Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1886. 
Cinchonidine  in  Quinine  Sulphate. 
243 
ically,  but  the  practitioner  will  object  that  they  are  of  little  use  to  him. 
There  is  another  test  for  cocaine,  which  will  be  found  in  the  Pharma- 
ceutische  Zeitung  of  Berlin,  February  27,  1886,  p.  132.  Dr.  Giesel 
states  that  1  centigramme  of  hydrochloride  of  cocaine  dissolved  in  2 
drops  of  water  is  precipitated  by  a  solution  of  potassium  permanganate 
(1  in  330),  a  violet  insoluble  salt  of  the  alkaloid  being  produced.  I  find 
that  statement  quite  correct;  sometimes  very  fine  microscopic  crystals 
of  the  salt  make  their  appearance.  Having  tried,  on  the  other  hand, 
morphine,  strychnine,  and  quinine,  I  ascertained  that  they  cause  simply 
the  permanganate  to  be  reduced  without  yielding  an  alkaloidal  per- 
manganate. Dr.  Giesel's  fine  test  is  therefore  very  characteristic  for 
cocaine. 
If  cocaine  or  its  salts  are  heated  with  sulphuric  acid  (1*84  sp.  gr.) 
an  abundance  of  white  acrid  vapors  are  given  off ;  on  cooling  they 
deposit  crystals  of  benzoic  acid  on  the  walls  of  the  tube.  This  reaction 
may  also  be  performed  with  a  minute  quantity  of  the  alkaloid. 
I  cannot  speak  so  favorably  with  regard  to  another  test,  which  has 
recently  been  recommended  by  Dr.  Lenz,  in  the  Zeitschrift  fur  ana- 
lytische  Chemie  of  Fresenius,  xxv.  (1886),  p.  31.  On  melting  cocaine 
with  caustic  potash,  Dr.  Lenz  noticed  a  yellow  or  brownish  coloration. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  this  reaction  is  not  very  characteristic,  inasmuch 
as  many  other  substances  can  afford  a  similar  hue  when  treated  in  the 
same  way. — Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  March  20,  1886,  p.  800. 
THE  PRESENCE  OF  CINCHONIDINE  IN  THE  QUININE 
SULPHATE  OF  COMMERCE. 
By  A.  J.  Cownley. 
The  statement  lately  made  by  Dr.  de  Vrij,  that  all  the  quinine  sul- 
phate of  commerce  contains  more  than  5  per  cent,  of  cinchonidine  sul- 
phate, not  being  in  accordance  with  the  general  experience  of  those 
conversant  with  the  subject,  it  may  not  be  inopportune  to  publish 
some  results  obtained  in  the  examination  of  samples  of  commercial 
quinine  sulphate  in  the  course  of  the  last  ten  years.  The  method  of 
analysis  by  which  they  were  obtained  is  sufficiently  delicate  to  admit 
of  the  detection  of  one-thousandth  part  of  cinchonidine  sulphate 
(Phar.  Jour.  [3],  vii,  p.  654,  see  Am.  Jour.  Phar  ,  1877,  p.  202.) 
This  publication  is  the  more  necessary  from  the  fact  that  the  author 
of  the  statement  referred  to  has  arrived  at  his  conclusions  from  results 
