ON  THE  CULTIVATION  OTP  SAFFRON. 
373 
tared  filter,  washed  with  the  smallest  possible  quantity  of  water, 
and  thoroughly  dried,  and  next  weighed.  In  order  to  separate 
the  different  bases  from  each  other,  the  aforesaid  precipitate  is 
digested  for  twenty-four  hours  in  a  small  flask  with  about  5  c.c. 
of  ether.  The  ethereal  solution  is  filtered  off  from  the  insoluble 
residue,  which  is  first  washed  with  ether,  and  next  dissolved  in 
alcohol.  Each  of  the  solutions  so  obtained  is  evaporated,  yield- 
ing, in  some  instances,  an  amorphous,  in  others,  a  crystalline 
residue.  These  residues  are  dissolved  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid  ; 
and,  after  these  solutions  have  been  filtered,  the  alkaloids  are 
precipitated  from  these  solutions  by  means  of  a  caustic  soda  so- 
lution, which  has  been  titrated  so  as  to  correspond  with  the  dilute 
sulphuric  acid  applied  as  just  stated.  This  method  of  the  estima- 
tion of  the  value  of  the  cinchona  barks  is  recommended  by  the 
author  for  the  reason — (1)  that  it  is  easily  and  rapidly  executed  ; 
(2)  because  it  affords  complete  exhaustion  of  the  valuable  con- 
stituents of  the  bark,  with  very  little,  if  any,  loss  ;  (o)  because 
the  bases  are  obtained  directly  in  a  high  degree  of  purity.  Tliere 
are  appended  to  this  paper  a  series  of  results  of  analyses  of 
various  kinds  of  barks,  made  partly  by  this  and  partly  by  other 
well  known  methods,  as  devised  by  scientific  men  wlio,  like  Dr. 
de  Vrij,  Dr.  Rabourdin,  and  Prof.  Schneider,  are  high  authori- 
ties on  this  subject.  From  the  results  here  published,  this  method 
deserves  every  praise. — Chem.  News,  Load.,  April  14,  1870. 
ON  THE  CULTIVATION  OF  SAFFRON. 
The  saffron  whose  stigmas  find  a  use  in  pharmaceutical  pre- 
parations, is  cultivated  in  Gatinais  (Loiret),  and  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Orange  and  Carpentier  (Vaucluse),  in  France.  The 
plant  requires  a  soil  of  very  good  quality,  containing  much  sand 
and  lime,  so  that  water  will  be  readily  absorbed,  and  after  evap- 
oration leave  the  soil  again  in  a  loose,  not  lumpy,  condition.  It 
is  a  soil  similar  to  that  employed  in  southern  France  for  the 
cultivation  of  madder,  and  presents  hardly  any  obstacles  to  the 
young  rootlets,  which  is  a  necessary  requirement  for  the  success- 
ful growth  of  the  plant. 
After  a  series  of  rather  delicate  operations,  which  tend  to  break 
up  and  prepare  the  soil,  the  bulbs  are  planted  in  the  first  half  of 
