Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
January,  1921.  J 
Ipecacuanhic  Acid. 
55 
created  this  branch  of  industry  in  1871.  His  factory  has  seven 
distilling  plants  of  400  kilograms  each,  in  addition  to  two  other 
factories,  at  Lombriasco,  with  five,  and  another  at  Polonhera,  with 
four  distilling  plants.  There  are  also  a  number  of  other  distilleries, 
of  minor  importance,  scattered  throughout  this  district,  such  as 
Galasso  Andrea,  Rittatore,  Barberi  &  Co.,  Ubertino  Vignolo,  etc. 
In  conclusion,  Sig.  Micheletti  insists  upon  the  necessity  for  the 
Italian  Government  to  promote  more  actively  this  branch  of  na- 
tional industry,  and  points  to  the  recent  French  Lavender  Congress 
(C.  &  D.,  Sept.  11,  1920,  p.  68),  as  an  example  in  point. 
IPECACUANHIC  ACID.* 
An  exhaustive  study  of  ipecacuanhic  acid  has  been  made  by  R. 
Huerre  {Jour.  Pharm.  Chim.,  June  1,  1920),  which  affords  a  valuable 
contribution  to  our  knowledge  of  this  substance.  In  view  of  the 
extensive  use  made  of  emetine  in  the  treatment  of  amoebic  dysentery, 
it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  author  attributes  the  curative  value 
of  de-emetinized  ipecacuanha  solely  to  its  content  of  ipecacuanhic 
acid.  The  presence  of  this  acid  in  ipecacuanha  was  already  recog- 
nized in  the  French  Codex  of  1818,  when  Pelletier  believed  it  to  be 
gallic  acid.  It  was  first  isolated  by  Wiiligk,  in  1850,  by  means  of 
lead  subacetate;  Wehmer,  in  191 1,  described  it  as  a  glucoside,  a 
view  shared  by  Kobert.  The  method  adopted  by  Huerre  for  isola- 
ting ipecacuanhic  acid  consists  in  exhausting  the  powdered  drug 
with  twenty  times  its  weight  of  boiling  distilled  water,  in  four 
successive  extractions.  The  collected  liquids  are  filtered  and 
evaporated  to  double  the  weight  of  the  drug  employed.  This 
residue  is  again  filtered  and  an  excess  of  ammonium  sulphate  added. 
The  precipitate  is  separated  by  filtration  and  washed  with  a  saturated 
aqueous  solution  of  ammonium  sulphate,  and  then  treated  with 
alcohol  (90  per  cent.).  The  alcoholic  extract  is  submitted  to  distilla- 
tion, and  when  all  the  alcohol  has  been  removed  on  cooling,  the 
ipecacuanhic  acid  separates  out  from  the  residue,  which  consists  of  a 
*  From  The  Chemist  and  Druggist,  Oct.  9,  1920. 
