532  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  { 
/Am.  Jour.  Phartu. 
Oct.,  1890. 
(see  this  Journal,  Feb.  1890,  p.  99),  which  he  found  to  be  of  pretty  uniform 
alkaloidal  strength  ;  the  records  of  working  with  over  16  tons  of  the  commer- 
cial rhizome  show  an  average  strength  of  0*59  per  cent,  of  alkaloid,  estimated 
with  Mayer's  solution.  The  amount  of  extract  obtainable  from  the  drug 
increases  with  the  decrease  of  the  alcoholic  strength  of  the  menstruum,  the 
alkaloidal  percentage  of  the  extract  diminishing  in  an  inverse  proportion  ; 
thus  with  94  per  cent,  alcohol,  I3"i5  per  cent,  extract,  containing  4*10  per  cent, 
alkaloid,  were  obtained,  while  25  per  cent,  alcohol  yielded  38*46  per  cent, 
extract  with  1  '40  per  cent,  alkaloid.  Using  80  per  cent,  alcohol,  the  yield  of 
extract  varied  between  22  and  28,  average  25*3  per  cent.,  with  a  variation  of 
alkaloid  from  2-o  to  t 60,  average  2-358  per  cent.  The  paper  describes  also  the 
manufacture  of  the  plaster  on  the  large  scale,  and  is  illustrated  with  photo- 
graphic reproductions  of  the  rhizome  and  of  the  machinery  for  the  manufac- 
turing of  the  plaster.  A  working  process  for  determining  the  amount  of 
alkaloid  in  the  plaster  by  means  of  Mayer's  solution  is  likewise  described. 
Fluid  Extract  of  Ipecac. — T.  J.  Milner  experimented  with  the  different  pro- 
cesses recommended  for  the  preparation  of  this  extract,  using  a  root  unusually 
rich  in  alkaloid,  assaying  3*12  per  cent.  The  fluid  extract  prepared  by  the 
pharmacopoeial  process  contained  only  46  per  cent,  of  the  alkaloids ;  by 
Rother's  process  (Drug.  Circ,  1884,  p.  4)  45  per  cent.  ;  by  Robbins'  formula 
(Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,  1883,  p.  128)  75  per  cent,  the  extract  forming  a  precipi- 
tate ;  by  using  as  the  menstruum  alcohol  and  water  in  the  proportion  of  4  :  1, 
85  per  cent. ;  and  with  the  same  menstruum,  but  following  Rother's  process,  with 
magnesia,  80  per  cent,  of  the  alkaloid  was  contained  in  the  fluid  extract. 
Emetine  valuation  of  Fluid  Extract  of  Ipecac  \s  effected,  by  W.  Simonson 
of  Cincinnati,  by  a  process  depending  upon  the  removal  of  resinous  matter  from 
the  acidulated  extract  by  means  of  ether,  liberating  the  alkaloid  with  ammonia, 
extracting  it  with  ether,  evaporating  to  constant  weight,  and  weighing.  The 
sulphate  dried  over  sulphuric  acid,  was  analyzed,  yielding  81  '35  alkaloid,  15  73 
sulphuric  acid,  and  3*08  water.  From  these  and  other  determinations  the 
author  calculates  508  to  be  the  molecular  weight  of  emetine,  which  agrees  with 
Kunz's  formula  C30H40N2O5,  determined  in  1887.  Estimating  upon  this  basis 
the  purity  of  the  alkaloid  in  the  ether  residue  as  obtained  above,  it  was  found 
to  assay  in  six  determinations  between  98*4  and  997  per  cent. 
Cascara  sagrada  and  its  allies  was  the  subject  of  a  discourse  by  Professor  H. 
H.  Rusby.  It  was  made  particularly  interesting  through  the  exhibition  of  botani- 
cal specimens,  and  of  specimens  of  bark  from  branches  and  old  wood.  Rhamnus 
califo7-nica  grows  sparingly  in  Northern  California,  but  becomes  more 
abundant  southward  and  eastward  through  Mexico  and  Arizona,  passing  into 
several  varieties  which  have  been  regarded  as  distinct  species.  On  the  other 
hand,  Rhamnus  Purshiana  becomes  abundant  from  Northern  California  north- 
ward, so  that  the  place  of  collection  furnishes  presumptive  evidence  of  the  origin 
of  the  bark.  The  bark  of  the  two  species  collected  from  older  wood  cannot 
well  be  distinguished  in  appearance,  while  the  younger  bark  presents  a  few 
marks  of  distinction  in  the  transversely  elongated  light-colored  spots  which, 
in  R.  Purshiana,  are  much  more  numerous,  and  persist  for  a  much  longer 
period  than  in  the  other  species.  The  two  barks  are  best  distinguished  from 
the  arrangement  and  characters  of  their  bast-bundles,  resin-areas  and  medul- 
