THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
NOVEMBER,  1875. 
CONTRIBUTIONS  FROM  THE  SCHOOL  OF  PHARMACY  OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHIGAN. 
REPORTED   BY  PROF.   ALBERT  B.  PRESCOTT. 
V.  Additional  Examination  of  the  Third  Alkaloid  in  Hy- 
drastis Canadensis.    By  John  C.  Burt,  P.  C. 
In  the  "Amer.  Jour.  Phar."  for  June,  1873  (^^^i  ^47)7  ^-  ^-  ^^^^ 
reported  finding  an  alkaloid  in  Hydrastis,  after  removal  of  berberina 
and  hydrastia,  as  follows  :  The  berberina  was  removed  from  the  aque- 
ous percolate  as  a  hydrochlorate,  and  the  hydrastia  then  precipitated  by 
adding  ammonia  just  to  the  neutral  point,  these  separations  both  being 
made  as  usually  directed  by  the  authorities,  except  that  in  precipitation 
of  the  hydrastia  the  addition  of  ammonia  is  stopped  short  of  alkaline 
reaction.  After  in  this  way  removing  both  the  berbernia  and  hy- 
drastia. Hale  obtained  a  precipitate  of  another  alkaloid,  as  he  concluded, 
by  adding  ammonia  again  and  to  an  alkaline  reaction.  Of  this  new 
substance,  he  reported  a  number  of  reactions. 
In  the  present  examination  of  hydrastis,  the  investigator  found  all 
of  Mr.  Hale's  results  with  the  new  substance  to  be  confirmed,  and  ob- 
tained the  following  additional  determinations  : 
A  small  portion  of  the  precipitate,  washed  till  washings  gave  no  re- 
action for  ammonia,  when  distilled  with  caustic  potassa  and  potassic 
permanganate  gave  a  distillate  responding  to  tests  for  ammonia,  show- 
ing the  presence  of  nitrogen  in  the  precipitate. 
The  hydrochlorate  solution  of  the  same  precipitate  gave,  with  platinic 
chloride  solution,  a  reddish-yellow  precipitate,  soluble  in  warm  hydro- 
chloric acid  ;  with  stannous  chloride,  a  yellowish-white  flocculent  pre- 
cipitate ;  with  lead  acetate,  a  flesh -colored  precipitate  ;  with  cadmium 
iodide,  a  bright  yellow  precipitate  ;  with  potassio  cadmium  iodide,  a  reddish- 
yellow  flocculent  precipitate  \  with  potassio  mercuric  iodide,  a  straw-colored 
precipitate  ;  with  potassium  acid  chromate,  a  brown-yellow  precipitate  ; 
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