Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
December,  1920.  ) 
Quinine  Sulphate  in  Java. 
921 
addition  of  solution  of  caustic  soda,  and  the  solution  of  quinine  is 
poured  into  crystallizing  pans.  The  crude  product  is  dissolved  in 
dilute  sulphuric  acid,  heated  to  boiling  by  steam,  neutralized,  and 
then  filtered  through  charcoal.  After  crystallizing  the  crystals 
are  centrifuged,  washed  and  dried.  The  latter  process  has  to  take 
place  in  the  dark,  and  red  or  yellow  glass  must  be  used  for  the 
windows  of  the  room  in  which  this  is  done,  since  quinine  sulphate 
loses  its  white  color  on  exposure  to  light.  He  mentioned  that  the 
appearance  of  the  salt  influences  the  price  it  commands — ^thus 
Howard's  quinine  is  the  highest  quoted  on  the  market  owing  to  its 
fine  appearance.  The  more  voluminous  it  is  the  higher  its  value. 
Pure  quinine  sulphate  does  not  yield  such  fine  crystals  as  a  product 
containing  a  certain  amount  of  cinchonidine.  Since  the  various 
pharmacopoeias  permit  the  presence  of  a  certain  amount  of  cin- 
chonidine in  quinine,  this  is  taken  into  consideration,  and  as  Led- 
ger! ana  contains  very  little  cinchonidine,  Succirubra  bark  is  mixed 
with  the  latter;  Succirubra  contains  from  i  to  3  per  cent,  of  cinchoni- 
dine. 
The  author  then  referred  in  detail  to  the  manufacture  of  quinine 
from  fresh  bark  by  a  process  found  after  numerous  experiments. 
Twenty -five  grams  of  fresh  bark  are  cut  into  small  pieces  and  2.5 
grams  of  slaked  lime  are  added.  After  pounding  from  five  to  ten 
minutes  in  a  mortar  the  mass  is  sufficiently  fine  to  be  extracted. 
It  is  important  to  add  exactly  ten  per  cent,  of  slaked  lime.  It  is 
best  extracted  with  toluol  of  a  boiling  point  of  120  degrees  C,  and 
then  submitted  to  the  process  described  above.  Van  Leersum,  in 
conclusion,  strongly  advocated  extensive  trials  to  establish  the 
advantages  of  manufacturing  quinine  from  fresh  bark,  as  this  process 
would  reduce  the  cost  of  production  of  this  precious  drug.  He 
favored  the  creation  of  a  government  experimental  laboratory,  and 
referred  to  attempts  made  by  quinine  manufacturers  to  purchase 
the  rights  of  this  process,  which  is  being  found  satisfactory,  although 
worked  on  a  modest  scale  with  imperfect  machinery,  in  the  factory 
of  K.  A.  R.  Bosscha  in  Malabar.  He  reckons  that  the  cost  of  pro- 
ducing one  kilogram  of  quinine  sulphate  by  this  new  process  and 
making  therefrom  5,000  tablets  would  amount  to  three  florins, 
whereas  the  present  cost  of  production  amounts  to  6.5  florins.  It 
takes  on  an  average  18  kilograms  of  dry  bark  to  produce  i  kilogram 
of  quinine  sulphate,  the  average  cost  of  i  kilogram  of  bark  being 
about  32  cents. 
