PREPARATION  OF  MORPHIA. 
535 
July  2d,  Prof.  Reynal  read  a  paper  in  which  he  shows  that  the 
brine — the  liquid  residue  from  salted  meat  and  fishes — which  in 
France  is  used  by  the  countrymen  in  place  of  table  salt,  ac- 
quires poisonous  properties  after  having  been  kept  for  some 
time.  More  than  100  experiments  have  led  him  to  the  follow- 
ing conclusions  : 
1.  Three  or  four  months  after  it  has  been  made  brine  becomes 
poisonous. 
2.  One  or  two  decilitres  is  poisonous  to  dogs  ;  in  much  smaller 
quantity  it  causes  vomiting. 
3.  The  addition  of  this  liquid  to  the  vitals,  even  in  small 
quantities,  if  continued  for  some  time,  may  cause  death. 
4.  But  the  salt  prepared  from  the  brine  may  be  used  without 
danger ;  the  poisonous  principle  remains  in  the  liquid. — Jour, 
de  Pharm.  d'  Anvers,  Aout.,  1855. 
ON  THE  PREPARATION  OF  MORPHIA. 
Translated  by  S.  S.  Garrigues  from  T.  Muck. 
In  the  "Zeitschrift  fiir  Pharmacie,"  1854,  No,  10,  a  process 
for  the  preparation  of  morphia  was  communicated  by  G.  Ram- 
dohr,  which  appeared  to  have  an  advantage  over  previously 
proposed  methods  in  its  brevity  and  simplicity.  According  to 
this  process  the  opium  is  extracted  by  alcohol  of  60  per  cent.  ; 
to  the  tincture  thus  obtained  carbonate  of  ammonia  was  added, 
the  mixture  at  the  same  time  being  well  shaken  together.  After 
standing  ten  minutes,  the  narcotin  separates  in  colorless  crystals 
free  from  morphia ;  from  the  tincture  which  was  separated  from 
the  narcotin,  the  morphia  crystallizes  in  shining  crystals,  more 
of  which  are  obtained  on  the  further  concentration  of  the  mother 
liquors. 
Muck,  to  test  this  process,  took  3  ounces  of  opium  and  by 
strictly  following  the  directions,  obtained  nearly  51  grains  of 
nearly  white  narcotin.  This  he  dissolved  in  liquor  potassa  with 
the  aid  of  heat,  and  on  saturating  the  alkaline  solution  with  sul- 
phuric acid  he  obtained  a  small  precipitate  of  morphia,  which  on 
drying  weighed  0.250  grains.  From  the  solution  separated  from 
narcotin,  after  standing  a  week,  only  a  few  crystals  had  sepa- 
rated, and  their  number  had  increased  very  little  after  another 
