.Am.  Jour.  Pharui. 
Dec,  1886. 
Asiminine. 
589 
easily  from  alcohol,  forming  beautiful  squares,  (Fig.  I1)  and  the 
sulphate  in  lamina  of  crystalline  nature.  Figures  1  and  2  are  accu- 
rate illustrations  of  these  crystals.  The  principal  salt  owing  to  its 
easy  production  in  a  pure  crystalline  condition  will  be  the  hydro- 
chlorate  if  this  alkaloid  should  come  into  demand  as  a  medicinal 
agent. 
Hydrochlorate  of  asiminine  is  white,  odorless,  and  to  the  taste  at 
first  sweetish  and  then  bitter,  leaving  a  bitter  after  taste.  It  crystal- 
lizes from  alcohol  in  transparent  square  plates  (Fig.  1)  or  in  groups 
Fig.  2. — Sulphate  of  Asiminine,  magnified. 
of  crystals  composed  mainly  of  the  interlocked  sections  of  cubes.2 
Even  if  the  alkaloid  be  in  minute  amount,  it  forms,  with  nitric  acid 
at  once  a  carmine  red  which  quickly  changes  to  a  deep  dark  purple 
color.    This  reaction  is  very  delicate  and  is  similar  to  that  of  concen- 
1  These  crystals  are  from  acid  solution,  and  made  by  cautiously  adding  hydro- 
chloric acid  diluted  with  alcohol,  to  a  film  of  the  alkaloid  that  was  deposited 
from  an  ethereal  solution  directly-  upon  the  slide.  This  gave  better  crystals 
than  the  evaporation  of  an  aqueous  solution. 
2  These  crystals  appear  upon  the  slide  to  be  portions  of  cubes  in  which  the 
upper  and  lower  faces  alone  are  developed. 
