Am.  Jour.  Phaim. 
March,  1890. 
Chemically  Pure  Narceine. 
145 
sulphates- -and  that  in  addition  they  contained  other  substances  in 
varying  quantities. 
Since  a  theory  has  value  only  when  it  is  supported  by  experi- 
mentally proved  facts,  I  have  not,  in  the  absence  of  such  experi- 
ments, spoken  more  definitely  upon  the  chemical  nature  of  these 
samples  of  narceine  containing  acid,  but  in  print  have  only  stated 
that  they  are  "  probably  to  be  considered  as  basic  salts." 
Dott  appears  to  have  overlooked  this,  since  he  ascribes  to  me 
that  I  look  upon  these  substances  as  mixtures  of  free  base  and 
normal  salts.  However,  I  willingly  concede  that  the  expression 
selected  by  me  in  one  place  might  furnish  opportunity  for  an  error 
in  the  sense  indicated,  though  my  intention  was  to  mention  in  that 
place  the  results  of  an  analysis  showing  the  presence  of  hydrochloric 
acid  in  narceine,  simply  because  that  very  interesting  fact  was  thus 
brought  under  notice  in  the  most  drastic  manner. 
As  to  the  collision  with  Wright's  investigations  upon  narceine 
hydrochloride,  I  may  remark  that  my  object  was  to  illustrate  the 
difficulties  attending  the  attempt  to  remove  the  whole  of  the  acid 
from  commercial  narceine.  With  that  object  I  selected  a  sample  of 
narceine  containing  hydrochloric  acid,  and  in  that  respect  corre- 
sponding to  the  majority  of  the  preparations  tested,  but  the  same 
results  hold  good  for  narceine  containing  either  acetic  acid  or 
sulphuric  acid. 
The  fact  then  observed  was  that  narceine  crystallized  out  from  50 
per  cent,  alcohol,  and  even  in  the  presence  of  free  ammonia,  still 
contained  hydrochloric  acid,  and  that  fact  was  at  any  rate  so  sur- 
prising and  so  new  that  a  closer  investigation  appeared  to  be 
justified. 
It  can  easily  be  ascertained  by  experiment  that,  contrary  to  Dott's 
statement,  narceine  containing  hydrochloric  acid  cannot  be  perfectly 
freed  from  the  acid  by  recrystallization. 
In  the  case  before  us  I  cannot  agree  with  the  views  of  Dott  upon 
the  limited  importance  of  the  melting  point  as  a  means  of  establish- 
ing the  purity  of  certain  alkaloids,  for  it  is  only  when  narceine  is 
absolutely  free  from  acid  and  other  foreign  admixtures  that  it  melts 
above  1700  C. 
In  respect  to  the  use  of  the  alkaloid  it  was  expressly  stated  that 
"  good  commercial  narceine  might  fully  suffice  for  therapeutic  use  ;" 
but  the  chemist  must  be  more  thorough-going  in  his  requirements 
