522 
Alkaloids  and  Alkaloidal  Drugs. 
I  November,  l;99.. 
r Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
For  Berberine. 
Number  of  C.c.  of  —  KI  Consumed 
20 
by  10  Grammes  of  the  Root. 
Berberine 
Anhydrous. 
I 
I5'i 
15  '3 
14-8 
2*52 
2'55 
2'47 
2 
3 
RESPECTING  THE  OPIUM  ASSAY. 
Last  year  we  reported1  a  morphiometric  assay  of  opium,  the  chief 
features  of  which  were  : 
(i)  Extraction  of  the  drug  by  a  special  method  of  percolation  to 
separate  the  morphine. 
standard  iodine.    In  this  method  only  I  gramme  of  opium  is  taken. 
As  a  result  of  our  further  work  we  now  offer*  some  additions  to- 
this  process  of  opium  assay,  as  follows : 
(1)  A  more  desirable  solvent  for  the  extraction  of  the  morphine.. 
(2)  An  adaptation  to  the  use  of  standard  acid  for  those  who  pre 
fer  it  instead  of  iodine,  in  the  volumetric  determination  of  the  mor- 
phine.   This,  however,  makes  it  advisory  that  3  grammes  of  opium 
be  taken  instead  of  I  gramme. 
Having  additional  experience,  we  present  a  new  statement  of  the 
directions  for  the  work,  in  the  accompanying  paper  entitled  "Direc- 
tions for  Certain  Alkaloidal  Assays."  (See  Amer.  Jour.  Pharm.,  i  899, 
p.  462.) 
In  respect  to  the  deficiencies  of  ordinary  opium  assays,  the  follow- 
ing observations  may  be  made  : 
(1)  In  most  of  the  methods  there  is  no  proof  that  the  opium  is 
completely  exhausted. 
(2)  It  is  not  proven  that  the  narcotine  is  fully  removed,  and  the 
same  may  be  said  of  the  most  of  other  opium  alkaloids  beside 
morphine. 
(3)  The  heat  of  evaporation  is  liable  to  affect  morphine  injuri- 
ously, easily  oxidizable  as  it  is. 
(4)  The  crystalline  precipitation  of  morphine  is  not  complete,  and 
it  is  not  known  exactly  how  much  of  it  is  left  in  the  mother  liquor. 
(5)  Some  other  matters  are  carried  down  with  the  precipitated 
morphine  and  weighed  as  such. 
estimation  of  the  extracted  morphine  by 
''Pharm.  Arch.,  1,  p.  121;  "A.  Ph.  A.  Proc,"  1898,  p.  340;  Jour.  Am.. 
Chan.  Soc,  1898,  p.  724. 
