AmMa0rch,?8h92fm'}  False  Angles  turd  Bark.  117 
A  number  of  other  tests  were  also  made,  the  results  of  which 
proved  beyond  doubt  the  presence  of  brucine. 
The  presence  of  strychnine  as  one  of  the  constituents  of  the  false 
bark,  has  been  overlooked  by  some  of  the  authorities  on  this  sub- 
ject, but  W.  A.  Shenstone  (in  a  paper  read  before  the  British  Phar- 
maceutical Society,  Dec.  5,  1877),1  reports  that  he  had  succeeded 
in  finding  a  small  quantity  of  strychnine  together  with  brucine  in  a 
specimen  which  he  examined.  Therefore,  the  alkaloids,  obtained 
from  the  assays  of  the  bark  were  very  carefully  examined  for  strych- 
nine. In  this  case,  the  presence  of  such  a  large  proportion  of 
brucine  rendered  the  reaction  between  sulphuric  acid  and  potas- 
sium bichromate  inapplicabl-e,  therefore  I  first  employed  the  method 
recommended  by  Messrs.  Dunstan  and  Short  for  the  quantitative 
separation  of  strychnine  and  brucine,2  which  consists  of  precipitating 
the  strychnine  from  an  acid  solution  of  the  mixed  alkaloids  by 
means  of  potassium  ferrocyanide  (the  brucine  ferrocyanide  remain- 
ing in  solution),  the  subsequent  decomposition  of  the  strychnine 
salt  by  means  of  ammonium  hydrate,  and  finally  washing  out  the 
liberated  alkaloid  with  chloroform.  Two  experiments  were  tried 
by  this  method  as  follows  : 
(1)  0-160  gram  alkaloidal  matter,  treated  according  to  the  above 
process,  after  standing  a  few  hours,  deposited  a  very  small  quantity 
of  a  light  brown  resinous-looking  precipitate  which  was  decomposed 
by  ammonia  and  exhausted  with  chloroform ;  on  the  evaporation  of 
the  chloroform,  the  residue  failed  to  respond  to  the  tests  with  potas- 
sium bichromate  and  sulphuric  acid,  but  with  nitric  acid  gave 
evidence  of  consisting  largely  or  entirely  of  brucine. 
(2)  0  243  gram  treated  in  a  like  manner,  with  the  exception  that 
it  was  given  a  longer  time  in  which  to  precipitate,  gave  the  same 
result. 
Failing  to  obtain  any  evidence  of  strychnine  by  the  above  method, 
a  fresh  portion  of  the  specimen  was  exhausted  in  a  manner  similar 
to  that  employed  by  Mr.  Shenstone  in  his  examination,  and  the 
alkaloids  obtained  treated  according  to  the  manner  adopted  by  him 
in  his  examination  of  brucine  for  the  presence  of  strychnine,  which 
I  will  quote  as  briefly  as  possible  : 
1  Pharmaceutical  Journal  and  Transactions,  Dec.  8,  1877,  p.  445. 
2  Year  Book  of  Pharmacy,  1883,  p.  469. 
