to  the  large  amount  of 
fatty  matter,  chlorophyll,  etc.,  which  is  present  in  the  extract,  that  at 
one  time  it  seemed  impossible  to  effect  this  by  any  but  a  complicated 
process.  However,  by  modifying  the  method  which  we  have  used  for 
the  estimation  of  the  alkaloid  in  the  leaves  a  reliable  and  simple  pro- 
cess has  been  found.   This  consists  in  warming  1-2  grams  of  the  extract 
