146 
Chemically  Pure  Narceine. 
I  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t      March,  1890. 
as  to  the  purity  of  narceine,  and  the  object  of  my  communication 
was  to  show  that. 
There  has  also  come  under  my  notice  the  communication  from 
P.  C.  Plugge,2  which  I  am  equally  unable  to  leave  unanswered. 
Herr  Plugge  appears  to  be  annoyed  because  I  have  left  unmen- 
tioned  his  work  upon  narceine,  the  chief  point  of  which  is  the  not 
very  novel  classification 3  of  the  opium  alkaloids  into  strong  and 
weak  bases.  But  there  was  no  ground  for  me  to  quote  Plugge's 
results,  as  I  occupied  myself  with  the  preparation  of  chemically  pure 
narceine,  and  in  doing  so  could  not  mention  all  the  communications 
that  have  appeared  upon  that  alkaloid,  but  only  those  standing  in 
direct  connection  with  my  subject. 
However,  it  is  by  no  means  the  case  that  I  .have  anywhere  asserted 
in  opposition  to  previous  authors  that  narceine  is  not  a  weak  base. 
The  purport  of  the  passage  which  Plugge  quotes  from  my  com- 
munication is  to  some  extent  distorted  through  the  absence  of 
subsequent  passages  and  an  opinion  is  attributed  to  me  which  I 
never  held  and  have  never  expressed.  What  I  wished  to  bring  out 
was  that  chemically  pure  narceine,  contrary  to  previous  statements, 
possesses  a  weak  alkaline  reaction,  and  that  it  manifests  quite  a 
peculiar  affinity  for  acids,  on  which  account  it  holds  an  exceptional 
position  among  the  opium  alkaloids. 
The  assumption  by  Plugge  that  narceine  and  acetic  acid  do  not 
combine  chemically  is  a  false  one;  presumably  he  could  not  have 
worked  with  chemically  pure  narceine.  In  a  water  solution  certainly 
decomposition  does  take  place  ;  but  if  chemically  pure  narceine  be 
moistened  with  acetic  acid,  allowed  to  dry,  and  the  residue  powdered, 
the  odorless  powder  so  obtained  does  not  either  by  weeks  of 
exposure  to  the  air  or  by  four  hours'  heating  to  J0°  C.  lose  the 
acetic  acid  to  which  its  strong  acid  reaction  is  due,  a  certain  proof 
that  this  is  chemically  combined. 
Because  this  fact  cannot  be  brought  into  record  with  one  of 
Plugge's  conclusions,  he  contents  himself  with  describing  this 
experiment  as  "  somewhat  strange,  and  one  to  which  no  value  is  to 
be  ascribed."  I  feel  myself  compelled  to  declare  in  this  place,  once 
for  all,  that  in  future  I  shall  not  be  induced  to  take  seriously  into 
2  See  Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,  January,  1890,  p.  34. 
3  See  Hesse's  classical  papers,  Annalen,  cliii,  Suppl.,  viii,  etc. 
