12  Chemical  Notes.  {Am'ja0nUyi8P9aarm- 
anide  is  reduced,  as  is  also  potassium  chromate  in  presence  of  sulphuric 
acid.  Tannin,  sodium  chloride,  ammonia,  sodium  hydrate,  sodium 
carbonate  and  bicarbonate  have  no  effect.  The  aqueous  solution  is 
neutral. 
From  the  seeds  of  U.  pilulifera,  which  in  the  Orient  are  highly 
spoken  of  as  a  galactopoeum,  the  same  author  (I.  c.)  extracted  also  a 
glucoside.  The  powdered  seeds  were  treated  with  magnesia  and 
water,  the  mixture  evaporated  to  dryness  and  extracted  with  chloro- 
form. He  obtained  an  oil  rich  in  chlorophyll.  The  residue  from 
the  above  was  extracted  with  absolute  alcohol,  the  latter  distilled  off,  and 
the  remainder  taken  up  with  water.  On  acidifying  this  solution  with 
hydrochloric  acid  it  yielded  with  iodo-potassium  iodide  a  copious  pre- 
cipitate. Its  behavior  towards  Fehling's  solution  before  and  after 
treatment  with  acids  showed  it  to  be  a  glucoside. 
JEschscholtzia  californica,  according  to  the  same  author  (I.  c.)  con- 
tains two  alkaloids  and  a  glucoside.  One  of  the  alkaloids,  protopine, 
which  is  widely  distributed  through  the  papaveracese,  has,  according 
to  E.  Schmidt  (meeting  of  scientists  and  physicians,  Heidelberg, 
through  Chem.  Centralh.,  ]  889,  ii,  p.  579),  a  physiological  action  simi- 
lar to  that  of  morphine.  One  of  the  alkaloids  gives  a  violet  color 
with  sulphuric  acid. 
The  root  of  Berberis  aquifolium  contains,  according  to  E.  Schmidt 
(I.e.)  berberine,  oxyacanthine,  berbamine  and  phytosterin.  He  found  the 
composition  of  berbamine  and  oxyacanthine  to  be  C18H19N03.  The 
purification  of  berberine  is  best  accomplished  by  the  following  method  : 
A  salt  of  berberine  is  dissolved  in  water,  acetone  and  sodium  hydrate 
added,  and  after  the  liquid  has  cooled  the  crystalline  acetone — berberine 
is  collected  and  washed.  The  berberine  salts  are  obtained  by  boiling 
the  above  compound  with  dilute  acids,  and  the  free  alkaloid  by  heat- 
ing with  chloroform  and  alcohol ;  these  solvents  are  distilled  off,  and 
after  cooling  the  alkaloid  is  recrystallized  from  water.  The  alkaloid 
obtained  differs  in  some  respects  from  that  prepared  according  to  the 
older  method  (decomposition  of  the  sulphate  with  barium  hydrate, 
removing  excess  of  barium  with  C02,  evaporating  in  vacuo  and 
recrystallizing),  the  latter  giving  off  6  mol.  water  at  100°  C,  the 
former  only  4  mol.;  the  former  further  does  not  absorb  CQ2,  while  the 
latter  does,  forming  an  acid  carbonate. 
According  to  the  same  author  the  root  of  chelidonium  contains  chelido- 
nine,  (C20H19NO5  +  H20),  chelerythrine,  and  a  number  (about  a  dozen)  of 
