DEPORTMENT  OF  ALKALOIDS  WITH  REAGENTS,  ETC.  451 
mixture  of  nitric  acid,  appears  of  an  intense  blood-red  color, 
which  disappears  altogether  upon  the  addition  of  a  somewhat 
larger  amount  of  N05. 
6.  If  the  solution  of  a  salt  of  narcotina  is  mixed  with  chlorine 
water,  it  acquires  a  yellow  color,  slightly  inclining  to  green  ;  if 
ammonia  is  then  added,  a  much  more  intensely-colored,  yellow- 
ish-red fluid  is  obtained. 
7.  If  narcotina,  or  one  of  its  salts,  is  dissolved  in  an  excess  of 
dilute  sulphuric  acid,  some  finely  levigated  binoxide  of  man- 
ganese added,  the  mixture  heated  to  boiling  and  kept  in  ebul- 
lition for  the  space  of  several  minutes,  the  narcotina  absorbs 
oxygen,  and  is  converted  into  opianic  acid,  cotarnina  (a  base 
soluble  in  water)  and  carbonic  acid. 
+ 
Quinia  (C40  H2i  N2  04)=Q. 
+ 
1.  Crystallized  quinia  (Q.=2Aq.)  appears  either  in  the  form 
of  fine  crystalline  needles  of  sikly  lustre,  which  are  frequently 
aggregated  into  tufts,  or  as  a  loose,  white  powder.  It  is  spar- 
ingly soluble  in  cold,  but  somewhat  more  readily  in  hot  water. 
It  is  readily  soluble  in  spirits  of  wine,  both  cold  and  hot,  but  less 
so  in  ether.  The  taste  of  quinia  is  intensely  bitter  ;  the  solutions 
of  quinia  manifest  alkaline  reaction.  Upon  exposure  to  heat  it 
loses  two  equivalents  of  water. 
2.  Quinia  neutrallizes  acids  completely.  The  salts  taste  in- 
tensely bitter ;  most  of  them  are  crystallizable,  and  for  the 
greater  part  readily  soluble  in  water  and  in  spirits  of  wine. 
Acid  solutions  have  a  bluish  tint. 
3.  Potassa,  ammonia  and  the  neutral  carbonates  of  the  alka- 
lies produce,  in  solutions  of  salts  of  quinia,  (if  they  are  not  too 
dilute),  a  white,  loose,  pulverulent  precipitate  of  hydrated  quinia, 
which,  immediately  after  precipitation,  appears  opaque  and 
amorphous  under  the  microscope ;  but  assumes,  after  the  lapse 
of  some  time,  the  appearance  of  aggregated  crystalline  needles. 
The  precipitate  redissolves  only  to  a  scarcely  perceptible  extent 
in  an  excess  of  potassa,  but  more  readily  in  ammonia.  It  is 
hardly  more  soluble  in  fixed  alkaline  carbonates  than  in  pure 
water.  If  a  solution  of  quinia  be  mixed  with  ammonia,  ether 
added,  and  the  mixture  shaken,  the  quinia  which  has  separated 
