AmjJuiyyi8P99.arm-}        Assay  of  Belladonna  Leaves.  323 
filter;  the  stem  of  the  larger  separator  is  rinsed  with  5  c.c.  of  the  sol- 
vent and  this  portion  used  to  again  rinse  the  smaller  separator 
before  transferring  to  the  filter;  now  rinse  the  stem  of  the  smaller 
separator  with  a  few  cubic  centimetres  of  the  solvent,  allowing  this 
portion  to  run  into  the  filter,  and  wash  the  filter  and  funnel  with  sev- 
eral small  portions  of  solvent.  Any  aqueous  solution  transferred  to 
the  smaller  separator  should  J^e  prevented  from  getting  on  the  filter 
and  the  latter  should  be  covered  as  much  as  possible  to  prevent 
evaporation  of  the  solvent. 
Distil  off  the  solvent  on  a  water-bath,  warm  until  the  odor  of 
chloroform  disappears,  dissolve  the  residue  in  5  c.c.  ether,  evaporate, 
redissolve  residue  in  5  c.c.  ether,  evaporate  and  heat  until  the  odor 
of  ether  disappears ;  dissolve  in  8  c.c.  neutral  alcohol,  add  30  c.c. 
water  and  3  drops  haematoxylin  solution  and  titrate  with  stand- 
ardized HCl  to  the  disappearance  of  any  red  shade  or  the  formation 
of  a  pure  yellow  color. 
The  results  of  this  process  [(1)  and  (2)],  compared  with  those 
obtained  by  the  original  process  [(3)  and  (4)],  show  slightly  higher 
results,  particularly  if  differences  in  percentages  of  moisture  are 
considered. 
Moisture 
Alkaloid 
Moisture 
Alkaloid 
(0 
(2) 
(3) 
(4) 
Per  Cent. 
Per  Cent. 
Per  Cent. 
Per  Cent. 
•  •  •  9'i5 
•  f  0'4944 
I  0-4997 
9"I5 
f  0-4839 
\o-489I 
.  .  .  8-85 
0-6312 
8-40 
f  0-5996 
\  0*6040 
>  •  •  8-43 
0-5I55 
7-6o 
/  0-5I55 
I  0-5050 
.  .  .  8-50 
6-8o 
J  0*4997 
\  0-4997 
0*4208 
C3629 
The  knowledge  that  the  solvent  used  in  this  process  is  homo- 
geneous and  perfectly  miscible  with  water  suggested  the  possibility 
of  using  an  aliquot  portion  of  a  maceration  to  complete  the  assay, 
thus  saving  additional  time.  One  of  the  most  important  objections 
to  assay  processes  in  which  an  aliquot  portion  is  used  to  represent 
a  definite  weight  of  drug  is  the  increase  in  weight  of  the  solvent 
added,  by  the  moisture  and  soluble  matters  taken  up  from  the  drug, 
and  for  which  no  allowance  is  made  in  some  processes,  or  a  uniform 
allowance  is  made  for  all  samples  of  a  drug  regardless  of  the  actual 
