368 
Chemical  Notes. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm- 
July,  1880. 
Datura  stramonium  contains,  also,  two  alkaloids,  which  may  be 
designated  as  heavy  and  light  daturin.  In  this  plant,-  as  contrasted 
with  belladonna^  the  lighter  alkaloid  predominates.  The  more  di-ffi- 
cultiy  soluble,  heavy  daturin  fuses  at  113*5°  to  114°,  and  must  be 
considered  as  a  mixture  of  atropin  and  hyoseyamin.  It  yields  a  gold 
salt,  fusing  between  135°  and  150°,  out  of  which  by  crystallization,, 
repeated  six  times,  and  by  rejection  each  time  of  the  mother  liquor,  is 
obtained  hyoseyamin  gold  chloride,  fusing  at  158°  to  160°.  From  the 
mother-liquors  by  evaporation  is  obtained  nearly  pure  atropin  gold 
chloride,  fusing  at  135°  to  140°.  If  the  heavy  daturin  be  repeatedly 
crystallized  out  of  dilute  alcohol  pure  atropin  can  be  isolated  from  ir,, 
fusing  at  113*5°  to  114.5°,  yielding  a  lustreless  gold  salt,  fusing 
at  135°  to  139°.  The  light  daturin  is  the  alkaloid  recently  studied 
by  Meyer  and  myself,  and  shown  to  be  identical  with  hyoseyamin. 
Hyoscyamus  zho  contains  two  alkaloids,  which  may  be  distinguished 
for  the  present  as  crystalline  hyoseyamin  and  amorphous  hyoseyamin. 
The  crystalline  hyoseyamin  has  already  (this  journal,  April,  1880,  p. 
198)  been  described.  It  is  especially  characterized  by  its  shining  gold 
salt,  fusing  at  159°,  while  atropin  gold  chloride  fuses  in  boiling  water. 
The  hyoseyamin  itself  fuses  at  108  5°,  while  atropin  fuses  at  II3"5°  to 
114.5°.  -^^s  mydriastic  action  is  in  general  similar  to  that  of  atropin, 
although  in  certain  casf  s  it  appears  to  have  a  different  action,  as  is  shown 
in  the  use  of  duboisin,  the  identity  of  which  with  hyoseyamin  tne 
author  has  shown  [loc.  cit.^  p.  198).  The  amorphous  hyoseyamin,  wh  ch 
comes  into  commerce  as  a  brown  resin,  contains  a  hitherto  unknown 
alkaloid,  with  the  investigation  of  which  the  author  is  at  present  engaged. 
It  is  characterized  by  a  very  beautiful  gold  chloride  salt,  which  is  dis- 
tinguished from  either  atropin  gold  chloride  or  hyoseyamin  gold 
chloride  by  its  much  higher  fusing  point  and  its  crystalline  form. 
Duboisia  myoporoides  apparently  contains  only  the  one  alkaloid,  the 
ide  ntity  of  which  with  hyoscyamina  has  been  already  (loc,  cit.,^  p.  198) 
referred  to. —  Ber,  der  Chem.  Ges,^  xiii,  p.  909. 
Analytical  and  Applied  Chemistry. —  Rapid  and  easy  Process  for 
simultaneously  detecting  Nitrogen^  Sulphur  and  Chlorine  in  Organic  Corn- 
pounds. — P.  Spica  gives  the  following  concise  method  :  The  substance 
to  be  examined  is  heated  with  sodium  in  a  test-tube  and  the  product 
dissolved  in  water  as  in  the  ordinary  way  of  testing  for  nitrogen  by 
Lassaigne's  process  ;  the  solution  will  then  contain  the  nitrogen  in  the 
state  of  cyanide,  the  sulphur  as  sulphide,  and  the  chlorine,  bromine,  or 
