486  Determination  of  Melting  Points.        {Am' o™T,\maTm' 
assays  on  an  average  4.32  per  cent,  so  that  the  above  fluid  extracts 
fall  considerably  short  of  perfect  exhaustion  of  the  drug. 
Later  the  writer  has  sought  a  process  which  should  be  more  eco- 
nomical as  regards  time  and  chloroform,  which  in  the  process  as 
originally  applied  requires  considerable  amounts.  It  suggested  itself 
that  the  well-known .  power  of  slaked  lime  in  removing  organic 
matter  from  solution  might  be  applied  with  good  effect,  and  as  a  result 
the  following  process  was  found  most  satisfactory:  15  cc.  of  fluid 
extract  are  placed  in  a  small  flask,  30  cc.  of  distilled  water  are  added 
and  the  mixture  shaken  up  with  two  grammes  of  slaked  lime,  filter 
through  a  small  dry  filter  paper,  four  inches  in  diameter,  aud  taking 
15  cc.  of  the  filtrate  (corresponding  to  5  cc.  of  fluid  extract)  neu- 
tralize with  a  few  drops  of  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  avoidiDg  an  excess 
and  evaporate  to  dryness,  digest  with  a  little  water,  filter,  wash  until 
the  washing  ceases  to  .precipitate  with  phosphomolybdic  acid,  make 
alkaline  with  ammonia,  wash  with  chloroform  three  times  and  evapor- 
ate etc.,  etc.  This  last  method  gives  higher  results  than  the  first 
method  given,  and  corresponds  more  nearly  with  the  ammoniated 
chloroform  process  for  the  drug.  The  above  processes  all  yield  the 
alkaloid  in  a  pure  white  mass,  and  though  as  yet  no  definite  experi- 
ments have  been  performed  to  show  that  it  is  wholly  alkaloidal,  there 
seems  little  or  no  doubt  that  the  mass  is  so. 
Experiments  to  prove  that  this  is  absolutely  the  case,  must  be  re- 
served for  a  future  paper. 
ON  THE  DETEKMIJNTATION  OF  MELTING  POINTS. 
By  Henry  C.  C.  Maisch. 
Read  before  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  in  Providence,  P.  I. 
A  pharmacist  has  many  compounds  of  different  properties  to  work 
with.  A  method  for  the  determination  of  melting  points  used  with 
one  of  these  compounds  may  work  well,  while  it  can  be  used  for  few 
others.  We  must,  consequently,  adapt  the  method  to  each  subject 
under  consideration ;  thus  phosphorus  could  be  melted  under  water, 
but  not  on  mercury,  while  the  different  camphors  may  be  melted  on 
the  latter.  From  these  remarks  it  can  easily  be  seen  that  the  best 
manner  of  treating  the  subject  of  melting  points  would  be  to  class 
those  articles  together  whose  melting  points  could  best  be  determined 
by  the  same  methods.    The  headings  under  which  I  propose  to  con- 
