AmMayri£5arm'}       The  Chemistry  of  Ipecacuanha.  261 
These  characters  point  to  the  probability  that  Willigk's  ipecac- 
uanhic  acid  was  not  a  definite  substance,  but  a  mixture,  and  further 
examination  wili  be  requisite  for  ascertaining  its  true  chemical 
nature.  That  appears  to  be  of  importance  as  regards  the  medicinal 
action  of  ipecacuanha,  since  it  is  stated  on  good  authority  that  the 
utility  of  the  drug  in  the  treatment  of  dysentery  is  augmented  by 
the  removal  of  the  alkaloids. 
The  two  alkaloids,  emetine  and  cephaeline,  are  contained  in  the 
ipecacuanha  of  New  Grenada,  as  well  as  in  that  of  Brazil,  the  only 
difference  in  this  respect  being  the  larger  relative  proportion  of 
cephaeline  in  the  New  Grenada  drug.  So  far,  therefore,  as  the 
medicinal  effects  of  the  drug  are  due  to  these  alkaloids  jointly,  there 
would  appear  to  be  but  little  difference  between  Brazilian  ipecac- 
uanha and  that  of  New  Grenada,  so  that  the  latter  might,  without 
disadvantage,  be  made  official  in  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
Assuming  that  the  medicinal  properties  of  ipecacuanha  are  due  to 
the  alkaloids  emetine  and  cephaeline,  it  may  be  inferred  from  the 
characters  of  these  substances  that  in  making  galenical  preparations 
of  the  drug,  a  process  which  would  insure  their  conversion  into 
salts  would  be  preferable  to  one  furnishing  a  product  in  which  the 
alkaloids  were  in  a  free  state  and  liable  to  alteration  under  the 
influence  of  light.  In  that  respect  the  acetic  acid  extract  used  in 
the  preparation  of  the  official  B.  P.  wine  would  seem  to  be  well 
adapted  for  the  purpose,  since  solutions  of  the  salts  do  not  appear  to 
undergo  alteration  when  heated,  unless  it  be  that  the  acetic  extract 
is  too  mixed  a  product,  containing  some  constituent  which  helps  to 
destroy  or  remove  the  alkaloids.  Mr.  John  C.  Umney's  observa- 
tions on  the  loss  of  alkaloid  in  ipecacuanha  wine  to  the  extent  of 
one-fifth  seems  to  point  in  that  direction.  But  now  that  the  alka- 
loids or  their  salts  are  obtainable  in  a  pure  state,  a  very  excellent 
ipecacuanha  wine,  suitable  for  administration  as  an  expectorant,  can 
be  made  by  dissolving  half  a  grain  of  emetine  hydrochloride  in  lour 
ounces  of  sherry. 
