THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
JANUARY,  1875. 
ON  THE  PREPARATION  AND  CHARACTER  OF  ELATERIN. 
BY   FREDERICK  B    POWER,   PH.  G. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meetings  December  i^th, 
A  handsome  specimen  of  Clutterbuck's  elaterium  was  obtained, 
which  upon  preliminary  examination  was  found  to  be  free  from  the 
adulterations  sometimes  present,  and  containing  no  substances  foreign 
to  the  drug  itself. 
Fifty  grains  were  exhausted  with  boiling  alcohol,  the  resulting  solu- 
tion thrown  upon  a  filter,  the  filter  washed  with  a  little  boiling  alcohol, 
and  the  filtrate  evaporated  by  a  gentle  heat;  while  still  warm,  it  was 
poured  into  a  warm  dilute  solution  of  potassium  hydrate,  whereby  most 
of  the  resin  was  retained  in  solution,  and  the  elaterin  gradually  precipi- 
tated, upon  cooling,  in  small  crystalline  crusts  or  grains. 
The  amount  of  elaterium  dissolved  by  the  boiling  alcohol  was  sixty 
per  cent.,  and  seven  grains  of  elaterin  were  obtained,  which  still  re- 
quired to  be  purified  from  the  adhering  green  resin,  which  clings  to  it 
with  considerable  pertinacity,  interfering,  both  by  retarding  crytalliza- 
tion  and  diminishing  the  beauty  and  purity  of  the  product. 
The  impure  elaterin  was  collected,  thrown  upon  a  filter,  washed  with 
cold  water,  and  redissolved  in  boiling  alcohol. 
The  solution  still  possessed  a  greenish  hue,  and  was  agitated  with 
petroleum  benzin,  which  absorbed  the  resin,  and  upon  the  separation 
and  evaporation  of  the  liquids  the  elaterin  in  beautiful  colorless  needle- 
shaped  crystals,  and  the  remainder  of  the  resin  were  separately  obtained. 
The  advantage  of  benzin  for  the  removal  of  this  resin,  and  which 
has  proven  so  useful  an  agent  in  many  of  the  operations  of  chemistry 
and  pharmacy,  is  very  apparent,  since  the  use  of  ether,  which  has  been 
previously  suggested  and  employed  for  the  accomplishment  of  this 
I 
