Am  lour.  Pharm 
Mar.,  1879 
Quinia  Test. 
137 
tinct  crystalline  residue,  and  a  trace  of  either  alkaloid  will  show  only  a 
few  crystals  imbedded  in  the  amorphous  mass  of  quinia.  If  no  admix- 
ture is  present  the  residue  will  be  entirely  amorphous. 
If  0'5  per  cent,  sulphate  of  cinchonia  or  1  per  cent,  of  quinidia  is 
present  in  sulphate  of  quinia,  they  will  separate  from  the  ether  imme- 
diately after  shaking.  Since  the  properties  of  sulphate  of  quinia  are  of 
such  a  character  that  an  admixture  of  the  sulphates  of  cinchonia  or 
quinidia  is  not  likely  to  occur  in  the  course  of  manufacture,  it  follows 
that,  if  they  nevertheless  are  present,  it  is  safe  to  pronounce  them 
intentional  adulterations.  It  is  different,  however,  if  cinchonidia  or 
homo-cinchonidia  are  present,  for  although  they  are  both  very  soluble 
in  water,  they  crystallize  with  or  follow  in  some  way  the  sulphate  of 
of  quinia,  so  that  several  recrystallizations  of  this  salt  are  required  to 
•obtain  it  free  from  them.  In  regard  to  this,  I  have  shown  on  a  former 
occasion  (Liebig's  Ann.,  vol.  166)  that  sulphate  of  quinia  which  stands 
Kerner's  test,  may  be  entirely  purified  by  one  recrystallization  from 
boiling  water. 
Although  it  is  not  expected  that  sulphate  of  quinia  should  be  abso- 
lutely chemically  pure,  I  have  found  that  much  of  this  preparation  in 
the  market  may  pass  as  chemically  pure.  The  manufacturer,  there- 
fore, is  in  a  position  to  furnish  a  pure  article,  provided  a  suitable  bark 
can  be  obtained;  but  my  continued  observations  have  convinced  me 
that  this  is  not  always  possible,  and  that  the  manufacturer  is  often  com- 
pelled to  employ  cinchona  bark  containing  cinchonidia  in  abundance, 
so  that  the  salt,  after  careful  purification,  will  contain  1  per  cent,  of 
cinchonidia  or  homo  cinchonidia.  For  this  reason,  and  to  make  my 
test  applicable  in  every  instance,  I  recommend  observation  of  the  layer 
of  ether  2  hours  after  the  shaking. 
The  above  test,  though,  is  simple  and  readily  applied,  and  exceeds  in 
accuracy  all  other  tests  published;  it  is  therefore  well  adapted  to  the 
wants  of  the  druggist  and  of  the  apothecary. 
Muriate  of  Quinia. — This  salt  is  more  liable  to  be  contaminated 
with  hydrochlorate  of  quinidia  and  cinchonia  than  with  hydrochlorate 
of  cinchonidia  and  homo-cinchonidia.  These  admixtures  are  readily 
detected  on  operating  as  follows  :  0*5  gram  of  hydrochlorate  of  quinia 
and  0*25  gram  of  crystallized  sulphdte  of  sodium  (Glauber's  salt)  are 
introduced  into  a  test  tube,  together  with  10  cc.  of  hot  water  (about 
6o°C);  the  mixture  is  well  agitated,  and  then  treated  precisely  in  the 
same  manner  as  described  above  for  sulphate  of  quinia.  The  tem- 
perature is  best  kept  at  or  a  little  above  6o°C,  because  the  resulting 
sulphate  of  quinia  will  afterwards  separate  in  long  crystals,  and  filtra- 
tion will  then  proceed  rapidly. 
