Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Jan.,  1879.  J 
Salts  of  Berberina. 
alkaloids  from  their  crude  vehicles.  By  its  affinity  for  the  alkaloids  and 
its  inability  to  take  up  extractive  matter,  I  have  found  it  most  useful  to 
recover  such,  which  are  obtained  in  but  an  imperfect  manner  by  chlo- 
roform or  ether,  and  in  recent  experiments  with  pilocarpia  have  achieved 
most  excellent  results.  My  method  of  procedure  was  as  follows  :  The 
acid  percolate  from  the  leaves,  deprived  of  its  resin,  is  treated  with  a 
solution  of  caustic  potassa  or  soda  to  saturation,  causing  a  precipitate 
of  the  impure  alkaloid,  while  the  potassium  or  sodium  chloride  remains 
in  solution.  The  precipitate  is  filtered  off,  washed  and  dried,  and  then 
treated  with  oleic  acid,  which  readily  takes  up  the  pure  alkaloid,  reject- 
ing the  extractive  matter.  The  oleic  acid  solution  is  then  diluted  with 
benzin,  in  which  the  alkaloid  oleate  is  soluble  ;  the  filtered  mixture, 
shaken  with  water  slightly  acidulated  with  hydrochloric  acid,  decomposes 
the  soap  so  formed,  and  takes  uo  the  alkaloid,  which  is  again  precipitated 
from  it  by  ammonia,  and  can  then  be  neutralized  with  the  acid  desir- 
able for  its  salt,  and  crystallized. 
As  yet  these  experiments  are  but  in  their  infancy  ;  but,  theoretically. 
I  see  no  reason  why  this  process  should  not  be  applicable  to  other 
alkaloids  which  are  obtained  by  expensive  processes,  whereas  the 
cost  in  my  process  just  mentioned  would  be  a  merely  nominal  one,  as 
the  same  oleic  acid  could  be  again  utilized  in  subsequent  operations 
without  impairing  its  efficiency. 
Philadelphia,  December,  1878. 
ON  THE  PREPARATION  OF  SALTS  OF  BERBERINA, 
By  J.  U.  Lloyd,  Cincinnati,  O. 
Read  at  the  twenty -sixth  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association., 
at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  and  communicated  by  the  Author. 
How  can  the  salts  of  Berberina  be  most  easily  prepared  from  the  root  of 
Hydrastis  canadensis?  What  will  be  the  practical  yield  and  what  are  the  solubili- 
ties of  the  different  salts  ? 
Of  the  many  processes  investigated,  I  suggest  the  following  as 
applicable  to  small  amounts.  Owing  to  the  slight  yield  of  this  vellow 
alkaloid,  it  is  hardly  advisable  for  experimenters  to  work  lots  of  less 
than  ten  pounds  of  hydrastis. 
Moisten  sixteen  troyounces  of  Hydrastis  canadensis  in  fine  powder 
with  eight  fluidounces  of  alcohol,  press  firmly  into  a  cylindrical  perco- 
