540 
SUBLIMATION  OF  THE  ALKALOIDS. 
the  reactions  only  that  with  dilute  hydrochloric  acid  yields  crys- 
talline forms. 
7.  Solanine  yields  eminently  satisfactory  results.  The  vapors 
have  a  most  agreeable  odor,  and  deposit  crystals  which  are  in 
the  single  form  of  needles  springing  from  a  point,  and  usually 
lying  across  each  other  as  a  network.  The  sublimate  is  so  well 
defined  that  it  alone  suffices  for  the  recognition  of  the  alkaloid. 
Distilled  water,  liq.  ammonias,  and  dilute  chromic  acid,  yield  no 
characteristic  reactions  ;  but  dilute  hydrochloric  acid  developes 
crystals  after  the  lapse  of  24  hours  or  more. 
8.  Digitaline,  on  the  other  hand,  yields  no  crystalline  subli- 
mate ;  but  the  vapor  has  the  characteristic  odor  of  the  drug. 
The  reactions  with  distilled  water,  liquor  ammonias,  and  dilute 
chromic  acid,  are  of  no  value ;  but  dilute  hydrochloric  acid,  after 
24  hours,  and  with  delicate  manipulations,  appears  to  yield  cha- 
racteristic crystalline  results.  The  other  mineral  acids  also  give 
characteristic,  though  delicate  reactions. 
It  appears,  then,  that  out  of  eight  alkaloids  chosen  on  account 
of  their  importance  as  poisons,  two  (veratrine  and  solanine)  yield 
characteristic  crystalline  sublimates,  by  which  they  are  at  once 
distinguished  from  the  remainder  of  this  group,  while  two  others 
{morphine  and  strychnine)  in  an  eminent  degree,  and  one  (hrucine) 
in  an  inferior  degree,  yield  sublimates  which  give  characteristic 
crystalline  forms  with  reagents. 
These  are  the  first  results  of  a  method  of  procedure  which,  as 
I  have  already  stated,  admits  of  obvious  improvement,  and  yields, 
when  so  improved,  crystalline  sublimates  of  strychnine  and  mor- 
phine of  great  beauty,  and,  as  I  shall  soon  have  occasion  to  show, 
of  great  interest  to  the  micro-chemist  and  microscopist. 
The  short  notice  of  morphine  given  above  is  the  only  one  of 
the  eight  which  makes  direct  mention  of  the  smallest  quantity 
from  which  a  sublimate  may  be  obtained.  A  thousandth  of  a 
grain  is  specified,  and  it  may  be  inferred  from  the  statements 
made  respecting  other  of  the  alkaloids  (namely,  that  the  quantity 
used  will  give  a  succession  of  five  or  six  sublimates),  coupled 
with  the  remark  already  cited,  that  the  one-hundredth  part  of  a 
grain  is  too  large  to  yield  clear  and  good  results,  that  sublimates 
are  obtainable  from  other  alkaloids,  as  well  as  from  morphine,  by 
