n6 
False  Angustura  Bark. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharai. 
1      March,  1892. 
of  a  mixture  of  ether,  chloroform,  alcohol  and  concentrated 
ammonia  (modified  Prollius  liquid)  in  a  tightly  closed  bottle,  and 
shaken  vigorously  at  frequent  intervals  for  24  hrs.  The  mixture 
was  then  set  aside  until  clear,  when  50  cc.  of  the  fluid  represent- 
ing 2'5  grams  of  the  drug  were  drawn  off  by  means  of  a  pipette, 
transferred  to  an  evaporating  dish  and  the  solvent  completely 
expelled  by  gentle  heat.  The  residue  remaining  in  the  dish  was 
treated  with  a  small  quantity  of  3  per  cent,  sulphuric  acid,  trans- 
ferred to  a  small  bottle  and  well  washed  with  ether.  A  sufficient 
quantity  of  ammonia  to  make  the  solution  distinctly  alkaline  was 
now  added,  and  the  liberated  alkaloid  taken  up  by  successive 
portions  of  a  mixture  consisting  of  ether  3  parts  and  chloroform  one 
part.  The  alkaloids  were  dried  in  the  usual  manner  to  a  constant 
weight  at  a  temperature  of  1050  C.  The  yield  by  this  process  was 
6-4  per  cent,  total  alkaloids. 
(B)  Five  grams  of  the  drug  were  placed  in  a  Soxhlet  extraction 
apparatus  and  exhausted  with  about  100  cc.  of  a  mixture  of  chloro- 
form, alcohol  and  ammonia.  After  complete  exhaustion  the 
solvent  was  expelled,  and  from  this  point  the  assay  was  carried  on 
exactly  as  in  the  preceding  process,  the  yield  being  6-2  per  cent, 
total  alkaloids. 
(C)  Five  grams  of  drug  treated  according  to  the  method  employed 
by  Dragendorff  for  the  estimation  of  the  alkaloids  in  nux  vomica  (and 
which  is  so  well  known  that  I  will  omit  giving  the  details  here), 
gave  me  5-76  per  cent,  of  total  alkaloids. 
The  results  from  these  processes  were  very  satisfactory,  the 
mean  indicating  over  61  per  cent,  of  total  alkaloids. 
An  examination  of  the  alkaloidal  principle  obtained  from  the 
above  assays  was  next  undertaken  in  order  to  prove  the  presence  of 
brucine  and  if  possible  strychnine.  Tests  for  brucine  were  applied 
as  follows: 
Nitric  acid  : — A  few  milligrams  treated  with  concentrated  nitric 
acid,  at  once  gave  the  characteristic  blood-red  color. 
Nitric  acid  and  stannous  chloride : — Another  portion,  treated  with 
concentrated  nitric  acid,  heated  until  the  blood-red  color  had  disap- 
peared and  the  mixture  had  assumed  an  orange-yellow  color; 
then  cooled,  diluting  with  a  small  volume  of  distilled  water,  and 
adding  a  drop  of  a  freshly  prepared  solution  of  stannous  chloride,  at 
once  produced  the  violet  coloration  which  disappeared  again  on  the 
addition  of  an  excess  of  the  reagent. 
