232 
ON  THE  COLOR-TESTS  OF  STRYCHNIA,  ETC. 
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as  is  used  for  pies,  and  containing  meat,  suet,  various  dried 
fruits,  cider,  spices,  and  a  little  brandy),  two  ounces  of  bread,  a 
portion  of  salt,  pepper,  and  vinegar,  and  two  fluidounces  of  a 
strong  infusion  of  coffee,  well-sweetened.  In  other  words,  an 
association  of  the  nitrogenous  and  non-nitrogenous  elements  of 
food,  with  spices,  alcohol,  tannic  acid,  and  caffein.  To  this 
mass,  one  grain  of  strychnia  and  five  grains  of  morphia,  which 
had  been  previously  well  triturated  together  and  dissolved  in  a 
mixture  consisting  of  onefluidrachmof  vinegar  and  15  fluidrachms 
of  water,  were  now  added,  and  the  whole  carefully  mixed. — 
The  mixture  was  set  aside  for  twenty-four  hours  to  permit  the 
alkaloids  to  permeate  the  entire  mass,  and  it  was  then  divided 
into  four  equal  parts.  Each  part  being  made  the  subject  of  an 
experiment,  as  follows  : — 
JEJxpt.  4.  The  first  portion,  containing  one  quarter  of  a  grain 
of  strychnia  and  one  and  a  quarter  grains  of  morphia,  was 
treated  with  f^ij  of  acetic  acid  (1-041),  and  f^iv  of  water.  The 
mixture  having  been  allowed  to  stand  for  sixty  hours,  was  raised 
to  the  boiling  point  and  ebullition  wTas  maintained  fifteen  min- 
utes. Having  been  strained  and  filtered,  equal  quantities  of 
chloroform  and  the  caustic  solution  were  added  to  the  filtered 
liquid  ;  the  whole  were  well  agitated  together,  and  after  subsi- 
dence, the  chloroform  was  separated  and  evaporated.  Upon 
treating  the  deposit  with  sulphuric  acid  and  ferricyanuret  of 
potassium  the  distinctive  play  of  colors  appeared. 
This  experiment  proves  that  strychnia  is  not  decomposed  by 
a  heat  of  212°,  maintained  for  a  short  period,  even  though 
morphia  and  organic  matter  be  present.  The  elevated  tempera- 
ture is  objectionable,  however,  from  the  large  amount  of  starchy 
matter  dissolved  by  the  boiling  water,  which  clogs  the  subse- 
quent steps  of  the  process. 
JSxpt.  5.  The  second  portion,  containing  the  same  amount  of 
alkaloids  as  the  preceding,  was  macerated  twelve  hours  in  f^ij 
of  acetic  acid,  and  f^ij  of  water,  then  strained  with  pressure 
and  filtered.  The  resulting  liquid  was  treated  with  equal 
measures  of  chloroform  and  the  caustic  solution.  The  deposit 
from  the  evaporated  chloroform  yielded  the  proper  colors  with 
the  test-agents. 
This,  like  many  subsequent  experiments,  proves  that  it  is  un- 
