Am.  Jour.  Phar 
September,  1895 
™*}  American  Pharmaceutical  Association. 
489 
we  again  manage  to  import  the  hairy  jaborandi  leaves,  the  chances  for  the 
price  of  pilocarpine  declining  are  not  very  favorable. 
Prof.  Ryan  stated  that  the  price  of  pilocarpine  had  advanced  considerably, 
on  account  of  the  great  demand  at  present  existing  for  it.  He  also  stated  that 
the  supply  was  not  equal  to  the  demand.  Prof.  Remington  spoke  of  the  great 
value  of  pilocarpine  medicinally,  and  said  that  the  source  of  such  a  remedy 
should  be  carefully  watched,  lest  it  be  completely  exhausted. 
A  COMPARISON  OF  THE  BEST  KNOWN  METHODS  FOR  THE 
ASSAY  OF  COCA  LEAVES. 
By  A.  R.  Iy.  DOHME. 
The  experiments  were  all  made  on  the  same  specimen  of  Erythroxylon 
Bolivianum  in  No.  60  powder.    The  results  were  : 
Keller's  method  {a)  .  078  per  cent,  total  alkaloids  \ 
(b)  .  o-8o 
Beckurts'  method 
Schweissinger's  method 
Thompson's  method   .  . 
Tyon's  method 
(a)  .  0*26 
(b)  .  0-27 
(a)  .  0-52 
\b)  .  o'49 
(a)  .  0*26 
(b)  .  0-28 
(a)  .  0-17 
(b)  .  0*16 
Tyon's  method  modified1  .  (a)  .  0*32 
(b)  .  0-30 
j- mean,  0*79  per  cent,  total  alk'ds. 
I  mean,  0*265 
J  mean,  0*505 
I  mean,  0^27 
I  mean,  0*165 
I  mean,  0*31 
This  shows  how  very  much  the  different  methods  vary  as  to  the  amount  of 
alkaloid  they  extract  from  the  drug,  and  how  important  it  is  to  use  the  best  one 
if  a  correct  assay  of  the  drug  is  to  be  made.  Keller's  method  so  far  exceeds 
all  other  methods  in  extracting  the  most  alkaloid  from  coca  leaves  that  com- 
parisons are  entirely  out  of  place,  Schweissinger's  method,  the  nearest  to  it, 
being  as  much  as  40  per  cent,  out  of  the  way  practically. 
In  the  case  of  Beckurts'  method,  it  was  necessary  to  separate  the  chlorophyll 
from  the  alkaloid  by  dissolving  the  latter  in  weak  acid,  making  this  solution 
alkaline  and  shaking  out  with  chloroform. 
The  formation  of  emulsions  is  very  general  in  the  case  of  this  drug  when 
shaken  in  alkaline  solution  with  chloroform  or  ether,  and  was  encountered  in 
every  assay,  making  the  operations  more  tedious,  as  time  was  most  frequently 
resorted  to  in  order  to  bring  about  a  separation  of  the  liquids. 
THE  ALKALOIDAL  VALUE  OF  IPECAC  STEMS. 
By  A.  R.  I,.  Dohme. 
In  previous  experiments  the  author  has  shown  that  the  cork  cells  and  those 
of  the  cortical  parenchyma  adjacent  to  them  are  the  seat  of  the  alkaloids  of 
ipecac  root.  Furthermore,  he  showed  that  the  thinner  root  contains  more 
alkaloid  than  the  thicker  or  fancy  root. 
Since  then  it  has  been  observed  by  the  writer  that  what  he  termed  "wiry" 
root  is  made  up  of  two  parts  of  the  plant,  viz.:  the  stem  proper  and  the  part  of 
the  plant  that  merges  the  root  into  the  stem.    While  the  stems  are  usually  quite 
1  The  modification  consisted  in  using,  instead  of  petroleum  ether,  a  mixture  of  70  parts  ol 
of  petroleum  ether  and  25  parts  of  official  ether. 
