4I2 
Bidara  Laut. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\       Aug.,  1879. 
The  liquid  being  now  still  slightly  acid,  the  estimation  was  made  by 
means  of  titration  by  Mayer's  solution  (potassiomercuric  iodide),  1  cc. 
of  which  corresponds  to  0*0197  gram  anhydrous  brucia.1  2*2  cc.  of 
solution  were  required,  indicating  0*04334  gram  brucia,  or  2*1 1  per 
cent.  An  estimation  of  the  moisture  in  the  wood  showed  6*67  per 
cent.  The  percentage  of  anhydrous  brucia  present  in  the  dry  wood 
is,  therefore,  2  26. 
The  estimation  of  alkaloid  in  the  baric  was  made  in  precisely  similar 
•manner. 
1  '8908  gram  yielded  liquid  required  6*3  cc.  Mayer's  solution=o*  1 241 1 
gram  brucia,  or  6*56  per  cent.  The  estimation  of  moisture  in  the 
bark  shows  11*23  Per  cent»  The  percentage  of  anhydrous  brucia 
present  in  the  dry  bark  was  then  no  less  than  7*38. 
The  quantity  of  brucia  present  in  the  wood  and  bark,  and  its  free- 
dom from  strychnia,  would  point  to  this  drug  as  a  source  of  pure  brucia, 
free  from  strychnia,  in  cases  in  which  such  may  be  required. 
Since  the  conclusion  of  the  above  experiments,  I  have  been  enabled 
to  examine  in  a  similar  manner  the  wood  and  bark  of  Strychnos  colubri- 
mim.  The  specimen,  which  was  formerly  in  the  Martiny  Collection 
of  Drugs,  consisted  of  a  large  portion  of  the  tree  trunk,  about  12  inches 
long  and  3  inches  in  diameter.  The  wood  was  not  so  compact  as  that 
•of  Strychnos  ligustrina  (Bidara  laut),  hollow  in  the  center,  the  wood 
bordering  on  this  hollow  part  being  black,  extremely  hard  and  entirely 
-destitute  of  the  bitter  taste  which  characterized  the  remainder  of  the 
drug. 
The  qualitative  analysis  showed  the  presence  of  brucia  and  strychnia, 
the  reaction  of  the  latter  being  especially  well  marked  in  the  alkaloid 
from  the  bark. 
The  quantitative  analysis  gave: 
In  the  wood,  moisture,  9-02  per  cent.;  alkaloid  in  dry  wood,  0*96  per  cent. 
In  the  bark,  moisture,  919  per  cent.;  alkaloid  in  dry  bark,  5*54  per  cent. 
The  alkaloid  was  estimated  in  the  first  instance  volumetrically,1  in 
the  second  gravimetrically.2  The  results  are  in  both  instances  calcu- 
lated to  anhydrous  brucia. 
1Dragendorff,  "Chemische  Werthbestimmung." 
^"Die  Chemische  Werthbestimmung,"  etc.     DragendorfF,  St.  Petersburg,  1874. 
