394 
Determination  of  ^inia. 
1  Am.  Jour,  Pharm„ 
t       Aug  ,  1880. 
aqueous  solution.  Five  grams  of  the  herb,  when  exhausted  with  sul- 
phuric ether,  upon  evaporating  yielded  an  extract  weighing  54  centi- 
grams, having  no  bitter  taste,  and  nearly  all  soluble  in  benzin,  supposed 
to  be  coloring  matter.  A  small  quantity  of  volatile  oil  was  obtained 
by  distilling  the  herb  with  water,  having  the  disagreeable  odor  of  boiled 
cabbage.  Five  grams  of  the  herb  lose  37  centigrams  of  moisture 
when  heated  to  dryness. 
The  chemical  constituents  of  the  herb  are  as  follows: 
Eupatorine  (a  glucoside),  a  crystallizable  body,  a  volatile  oil,  gum^, 
tannic  acid,  sugar. 
ON  lODOSULPHATE  OF  CHINIOIDIN  AS  AN  EXCEL- 
LENT REAGENT  FOR  THE  QUALITATIVE  AND 
QUANTITATIVE  DETERMINATION  OF  QUINIA. 
By  Dr.  J.  E.  de  Vrij. 
Since  my  publication  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  and  Trans- 
actions" of  December  11,  1875,  p.  461,  of  a  paper  on  this  subject, 
my  repeated  application  of  the  above  mentioned  reagent  to  the  analy- 
sis of  cinchona  barks  induced  me  to  make  some  slight  alterations  in  the 
process,  so  that  it  may  now  be  useful  to  readers  of  this  journal  for  me 
to  publish  my  actual  method  of  applying  it.  '  I  am  the  more  induced 
to  make  this  publication,  as  recently  an  American  chemist  requested  me 
to  give  him  some  information  about  the  accurate  estimation  of  quinia 
when  it  is  mixed  with  a  large  amount  of  the  other  cinchona  alkaloids. 
Preparation  of  the  Reagent, — One  part  of  commercial  chinioidin  and 
two  parts  of  benzol  are  heated  together  on  a  water-bath,  whereby  a 
solution  of  chinioidin  in  benzol  is  obtained.  The  clear  solution  is, 
after  cooling,  poured  off  from  the  insoluble  part  and  agitated  with  an 
excess  of  diluted  sulphuric  acid,  which,  combining  with  the  chinioidin 
dissolved  in  the  benzol,  yields  a  reddish-yellow  solution  of  acid  sul- 
phate of  chinioidin  ;  to  this  clear  solution,  contained  in  a  capsule,  a 
solution  of  one  part  of  iodine  and  two  parts  of  iodide  of  potassium  in 
50  parts  of  water  is  slowly  added  with  continuous  stirring  so  that  no 
part  of  the  solution  of  chinioidin  comes  into  contact  with  an  exces^  of 
iodine.  One  part  of  iodine  is  required  for  two  parts  of  chinioidin  con- 
tained in  the  acid  solution.  By  this  addition  an  orange -colored  floccu- 
lent  precipitate  is  formed  of  iodosulphate  of  chinioidin,  which  either 
spontaneously  or  by  a  slight  elevation  of  temperature  collects  into  a  dark 
brown-red  colored  resinous  substance,  whilst  the  supernatant  liquor 
