452  Examination  of  Opium  Alkaloids.     { A October' iot™'" 
amount  of  thebaine  taken.  From  0.2033  Gm.  of  thebaine  hydro- 
chloride, equivalent  to  0.1730  Gm.  of  anhydrous  thebaine,  to  which 
0.0229  Gm.  of  anhydrous  codeine  had  been  added,  a  precipitate 
weighing  0.1225  Gm.  was  obtained,  equivalent  to  70.80  per  cent,  of 
the  amount  of  thebaine  taken.  From  the  nitrate  an  anhydrous 
ether-extract  residue  weighing  0.0713  Gm.  was  obtained,  equivalent 
to  31 1.3  per  cent,  of  the  quantity  of  codeine  taken. 
Thebaine  is  distinguished  from  codeine  by  its  scant  solubility  in  water  or 
in  ammonia  water,  and  by  the  production  of  a  deep  bloo'd-red  instead  of  a 
violet  color  with  Marquis'  reagent ;  from  morphine  by  its  ready  solubility  in 
most  of  the  ordinary  organic  solvents,  its  failure  to  reduce  iodic  acid,  by  the 
production  of  a  yellow  instead  of  an  orange-red  color  with  nitric  acid,  and  a 
deep  blood-red  instead  of  a  purple  color  with  Marquis'  reagent ;  from  nar- 
ceine  by  its  scant  solubility  in  water  or  in  ammonia  water,  its  ready  solubility 
in  most  of  the  ordinary  organic  solvents,  by  the  production  of  a  brownish-red 
instead  of  a  blue  precipitate  with  very  dilute  iodine  solution,  a  reddish-brown 
instead  of  an  orange-red  color  with  chlorine  water  and  ammonia  water,  and  a 
brown  instead  of  a  deep  blood-red  color  with  Marquis'  reagent;  from  nar- 
cotine  by  its  strong  basic  properties,  and  by  the  production  of  a  deep  blood-red 
instead  of  a  fugitive  violet  color  with  Marquis'  reagent;  and  from  papaverine 
by  its  strong  basic  properties,  by  the  production  of  a  deep  blood-red  instead  of 
a  deep  rose  color  with  Marquis'  reagent,  and  a  deep  blood-red  instead  of  a 
greenish-blue  color  with  potassium  ferricyanide  and  Marquis'  reagent. 
The  analytical  findings  indicate  that  the  quality  of  some  of  the 
specimens  examined  is  fair  and  of  some  excellent,  while  none  of  the 
specimens  should  be  classed  as  of  poor  quality.  The  presence  of  less 
than  1  per  cent,  of  codeine  sulphate  in  morphine  sulphate  probably 
cannot  modify  the  pharmacologic  effect  of  the  morphine  to  any 
marked  extent.  Probably  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  presence 
of  15  per  cent,  of  narceine  hydrochloride  in  narceine,  as  in  this 
instance  the  proportion  of  hydrochloric  acid  amounts  to  only  about 
1  per  cent,  of  the  entire  substance. 
Based  for  the  most  part  upon  information  compiled  from  the 
literature,  but  supplemented  to  some  extent  by  deductions  from  the 
results  obtained  in  the  examination  of  the  several  previously-named 
specimens,  tentative  monographs  for  the  several  substances  examined 
(except  for  codeine  phosphate  and  morphine  sulphate,  which  are  de- 
scribed in  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia)  have  been  prepared.  While  the 
lists  of  tests  in  these  monographs  are  in  no  sense  complete,  it  is  be- 
lieved that  they  are  adequate  both  for  the  identification  of  the  sev- 
eral substances  and  to  insure  products,  of  a  sufficient  degree  of  purity 
