Am-Fe°bur;8^6arm'}  Frcehdes  Reagent  a  Test  for  Morphia.  63 
acid  in  sulphuric  acid  compare  with  the  delicacy  of  tests  in  use  for 
that  purpose  ? 
I  have  not  made  any  investigations  toward  the  answer  of  this 
query,  and  therefore  am  not  prepared  to  report  as  to  the  effect  of 
absolutely  pure  sulphuric  acid  upon  morphia.  I  have  found  that  the 
best  obtainable  sulphuric  acid  of  the  chemical  market,  with  the  purest 
morphia  easily  obtained  (purified,  as  presently  to  explain),  give  in  the 
cold  but  a  barely  perceptible  shade  of  dull  reddish  color, — the  tint  being 
too  faint  to  clearly  define.  But  all  of  these  samples  (taken  dry,  of 
course),  when  heated  on  the  water-bath,  promptly  turn  perceptibly  violet 
or  purple — and  after  standing,  become  brown.  With  some  samples  of 
sulphuric  acid  the  shade  is  some  lighter  than  it  is  with  others,  but  the 
color  of  the  faintest  shades  obtained  can  be  defined  well  enough. 
On  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  samples  of  morphia  which  I  have 
tried  give  (after  the  heating)  a  little  different  color  from  others,  vary- 
ing from  light  violet  (or  rose)  toward  the  purple,  though  the  shade  is  of 
nearly  the  same  depth  with  all  the  morphia  samples.    But  the  samples 
of  morphia  sulphate  as  found  in  the  market,  gave  a  little  more  color 
with  the  sulphuric  acid  in  the  cold  than  is  reported  above.  Before 
those  results  were  obtained,  the  samples  of  sulphate  were  dissolved  in  a 
little  water,  the  solution  washed  in  a  test  tube,  once,  with  the  best 
chloroform,  and  the  water  solution  evaporated  to  dryness,  when  the 
cold  residue  was  tested.     I  have  not  investigated  the  chloroform 
extract :    to  do  which  doubtless  larger  quantities  should  be  used. 
Several  laboratory  preparations  of  the  base  morphia,  and  a  P.  & 
sample  of  "  morphia,  pure,"  taken  without  purification,  gave  with 
sulphuric  acid  in  the  cold  the  nearly  negative  result  above  stated.  It 
will  be  recollected  that  a  number  of  the  opium  alkaloids  are  reported  to 
give  bright  colors  with  sulphuric  acid.    Papaverina  is  colored  deep 
violet,  according  to  Merck  ;  only  after  heating,  according  to  Hesse*. 
Narcotina,  according  to  Dragendorff,  is  colored  yellow  after  a  few 
moments'  contact,  later  turning  reddish  yellow  ;  according  to  Huse- 
mann,  after  warming,  purple.     Thebaina,  (Dragendorff,  Hager's  Unter- 
such.)  gives  a  blood-red  color  ;   (according  to  Couerbe,  a  blood-red 
color  when  the  sulphuric  acid  contains  a  trace  of  nitric).  Narceina 
was  given  in  my  Prox.  Org.  Anl.  as  presenting  with  sulphuric  acid  a 
brown  to  yellow  color,  after  Dragendorff  and  Wormley  ;  in  Hager's 
Untersuchungen,  p.  172,  the  statement  is  given  that  the  deep-red 
*  "  Heppe's  Chemische  Reactionen,  p.  267. 
