258  Note  on  Hydrocyanate  of  Morphia,    {^"iu^^e'  .mr* 
NOTE  ON  HYDEOCYANATE  OF  MORPHIA. 
By  Prof.  J.  M.  Maisch. 
Among  the  descriptions  of  morphia  salts,  as  furnished  by  various 
chemists,  the  hydrocyanate  is  not  enumerated.  In  Gmelin's  Chem- 
istry some  double  hydrocyanates  are  mentioned,  but  not  the  simple 
morphia  salt,  and,  as  far  as  I  know,  nothing  is  known  of  its  formation 
or  its  properties. 
A  prescription  having  been  received,  calling  for  one  grain  each  of 
acetate  of  morphia  and  cyanide  of  potassium  in  a  3  oz.  mixture,  the 
separation  of  needles  was  observed  before  the  medicine  was  handed 
out;  they  were  removed  by  straining,  and  found  to  be  a  salt  of  mor- 
phia. Although  granulated  cyanide  of  potassium  was  used,  it  was 
still  possible  that  this  salt  might  have  been  impure,  and  the  formation 
of  the  crystals  due  to  some  impurity. 
Pure  hydrocyanic  acid  was  therefore  neutralized  with  ammonia, 
and  the  aqueous  liquid  diluted  so  that  it  contained  in  each  fluiddrachm 
one  grain  of  pure  cyanide  of  ammonium.  This  solution  was  experi- 
mented with  like  the  solution  of  cyanide  of  potassium.  The  follow- 
ing contains  the  results  of  the  experiments  thus  far  obtained  : 
1.  A  neutral  solution  of  a  moi'phia  salt,  even  if  diluted  to  the  pro- 
portion of  1:1500  (1  grain  in  3J  oz.),  yields  with  a  neutral  cyanide  a 
crystalline  precipitate  consisting  of  hydrocyanate  of  morphia. 
2.  After  the  crystals  have  separated,  the  filtrate,  acidulated  with 
nitric  acid,  yields  no  precipitate  with  iodohydrargyrate  of  potassium  ; 
the  morphia  hydrocyanate,  therefore,  if  soluble  at  all,  dissolves  but 
very  sparingly  in  water. 
3.  The  solubility  of  the  morphia  hydrocyanate  appears  not  to  be 
increased  by  an  excess  of  the  precipitant. 
4.  The  precipitate  is  readily  dissolved  if  the  liquid  is  slightly  acid- 
ulated by  a  mineral  acid;  it  is  likewise  soluble  in  acetic  acid,  and  for 
this  reason  does  not  appear  in  a  mixture  containing  syrup  of  squill. 
5.  Hydrocyanic  acid  does  not  precipitate  a  neutral  solution  of 
morphia. 
It  is  obvious  from  the  foregoing  that  morphia  salts  ought  not  to  be 
prescribed  simultaneously  with  neutral  cyanides,  except  enough  acid 
be  added  to  retain  the  hydrocyanate  of  morphia  in  solution. 
