NOTE  ON  NARCEIA.  Ill 
the  relations  of  glycerin  to  chloroform  as  regards  solubility : 
neither  Gmelin,  Brand  &  Taylor,  Gregory,  Storer's  Dictionary 
of  Solubilities,  nor  Parrish's  Pharmacy,  allude  to  the  matter. 
Dr.  Adolphus  (see  p.  150  of  this  number)  says  that  glycerin  is  in- 
soluble in  chloroform.  We  believe,  therefore,  that  this  "test" 
will  have  to  be  set  aside. 
NOTE  ON  NARCEIA. 
By  the  Editoe. 
The  publication  of  the  results  of  M.  Line  on  the  physiologi- 
cal powers  of  narceia  (see  this  journal,  Sept.,  1866,  page  454), 
and  other  journals,  seems  to  have  attracted  the  attention  of  phy- 
sicians to  this  ingredient  of  opium.  It  has  not  been  considered 
as  possessing  much  therapeutic  interest.  Dr.  Wood  states,  in 
the  U.  S.  Dispensatory  (page  623,  12th  Edit.),  that  two  grains 
were  introduced  into  the  jugular  vein  of  a  dog  without  observ- 
.able  effect.  M.  Claude  Bernard  (Comptes  Rendus,  and  this 
journal,  for  1865,  page  70)  seems  to  have  first  called  attention 
to  the  individual  therapeutic  character  of  the  alkaloids  of  opium, 
and  especially  to  the  eminent  soporific  effects  of  narceia.  Ac- 
cording to  these  experiments  the  animal  sleeps  more  profoundly, 
but  is  not  so  much  stupified,  as  with  morphia,  nor  so  much  excit- 
ed as  by  codeia.  The  immense  price  of  this  alkaloid  (96  dollars 
per  ounce)  will  prevent  its  use  in  a  general  way,  being  twelve 
times  the  price  of  morphia.  This  is  mainly  the  result  of  its 
scarcity,  as  until  this  time  narceia  has  been  thrown  away  in  the 
liquors  from  which  morphia  was  extracted,  being  soluble  in  alka- 
line solutions.  Nevertheless,  according  to  Couerbe,  forty  pounds 
of  opium,  which  yield  fifty  ounces  of  morphia,  afford  but  six 
drachms  of  narceia  ;  yet  when  it  is  considered  that  thousands  of 
pounds  of  opium  have  been  and  are  annually  treated  for  mor- 
phia, it  must  be  apparent  that  if  the  residual  principles  had  been 
collected,  as  those  of  bark  have  been,  narceia  would  have  been 
less  expensive,  and  it  is  quite  probable  that  the  price  will  abate. 
The  manner  of  using  narceia  may  be  in  pills  or  solution  ;  its 
solubility  varies  much  from  that  of  morphia,  a;id  its  relation  to 
acids  is  quite  different.    According  to  M.  Hesse  (Amer.  Jour. 
