Am.  Jour.  Pharnj. ) 
January,  19C6.  J 
A.  0.  A.  C.   Work  on  Drugs. 
45 
Powdered  Opium. 
method  i.  united  states  pharmacopoeia,  eighth  revision,  with 
additions. 
Run  two  sets  of  duplicates  on  opium  as  received  and  report 
results  for  each  set. 
(1)  Weigh  the  crystals  in  the  inner  filter  counterpoised  by  the 
outer  filter. 
(2)  Remove  morphine  crystals  from  filter  paper,  weigh  on  tared 
watch  glass. 
Mix  the  morphine  of  the  two  sets,  powder  same,  test  portions  of 
the  mixtures  by  the  following  methods  and  report  per  cent,  of 
purity. 
(3)  Purity  by  lime-water  method,  United  States  Pharmacopoeia, 
eighth  revision,  using  0  5  gramme  of  morphine. 
(4)  Place  0-5  gramme  of  morphine  into  a  120  c.c.  Erlenmeyer 
flask,  add  35  c.c.  each  of  N  /  10  potassium  hydroxide  and  distilled 
water,  agitate  the  contents  of  flask  by  a  rotary  motion  at  frequent 
intervals  during  half  an  hour,  and  proceed  from  this  point  as  directed 
by  the  Pharmacopoeia  in  determining  purity  of  morphine  by  lime 
water. 
(5)  To  0  5  gramme  of  morphine  add  18  c.c.  ot  decinormal  sulphuric 
acid,  warm  slightly  to  bring  about  a  complete  combination  of  the 
alkaloid  and  acid,  add  50  c.c.  of  distilled  water  and  5  drops  of  cochi- 
neal solution.  Then  titrate  back  the  excess  of  acid  with  N  /  40 
potassium  hydroxide  solution,  Each  cubic  centimeter  of  decinormal 
sulphuric  acid  solution  represents  30  09  milligrammes  of  crystallized 
morphine. 
(6)  Determine  per  cent,  of  inorganic  matter  in  powdered  morphine 
and  report  results. 
METHOD  II.  UNITED  STATES  PHARMACOPOEIA,   EIGHTH  REVISION, 
MODIFIED  BY  LAMAR. 
Proceed  as  directed  by  Pharmacopoeia  to  precipitation  of  morphine. 
To  the  20  grammes  of  aqueous  extract  add  60  grammes  of  alcohol, 
cork  flask,  shake  well  for  one  minute,  and  set  aside  for  thirty  min- 
utes, during  which  time  the  precipitated  material  should  have  com- 
pletely subsided.  Decant  the  clear  supernatant  liquid  into  a  tared 
250  c.c.  evaporating  dish,  transfer  the  j  recipitate  to  a  7  centimeter 
