ANALYSIS  OF  HYOSCYAMIN,  ETC. 
389 
has  been  excited  in  regard  to  their  mode  of  manufacture  ;  and 
to  throw  some  light  upon  the  process,  I  have,  at  the  request  of 
Dr.  Cleveland,  made  an  examination  of  a  sufficient  number  of 
them  to  judge  a  priori  of  the  entire  list  produced  at  this  insti- 
tution. 
The  specimens  examined  I  obtained  from  Dr.  Cleveland,  who 
procured  them  direct  from  their  establishment,  and  each  specimen 
had  upon  it  their  label.  I  also  obtained  specimens  of  their 
make  from  others ;  they  were  all  alike  in  appearance,  and 
upon  analysis  gave  the  same  results  ;  and  all  of  them  were, 
without  any  doubt,  the  products  of  the  American  Chemical'  In- 
stitute, of  New  York. 
Analysis. 
The  first  one  of  their  preparations  I  submitted  to  analysis  was 
Hyoscyamin  ;  it  is  said  to  be  a  resinoid  in  the  work  above 
mentioned ;  it  is  of  a  dark  green  color,  resembling  chrome  green 
in  appearance,  and  possesses  the  peculiar  narcotic  odor  of 
hyoscyamus  ;  the  dose  of  it  is  said  to  be  from  one-twelfth  to  one- 
sixteenth  of  a  grain.  Twenty-five  grains  of  this  green  powder 
were  placed  in  a  beaker  glass,  upon  which  one  ounce  of  alcohol 
was  poured,  and  the  whole  boiled  for  a  few  minutes.  Upon  re- 
moving from  the  sand  bath,  and  allowing  to  stand  to  cool,  I  found 
that  but  a  small  portion  had  been  taken  up  by  the  solvent ;  it 
had  become  of  a  dark  green  color.  The  insoluble  portion  was 
separated  upon  a  filter,  and  washed  with  hot  alcohol  as  long  as 
it  took  up  any  coloring  matter.  The  insoluble  matter  upon  the 
filter  still  retained  a  portion  of  coloring  matter,  it  was  of  a  pale 
green  color.  This  was  dried  upon  the  filter,  detached  from  it 
and  weighed ;  the  weight  of  it  was  21.25  grains  ;  it  was  insoluble 
in  water ;  upon  the  addition  of  sulphuric  acid  it  readily  dissolves 
without  the  application  of  heat,  with  the  disengagement  of 
carbonic  acid  gas,  and  a  precipitation  of  the  remaining  trace  of 
coloring  matter  which  was  separated  from  the  solution  by  filtering 
it.  A  portion  of  the  solution  in  a  test  tube  was  treated  with 
phosphate  of  soda ;  no  change  was  produced  in  the  solution.  The 
addition  of  a  few  drops  of  aqua  ammonia  caused  an  immediate 
white,  bulky  precipitate,  indicating  the  presence  of  magnesia. 
The  deep  green  filtrate  obtained  by  treating  the  hyoscyamin  with 
alcohol,  was  evaporated  to  get  rid  of  the  alcohol,  a  small  quantity 
