522     PROXIMATE  PRINCIPLE  FROM  SANGUINARIA  CANADENSIS. 
Dr.  Sheil,  of  St.  Louis,  in  Silliman's  Journal,  also,  in  the 
American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  which  is  as  follows  :  Treat 
the  coarse  powdered  root  with  dilute  sulph.  acid  in  a  percolator, 
and  precipitate '  the  obtained  liquor  with  aqua  ammonia,  the 
addition  of  which  causes  a  voluminous  precipitate  of  a  deep 
purple  color,  which  is  washed  with  water  upon  the  filter,  dried 
and  treated  with  ether,  which  dissolves  out  the  Sanguinarina  ; 
this  solution  is  to  be  treated  with  animal  coal,  which  removes 
most  'of  the  accidental  coloring  matter,  and  the  alkaloid  is 
obtained  as  a  sulphate  from  this  ethereal  solution,  by  a  solution 
of  sulphuric  acid  in  ether,  of  a  bright  vermillion  color,  the 
salts  of  Sanguinarina  being  insoluble  in  ether. 
I  observed,  after  having  precipitated  all  the  Sanguinarina, 
that  there  was  some  other  substance  held  in  solution  by  the 
ether  ;  it  was  of  much  deeper  color,  and  left  a  yellowish  solid 
deposit  upon  the  sides  of  the  vessel  containing  it. 
The  ether  was  left  to  evaporate  spontaneously.  A  substance 
having  a  dark  red  color,  and  without  any  distinct  crystalline 
form,  was  left.  From  its  acrid  taste  it  evidently  contained  a 
portion  of  Sanguinarina  ;  I  tried  a  number  of  methods  to  rid  it 
of  its  presence  without  success.  At  last  I  dissolved  the  whole 
of  it  in  ether,  and  agitated  it  with  dilute  sulph.  acid,  which 
removed  the  Sanguinarina  completely.  The  ethereal  portion 
was  separated  from  the  acid  and  allowed  to  evaporate  spontane- 
ously ;  a  dark  red  mass  was  left ;  translucent,  but  could  distin- 
guish no  crystalline  form.  It  was  placed  in  a  mortar,  and  upon 
powdering  it,  gave  a  dull  red  powder,  tasteless,  insoluble  in 
water.  Upon  heating  it  with  water  it  melted  and  formed  a 
dark,  brittle,  resinous  mass. 
This  was  dissolved  in  alcohol  and  treated  with  animal  char- 
coal ;  the  color  of  the  solution  after  this  treatment  was  of  a 
pale  yellow  tint.  It  was  treated  a  second  time  with  the  coal, 
but  no  change  in  the  color  of  the  solution  was  perceptible; 
this  was  evaporated  spontaneously,  and  left  a  pale  red  mass. 
This  mass  was  dissolved  in  boiling  alcohol,  and  to  the  solution 
hydrochloric  acid  was  added ;  the  addition  produced  a  deep  red 
color.  This  was  set  aside  to  cool,  and  deposited  the  excess  of 
the  acid  compound  in  beautiful  needle-shaped  crystals  of  a  bright 
red  color. 
With  sulphuric  acid  it  forms  a  confused  warty  mass  of  crystals, 
