Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
Dec.  1,  1873.  j 
Essential  Oil  of  Orange. 
545 
for  the  detection  of  opium  in  food,  the  contents  of  stomachs,  etc.,  in 
poisoning  cases,  it  is  of  course  necessary  to  separate  the  alkaloid  from 
the  other  substances  in  the  usual  manner.  The  test  is  then  performed 
in  the  following  way  : — 
Heat  the  substance  which  is  believed  to  be,  or  to  contain,  morphia 
gently  with  a  few  drops  of  pure  sulphuric  acid,  add  a  very  small 
quantity  of  pure  perchlorate  of  potassium.  The  liquid  immediately 
surrounding  the  perchlorate  will  at  once  assume  a  deep  brown  color, 
which  will  soon  spread  and  extend  over  the  greater  part  of  the  acid. 
Warming  increases  the  delicacy  of  the  test.  O'OOOl  gramme  of  morphia 
•can  be  distinctly  recognized  in  this  way  and  no  other  alkaloid  is  acted 
upon  in  a  similar  way  by  the  substances  named.  It  is  indispensable 
however  for  the  success  of  the  experiment  that  the  perchlorate  of 
potassium  be  absolutely  free  from  chlorate ;  if  it  is  not,  it  must  be 
heated  with  successive  portions  of  pure  hydrochloric  acid  until  the 
latter  remains  colorless  and  ceases  to  give  off  chlorine.  After 
removing  the  HC1  completely  by  washing  with  water,  the  perchlorate 
must  be  dried  at  212°,  and  is  then  ready  for  use.  I  feel  justified  in 
strongly  recommending  this  test  to  the  attention  of  the  chemical 
profession. 
[Some  time  after  I  had  forwarded  the  above  report  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Conference,  another  equally  delicate  new  test  for  morphia 
was  published  by  Mr.  R.  Schneider.  One  drop  of  pure  sulphuric 
acid  is  placed  on  a  porcelain  slab,  and  a  mixture  of  one  part  of 
morphia  and  six  parts  of  sugar  is  added ;  the  mixture  will  at  once 
assume  a  purplish  red  color,  which  remains  unaltered  for  some  time. 
Codeina  and  aconitina,  if  treated  in  the  same  way,  produce  a  similar 
reaction.] — Pharm.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  October  18,  1873. 
ON  THE  ESSENTIAL  OIL  OF  ORANGE  (PORTUGAL.)* 
By  C.  R.  A.  Wright,  D.  Sc.  (Load.), 
Lecturer  on  Chemistry  in  St.  Mary's  Hospital  Medical  School. 
A  brief  preliminary  notice  on  this  subject  by  the  author  and  Mr. 
C.  H.  Piesse  was  read  before  the  Conference  two  years  ago  ;  since 
then  a  large  number  of  experiments  have  been  made,  of  which  the 
following  is  a  synopsis  : 
Proximate  Constituents. — The  great  majority  of  the  oil  (97*2  per 
*  Read  at  the  meeting  of  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference. 
35 
