534 
SACCHARO-CHIRETTINE. 
solving  when  hydrochloric  acid  is  added.  Moreover,  the  form  of 
pollen-grains  may  be  easily  recognized  under  the  microscope. 
%*  Since  the  foregoing  paper  has  been  in  type,  I  have  received  the 
American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  for  September,  in  which  I  find  a  note  by 
Professor  Maisch  calling  attention  to  the  adulteration  which  I  have  here 
described.*— D.  H.—Lond.  Pharm.  Journ.,  Sept.  24,  1870. 
SACCHARO-CHIRETTINE,  A  NEW  PREPARATION  OF  CHIR- 
ETTA. 
By  Mr.  D.  S.  Kemp,  Bombay. 
The  two  official  preparations  of  Chiretta,  the  tincture  and  the 
infusion,  although  efficient  as  containing  the  active  matter  of  the 
drug,  present  inconveniences  for  habitual  administration.  The 
tincture  becomes  impaired  in  strength  by  keeping,  and  is  par- 
tially incompatible  with  salts  of  iron  and  of  the  alkaloids  ;  and 
the  infusion,  besides  having  the  same  incompatibilities,  will  not 
keep  longer  than  a  few  hours. 
The  extract,  prepared  in  the  usual  way,  is  a  still  more  unsatis- 
factory preparation,  containing,  as  it  does,  a  mere  fractional  part 
of  the  bitter  originally  in  the  dried  plant.  I  have  not  seen  an 
extract  of  chiretta  prepared  entirely  in  vacuo  ;  probably  such 
would  be  a  valuable  product,  although  still  liable  to  deteriora- 
tion. No  preparation  can,  in  my  opinion,  be  good  which 
undergoes  evaporation  by  heat  or  exposure  to  the  air,  as  I  have 
always  found  that  the  bitter  principle  in  such  a  process  disap- 
pears, and  is  replaced  by  a  tasteless  brown  resinous  matter, 
separating  from  the  aqueous  solution.  The  following  is  the 
process  by  which  I  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  trustworthy 
preparation  of  chiretta : 
An  infusion  of  chiretta  was  made  at  120°,  and  the  coloring 
matter  precipitated  by  an  excess  of  solution  of  subacetate  of 
lead ;  the  product,  after  filtration,  was  a  nearly  colorless  but  very 
bitter  liquid.  The  addition  of  a  sufficiency  of  ammonio-acetate 
of  lead  (mixture  of  ammonia  and  solution  of  acetate  of  lead)  then 
produced  a  white  precipitate,  consisting  of  the  whole  of  the 
chirettine  in  combination  with  lead.    The  precipitate  being  well 
*  First  noticed  by  M.  Blachez,  in  Jbtir.  de  Parm.,  Avril,  1869.  See 
this  Journal,  July,  1869— Ed.  Am.  J.  Ph. 
