ArijJne)ri8P76!irm"  \         Analysis  of  Cine  ho- Quinine.  247 
much  ?  are  questions  which  have  often  been  put  to  me  by  both  phy- 
sicians and  customers.  I  could  not  give  the  desired  information,  and 
have  therefore  determined  to  subject  this  nostrum  to  a  chemical  analysis. 
I  used  for  my  experiments  two  samples  of  cincho  quinine,  which  I 
shall  designate  as  "  new  "  and  "  old."  The  new  sample  had  been  ob- 
tained from  the  manufacturers  through  Powers  &  Weightman,  from 
whom  I  purchased  it  in  December,  1875.  The  old  sample  I  procured 
through  Prof.  J.  M.  Maisch,  from  Mr.  J.  L.  Lemberger,  of  Lebanon, 
Pa.,  who  obtained  it  from  a  New  York  agency  July  1 8th,  1873.  The 
experiments  were  made  in  the  laboratory  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy,  under  the  supervision  of  Prof.  Maisch. 
The  qualitative  examination  of  cincho-quinine  was  conducted  in  the 
same  manner  as  detailed  by  Profs.  SchefFer  and  Diehl  in  the  paper  re- 
ferred to  above,  and  gave  the  same  results,  proving  the  presence  of 
ammonium  sulphate,  cinchonia  sulphate  and  cinchona  alkaloids,  also  a 
small  quantity  of  organic  matter,  which  could  not  be  dissolved  in  alco- 
hol, but  remained  behind  with  the  ammonium  sulphate,  and  with  it 
was  soluble  in  water. 
To  determine  the  amount  of  the  various  constituents  of  this  nos- 
trum, De  Vrij's  method  for  separating  the  cinchona  alkaloids  was  first 
tried  ;  but  it  soon  became  apparent  that  this  method  would  not  yield 
correct  results,  in  consequence  of  the  great  excess  of  cinchonia  pres- 
ent. Mixtures  of  the  alkaloid,  in  approximately  the  same  proportion 
as  they  exist  in  this  preparation,  according  to  the  published  essays, 
were  made  ;  and,  after  trying  several  modifications,  the  following  pro- 
cess was  found  to  yield  satisfactory  results,  and  was  therefore  used  in 
assaying  both  samples  of  cincho-quinine  : 
Six  grams  of  the  mixed  cinchona  alkaloids  were  dissolved  in  dilute 
hydrochloric  acid,  the  solution  precipitated  by  ammonia,  the  precipitate 
washed  upon  a  filter  with  cold  water,  and  then  dried.  The  washings 
were  evaporated  to  dryness,  and  the  residue  treated  with  ether  ;  after 
evaporating  the  latter,  a  small  quantity  of  alkaloid  was  left  behind 
which  was  added  to  the  larger  portion,  giving  the  total  amount  of  al- 
kaloids present,  the  loss  from  the  original  weight  taken  indicating  non- 
alkaloidal  compounds.  The  saline  matter  insoluble  in  ether  was  dis- 
solved in  water,  in  which  it  was  readily  soluble,  and  the  sulphuric*  acid 
present  determined  in  the  usual  manner  by  precipitating  with  chloride 
of  barium.     About  one-half  the  dried  alkaloids  was  then  rubbed  to  a 
