622 
The  Alkaloids  of  Bit  a  Bark. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm,. 
Dec ,  1880. 
Ditamine, — Ditamine  is  very  easily  prepared  by  the  process  described 
by  Jobst  and  Hesse  (''Pharm.  Journ."  [3],  vol.  ii,  p.  144),  which  con- 
sists, after  a  preliminary  treatment  of  the  bark  with  petroleum  spirit,  in 
supersaturating  an  alcoholic  extract  of  dita  bark  with  soda,  shaking  out 
the  alkaloid  with  ether,  and  obtaining  it  from  the  ethereal  solution  in 
the  usual  way.  If  ammonia  be  used  instead  of  soda  more  or  less  of 
other  substances  separate  with  it,  which,  passing  also  into  the  etherea 
solution,  render  the  obtaining  of  the  ditamine  in  a  pure  state  much  more 
difficult. 
From  the  solution  supersaturated  with  soda  it  is  difficult  to  remove 
the  last  traces  of  ditamine  by  means  of  ether,  and  light  petroleum  spirit 
does  not  act  more  favorably,  notwithstanding  that  it  separates  some- 
what better  from  the  basic  solution. 
I  iThe  amount  of  ditamine  In  dita  bark  was  estimated  in  a  subsequent 
experiment  at  0*04  per  cent.  In  that  case  the  powdered  bark,  without 
previous  treatment  with  petroleum  spirit,  was  extracted  directly  with 
hot  alcohol,  and  the  extract  obtained  upon  the  evaporation  of  the 
alcohol  was  treated  with  dilute  acetic  acid  in  order  to  bring  as  much  as 
possible  of  the  alkaloid  retained  by  the  resinous  bodies  into  solution. 
The  clear  filtered  solution  was  then  supersaturated  with  soda,  shaken 
with  ether,  and  the  ethereal  solution  treated  with  a  small  quantity  of 
acetic  acid.  After  the  acetic  solution  had  been  separated  from  the 
ether  it  was  saturated  with  ammoia  in  excess,  and  the  precipitated 
alkaloid  shaken  out  with  pure  ether,  which,  upon  evaporation,  left  it  as 
a  yellowish  varnish. 
According  to  these  results  it  might  have  been  expected  that  from  10 
kilograms  of  dita  bark  4  grams  of  ditamine  would  be  obtained.  But 
the  process  followed  was  that  first  described,  and  only  O  4  gram  of 
alkaloid  was  obtained.  About  nine-tenths  of  the  alkaloid  had  disap- 
peared in  the  process,  and  probably  was  contained  in  the  before-men- 
tioned resinous  mass.  With  the  small  quantity  of  ditamine  thus 
obtained  all  the  statements  respecting  this  alkaloid  previously  put  for- 
ward by  Jobst  and  the  author  were  confirmed. 
Ditamine  dissolves  very  readily  in  dilute  acetic  or  hydrochloric  acid, 
as  well  as  in  dilute  acids  generally,  and  from  such  solutions  it  is  pre- 
cipitated by  excess  of  ammonia  in  white  amorphous  flocks.  In  this  it 
is  distinguishable  from  echitamine,  the  alkaloid  next  described,  which 
is  not  precipitated  from  its  saline  solutions  by  ammonia.  The  two 
.alkaloids  present  another  difference,  not  easily  mistaken.    If  to  a  con- 
