460 
TEST  FOR  CINCHONIA. 
sensible  taste  of  bitterness ;  evaporate  this  filtrate  upon  a  water 
bath  nearly  to  dryness,  or  to  the  consistence  of  an  extract  ; 
then  boil  this  residue  with  six  fluid  ounces  of  boiling  water,  con- 
tinuing the  heat  for  a  little  while ;  after  which  pour  it  off  from 
the  undissolved  residue  into  a  filter  placed  in  a  bottle  containing 
twelve  fluid  ounces  of  pure  glycerine.  Repeat  this  operation 
with  four  fluid  ounces  of  water  added  to  the  undissolved  residue 
of  the  extract ;  then  evaporate  the  whole  upon  a  water  bath  to 
fourteen  fluid  ounces,  and  when  cool,  add  two  fluid  ounces  of 
orange-flower  water,  in  which  has  been  dissolved  fifteen  grains 
of  citric  acid. 
This  Glycerole  is  of  a  pale  amber  color,  of  a  slightly  bitter 
taste,  the  odorous  principle  being  covered  and  modified  by  the 
flavoring,  and  the  cloying  taste  of  sweetness  overcome  by  means 
of  the  acid. 
Each  fluid  ounce  represents  one  half-drachm  of  lactucarium. 
The  dose  is,  for  an  adult,  from  one  to  two  or  three  teaspoonfuls, 
representing  three  and  three-quarters,  seven  and  one  half,  and 
eleven  and  one-fourth  grains  of  lactucarium.  F.  S. — Peninsular 
and  Independent. 
TEST  FOR  CINCHONIA. 
By  J.  W.  Bill,  Acting  Surgeon,  U.  S.  A. 
In  some  investigations  still  in  progress  on  some  of  the  alka- 
loids it  became  a  matter  of  importance  to  discover  a  good  test 
for  cinchonia,  delicate  and  characteristic,  and  distinguishing  it 
especially  from  quinia. 
We  think  we.  have  found  such  a  test,  and  as  we  believe  it  to 
be  a  reaction  not  before  noticed,  at  least  not  applied  to  the 
above  purpose,  we  will  anticipate  the  results  of  the  above-men- 
tioned investigations  and  give  the  test  by  itself. 
When  ferrocyanid  of  potassium  is  added  to  a  salt  of  quinia  in 
the  cold,  a  yellowish  white  cloudy  precipitate  falls,  provided  the 
ferrocyanid  be  not  added  in  excess ;  otherwise  nothing  charac- 
teristic results.  This  precipitate  is  soluble  by  heat  and  readily 
so  in  solutions  of  ferrocyanid  of  potassium  without  any  subse- 
quent' change  occurring  in  the  solution.  If  ferrocyanid  of 
potassium  be  added  to  a  soluble  salt  of  cinchonia,  whether  added 
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