A^ctober,Pi89a9rm'}    American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  499 
have  found  the  alkaloid  in  a  free  state  and  also  combined  with  an  acid  in  the 
drug.  The  rhizome  and  roots,  or  rhizome  free  from  the  roots,  contain  nearly 
the  same  amount  of  alkaloid  (2-3  per  cent.).  The  rhizome  and  roots  gathered 
in  the  fall  contain  less  hydrastine,  and  there  is  apparently  present  another  al- 
kaloid which  is  believed  to  be  canadine.  The  drug,  when  gathered  in  the 
spring,  contains  more  alkaloid  than  when  gathered  in  the  fall.  A  compari- 
son of  the  methods  of  assay  proposed  by  Prescott,  Linde  and  Keller  showed 
the  latter  to  be  generally  more  satisfactory,  and  that  Prescott's  method 
required  more  time  and  gave  poorer  results. 
THE  ASSAY  OF  HYOSCYAMUS. 
By  W.  A.  Puckner. 
The  modified  method  of  A.  W.  Gerrard,  followed  by  F.  X.  Moerk  in  his  work 
on  belladonna  leaves  (Amer.  Jour.  Pharm.,  1899,  p.  105),  was  applied  by  Puck- 
ner to  henbane.  The  directions  of  Moerk  were  closely  adhered  to  with  one 
exception  :  in  the  final  extraction  of  the  alkaloid  pure  chloroform  was  substi- 
tuted for  the  ether-chloroform  mixture,  thus  avoiding  the  formation  of  an 
emulsion,  and  with  it  the  addition  of  stearic  acid.  The  alkaloidal  residue 
from  20  grammes  of  drug  required  0*65  c.c.  of  decinormal  acid.  In  a  duplicate 
determination,  o"6o  c.c.  was  used.  The  average,  0*63  c.c,  indicated  0*91  per 
cent,  of  alkaloid,  and  corresponded  to  the  yield  obtained  with  Schwickerath's 
altered  method. 
THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  SCOPOLA  TO  THE  U.S.P. 
by  h.  h.  Rusby. 
This  paper  was  suggestive  of  the  character  of  the  work  that  ought  to  be  per- 
formed in  order  to  answer  the  query,  "  Is  it  proper  to  make  belladonna  prepa- 
rations from  scopola  in  the  face  of  the  present  U.S.P.  definition  ?  Should  the 
U.S.P.  change  its  definition  so  as  to  sanction  the  use  of  the  rhizome  as  an  alter- 
native ?"  He  also  urged  more  especially  the  large  manufacturing  chemists 
to  use  the  correct  name  of  Scopola  Corniolica,  Jacq.,  as  displacing  the 
frequently  used  generic  synonym  Scopolia  (which  refers  to  an  absolutely 
different  plant-genus)  and  the  specific  synonym  atropoides,  which  violates  all 
the  generally  accepted,  rules  which  it  is  the  duty  of  scientific  people  to  observe. 
SCOPOLA  AS  A  PRACTICAL  EQUIVALENT  OF  BELLADONNA. 
By  S.  W.  Williams. 
The  object  of  the  writer  in  this  communication  was  not  to  present  the 
results  of  further  original  investigation,  which  might  be  viewed  as  savoring  of 
prejudice  in  favor  of  a  position  previously  taken,  but  to  direct  attention  to  the 
obviously  disinterested  statements  of  standard  authorities,  directly  bearing 
upon  the  merits  of  the  question,  and  which  are  easily  accessible  to  the  phar- 
macist for  verification.    He  said  : 
"  To  recognize  an  article  as  belladonna  plaster  simply  because  it  is  made 
from  1  belladonna,'  when  the  drug,  and  consequently  the  plaster,  may  vary  to 
hundreds  or  thousands  per  cent.,  while  declaring  a  standardized  scopola  plas- 
ter unworthy  of  the  same  title,  is  to  needlessly  sacrifice  virtue  and  practicality, 
to  worship  a  name  and  ignore  therapeutic  value,  to  place  an  ill- conceived  no- 
