^i^a^}      Alkaloids  of  Alstonia  Constricta.  407 
ties  of  an  alkaloid,  and  to  which  they  gave  the  name  "Alstonine."  It 
melted  below  ioo°C,  and  carbonized  at  a  higher  temperature,  dis- 
solved easily  in  alcohol,  ether  and  dilute  acids,  but  only  sparingly  in 
water.  All  its  solutions  in  a  dilute  state  exhibited  a  strong  blue  fluor- 
escence, not  affected  by  acids  or  alkalies,  and  its  alcoholic  solution 
had  a  slightly  alkaline  reaction.  It  combined  with  acids  without  com- 
pletely neutralizing  them.  Strong  acids  and  alkalies  partially  decom- 
posed it  on  evaporation  in  a  water-bath  to  a  dark  colored  acid  substance. 
The  compound  with  hydrochloric  acid  was  precipitated  by  the  chlorides 
of  platinum  and  mercury,  potassio-mercuric  and  potassio-bismuthic 
iodides,  biniodide  of  potassium,  phosphomolybdate  and  phosphotung- 
state  of  sodium,  potassium  bichromate,  picric  acid,  and  the  alkalies  and 
alkaline  carbonates.  Concentrated  nitric  acid  dissolved  it  with  a  crim- 
son color,  turning  yellow  on  warming  ;  and  sulphuric  acid  with  a 
reddish-bro#wn,  that  became  afterwards  dirty  green  ;  while  hydrochloric 
acid  only  formed  a  yellowish  solution. 
The  correctness  of  these  results  was  disputed  by  Hesse  (who  wilh 
Jobst  not  long  since  isolated  two  alkaloids,  ditamine1  and  echitamine, 
from  the  allied  Alstonia  scholaris  bark),  and  in  a  paper  read  before  the 
Berlin  Chemical  Society2  he  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  supposed 
alkaloid  was  a  mixture  of  chlorogenine  and  porphyrine. 
Still  more  recently  Oberlin  and  Schlagdenhauffen  have  announced 
the  isolation  of  two  alkolides — one  crystallizable  and  the  other  amor- 
phous— from  A.  constricta  bark.  The  following  details  are  taken  from 
a  rather  lengthy  paper  on  the  subject  published  in  the  "  Journal  de 
Pharmacie  et  de  Chimie"  for  June. 
The  bark  was  first  extracted  in  a  displacement  apparatus  with  warm 
ether  as  long  as  the  ether  took  up  coloring  matter  (72  hours);  as  a 
mean  of  three  experiments,  the  amount  of  apparently  crystalline  orange 
substance  taken  up  by  the  ether  was  only  1*038  per  cent.  The  bark 
was  then  exhausted  with  boiling  alcohol  during  several  days,  which 
took  up  27*74  per  cent,  more,  and  it  had  then  lost  all  its  bitterness. 
It  was  next  boiled  with  water  which  removed  1*375  per  cent,  of  sub- 
stance containing  principally  salts  and  a  small  quantity  only  of  organic 
principles.    The  composition  of  the  bark  is  represented  as  follows  : 
J"  Pharmaceutical  Journal"  [3],  vi,  p.  142.  Am.  Jour.  Pharm.,  1876,  p.  369. 
2"  Berichte  d.  Deutsch.  Chem.  Gesells      1878,  p.  2175. 
