Amjunuer;if9rm*}  Reactions  of  Cocaine.  319 
with  this  test  is  similar  to  that  produced  on  treating  cocaine  with 
alcoholic  potash:  The  product  appears  to  be  ethyl  benzoic 
ether. 
Mezger  has  suggested  the  following  for  the  detection  of  cocaine 
in  the  presence  of  other  bases,  cocaine  hydrochloride  o  05  gram 
dissolved  in  5  cc.  of  water  and  five  drops  of  a  five  per  cent, 
solution  of  chromic  acid  added.  A  distinct  precipitate  is  formed 
on  the  addition  of  each  drop,  which,  however,  immediately  dis- 
solves ;  if,  now,  1  cc.  of  strong  hydrochloric  acid  is  added  a  heavy 
yellow  precipitate  of  cocaine  chromate  is  formed. 
Muller  also  remarks  that  potassium  bichromate  precipitates  the 
alkaloid  from  neutral  solutions,  while  the  normal  chromate  does 
not,  and  so  serves  to  distinguish  cocaine  from  other  alkaloids.  I 
have  tried  these  chromate  tests  with  aconitine,  apomorphine, 
atropine,  beberine,  brucine,  caffeine,  cinchonine,  cinchonidine, 
codeine,  colchicine,  emetine,  gelsemine,  hyoscyamine,  morphine, 
pilocarpine,  physostigmine,  narceine,  strychnine,  and  veratrine. 
Of  these,  gelsemine,  strychnine,  and  veratrine  behave  very  similarly 
to  cocaine,  so  that  with  them  the  test  is  negatived,  but  with  the 
remainder  the  reactions  are  distinct  from  that  of  cocaine. 
Giesel,  in  1886,  proposed  the  following  reaction  for  identifying 
cocaine.  If  001  gram  cocaine  hydrochloride  is  dissolved  in 
1-2  drops  of  water  and  about  1  cc.  of  3  per  cent,  solution  of 
potassium  permanganate  added,  a  violet  precipitate  is  produced  at 
ordinary  temperatures.  Lyons  remarks  that  with  solutions  con- 
taining less  than  1  per  cent,  of  cocaine  crystals  are  only  formed  on 
evaporation. 
In  using  this  test  I  find  that  with  aconitine,  beberine,  brucine, 
quinine,  colchicine,  cinchonine,  emetine,  gelsemine,  codeine,  mor- 
phine, physostigmine,  pilocarpine,  strychnine,  veratrine,  narceine, 
cinchonidine  and  apomorphine,  the  reduction  of  the  permanganate 
is  immediate,  or  occupies  but  a  few  minutes,  whilst  with  hyos- 
cyamine, atropine  and  caffeine,  an  indifference  equal  to  that  with 
cocaine  is  observed,  but  no  precipitate  of  the  permanganate  of  the 
alkaloid  is  formed.  This  is,  in  my  opinion,  one  of  the  best  tests 
for  cocaine  as  yet  published. 
There  are  some  other  tests  which  I  have  not  referred  to  because 
they  are  either  useless  or  they  do  not  admit  of  their  use  by  the 
pharmacist  with  facility. 
