156 
Active  Principle  of  Ergot. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t       April,  1911. 
of  separating  the  alkaloid  or  alkaloidal  mixture.  It  is  based  on 
the  experiments  of  Kobert,  which  showed  that  the  alkaloid  was 
soluble  in  ether,  and  on  Wenzel's  observation  that  it  was  insoluble  in 
petroleum  ether.  This  more  or  less  pure  body  Keller  has  named 
cornutin,  on  the  basis  that  his  preparation  is  the  same  as  Robert's 
cornutin.  The  adoption  of  this  name  has  given  rise  to  much  con- 
fusion. Wyss  tested  Keller's  cornutin  and  claimed  that  it  agreed 
in  action  with  that  of  Kobert,  but  the  nature  of  the  test  is  not 
stated;  presumably,  it  was  the  bluing  of  the  cock's  comb.  Keller 
at  first  believed  his  cornutin  was  identical  with  the  ergotinine  of 
Tanret  and  the  cornutin  of  Kobert,  while  the  picrosclerotin  of 
Dragendorfif  and  Podwissotsky  was  considered  to  be  the  same 
compound  admixed  with  certain  decomposition  products.  He  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  cornutin  could  be  precipitated  from  an 
ethereal  solution  by  petroleum  ether.  In  addition  to  the  color  noted 
by  Tanret,  a  sulphuric  acid  solution  of  the  alkaloid,  on  the  addition 
of  FeCls  or  other  oxydizing  agents  as  bromine  water,  gave  an 
orange  red  which  passed  into  a  blue  and  then  bluish  green.  To 
secure  the  best  results  the  alkaloid  is  first  dissolved  in  acetic  acid 
and  sulphuric  acid  is  then  added. 
Later  Keller  adopted  the  view  of  Tanret,  that  Kobert's  cornutin 
was  a  decomposition  product  of  ergotinine,  and  showed  that  his 
cornutin,  if  treated  with  acid,  yielded  a  body  having  the  character 
of  Kobert's  cornutin.^^  He  has  proposed  a  method  which 
has  been  used  by  various  firms  for  quantitative  determination 
of  the  active  principle.  Keller's  method  is  as  follows:  Twenty- 
five  grams  of  dried  ergot  are  extracted  with  petroleum  ether 
until  the  extract  gives  no  residue.  After  drying  with  moderate 
heat  it  is  transferred  to  a  weighed  vessel  of  about  250  c.c.  capacity, 
and  100  grams  of  ether  are  poured  over  it ;  after  about  ten  minutes, 
milk  of  magnesia,  made  by  shaking  one  gram  of  calcined  magnesia 
with  20  c.c.  of  water,  is  added  and  the  mixture  is  shaken  thoroughly. 
After  half  an  hour  80  grams  of  the  ethereal  solution  are  poured 
ofif.  Four  grams  of  the  ether  solution  correspond  to  one  gram 
of  ergot.  If  the  solution  is  not  clear,  it  is  allowed  to  stand,  and 
then  shaken  three  times  with  dilute  HQ  (0.5  per  cent.),  using  25, 
15  and  10  c.c.  If  necessary  it  is  shaken  a  fourth  time  with  10  c.c. 
of  the  same  and  the  last  shaking  is  tested  with  Mayer's  solution 
to  see  if  the  extraction  is  complete.  The  acid  solution  is  then 
shaken  with  ether  and  ammonia,  and  the  shaking  repeated  twice, 
