Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
Nov.,  1890.  J 
Chemical  Notes. 
579 
results  of  the  analysis  of  one  sample.  The  large  variations  I  find 
daily  in  alkaloid  or  other  active  principle  of  important  drugs2 
make  this  suggestion  necessary.  This  does  not  belittle  in  any  way 
the  value  of  estimating  alkaloidal  strength,  over  the  old  way  of  try- 
ing Extractum  Punicae  Granati  on  its  physiological  effect  only,  as 
I  did.    Assays  of  the  tree-bark  are  desirable,  however. 
CHEMICAL  NOTES. 
By  Henry  C.  C.  Maisch,  Ph.G.,  Ph.D. 
The  Fruit  of  Erythroxylon  Coca.  C.  J.  H.  Warden  (Pharm.  Journ. 
and  Trans.,  1890,  xxi,  1)  analyzed  coca  fruit,  grown  near  Calcutta, 
according  to  Dragendorff.  He  found  :  1.  moisture,  5-423  per  cent, 
determined  at  ioo°  C.  after  partial  desiccation  over  sulphuric  acid  ; 
II.  petroleum  ether  extract,  4-540  per  cent.,  containing  3-021  per 
cent,  glycerides  of  fatty  acids  and  1*519  per  cent,  impure  phytos- 
teric  and  coloring  matter;  III.  ether  extract,  0-44  per  cent.,  the 
solubilities  being  as  follows :  petroleum  ether  dissolved,  0  232  per 
cent.  ;  water,  01 10  per  cent.,  containing  cocaine;  absolute  alcohol, 
0  069  per  cent.;  the  remaining  0-029  per  cent,  being  only  soluble 
in  ether ;  IV.  extract  with  absolute  alcohol,  3  820  per  cent.,  con- 
taining cocatannic  acid  and  trace  of  alkaloid ;  V.  aqueous  extract, 
23-44  per  cent.  ;  VI.  ash,  4-271  per  cent. 
On  a  Cocaine  double  salt.  W.  Miller  {Pharm.  Zeitg.,  1890,  xxxv, 
522)  obtained,  by  mixing  concentrated  solutions  of  mercuric  chlo- 
ride and  cocaine  hydrochloride,  a  double  salt  having  the  composi- 
tion C17H21'N04,HCl,HgCl2  -f-  2H20  as  a  voluminous  precipitate. 
Washed  and  dried  in  a  desiccator,  the  salt  appears  to  be  finely  crys- 
talline. At  1240  C.  the  salt  melts  to  a  clear,  colorless  liquid  which 
on  cooling  forms  a  turbid  mass.  Besides  possessing  the  anaesthetic 
property  of  cocaine,  it  also  has,  when  brought  on  the  tongue,  a  dis- 
tinct metallic  taste. 
A  new  Alkaloid  from  Chrysanthemum  cincraricefolium.  F.  M. 
Zuco  (Rendiconti  d.  Acad,  dei  Line ei  (Roma),  1890,  (vi,  571-575)  ob- 
tained from  the  flowers  of  the  above  plant  by  treatment  with  ether 
two  crystalline  bodies,  one  of  which  is  a  paraffin  and  the  other  a 
2  Belladonna  root  with  1  per  cent.,  instead  of  0-4  to  0-5  per  cent,  alkaloid,  as 
usual.  Cantharides  with  1*2  per  cent,  cantharidin  against  0-3-0-5  per  cent,  as 
given  in  text-books  on  pharmaceutical  chemistry. 
