Am.  -Tour.  Pharrn. 
July,  1898. 
Java  Quinine. 
345 
manufacturing  pharmacists  and  chemists  located  in  Philadelphia,  and 
subjected  to  the  treatment  already  outlined.  The  result  of  dupli- 
cate analyses,  in  percentages  of  ferrous  carbonate,  were  as  follows  : 
I  II  III  IV 
29*03         37 '84         49"22  33'x2 
2878         37-62         49-14  33-04 
Average   28  90         37-73  49-18  33-08 
JAVA  QUININE. 
By  J.  B.  Nagei,voort. 
It  will,  no  doubt,  be  of  interest  to  the  readers  of  the  American 
Journal  of  Pharmacy  to  know  that  Java  quinine,  as  a  market 
article,  is  an  established  fact.  The  writer,  among  others,  secured 
some  of  this  first  Dutch  product  for  assay.  After  the  many  mis- 
representations of  the  ability  of  the  Java  factory,  it  is  a  duty  to 
report  this  final  success.  The  prices  of  Peruvian  bark  are  already 
on  the  increase  ;  neglected  plantations,  lately  offered  for  sale  for 
1  cent  on  the  dollar,  are  taken  under  cultivation  again  ;  and  if  the 
colonial  government  will  lighten  the  difficulties,  by  giving  freedom 
of  duty  on  the  raw  material,  on  the  chemicals,  the  sulphuric  acid 
and  the  caustic  soda,  needed  for  the  manufacturing  of  this  valuable 
medicine,  this  chemical  industry  will  yet  become  a  blessing  for 
the  whole  island.  Twenty-one  boxes  quinine  sulphate  were  sold 
at  Amsterdam,  at  the  April  sale,  wholesale,  at  a  minimum  of  14-20  f. 
and  a  maximum  of  15-30  f . ;  retail,  I  f.  per  kilogramme,  including 
cans  (a  Dutch  f.  equals  40  American  cents). 
Assay. — One  gramme  of  the  sample  is  deprived  of  most  of  its 
water  of  crystallization  and  the  possible  double  salts  of  the  cinchona 
alkaloids  broken  up,  by  warming  in  the  air-bath  to  100°  C.  for  half 
an  hour.  It  is  then  transferred  into  a  suitable  small  "  Erlenmeyer  "; 
10  c.c.  of  water  is  added  to  it  ;  the  flask  is  provided  with  a  good 
cork,  and  now  immersed  in  water  that  was  warmed  to  6o°  C.  The 
flask,  with  its  contents,  is  kept  in  this  water,  the  temperature  being 
constant,  for  half  an  hour,  shaking  frequently.  It  is  then  taken  out 
and  afterwards  again  immersed  for  two  hours  more  in  water  of  a 
temperature  of  150  C,  agitating  the  contents  of  the  flask,  as  before, 
from  time  to  time.  After  this  rigid  test  on  the  presence  of  easier 
soluble  secondary  cinchona  alkaloids,  cinchonidin  and  cinchonin 
