AmNov.?if92arm'}         Notes  on  Solanaceous  Bases.  591 
have  adopted  the  plan  of  gradually  adding  an  ether  solution  of  oxalic  acid  to  a 
solution  of  the  bases  in  acetone,  so  long  as  the  separation  of  crystals  takes 
place.  Under  those  conditions  atropine  oxalate  separates  first  and  afterwards 
hyoscyamine  oxalate.  From  the  several  fractions  the  base  is  then  separated  as 
above  described,  and  the  nature  of  it  determined  by  means  of  the  melting 
point,  and  the  behavior  with  gold  chloride.  By  the  aid  of  the  optical  method, 
which  I  was  not  then  acquainted  with,  it  would  only  be  necessary  to  separate 
the  mixed  base  from  the  deposited  oxalate,  and  to  ascertain  the  rotatory  power 
of  a  known  portion  in  alcoholic  solution,  in  order  to  find  whether  the  base 
consisted  of  atropine,  hyoscyamine,  or  a  mixture  of  both.  In  any  case  this 
method  admits  of  a  correct  determination  of  the  amount  of  atropine,  while 
the  gold  chloride  method  gives  a  result  that  is  much  too  low,  as  may  be  readily 
observed  with  "  natural  atropine  "  or  its  sulphate. 
Whether  the  hyoscyamine  salt  in  this  sulphate  may  amount  to  90  or  only  10 
per  cent,  and  the  atropine  salt  to  10  or  90  per  cent.,  as  is  the  case  in  the  prep- 
aration recognized  by  the  German  Pharmacopoeia,  is  of  no  importance  in 
regard  to  the  action  of  the  salt,  since  in  this  respect  there  is  no  recognizable 
difference  between  the  two  salts.  For  that  reason  the  requirement  that  the  sul- 
phate shall  be  prepared  only  from  a  base  melting  at  H5°*5  cannot  be  justified, 
because  the  base  obtained,  as  it  is  furnished  naturally,  fulfils  the  same  purpose, 
whether  it  consists  of  the  one  or  the.  other  or  of  a  mixture  of  both. 
4.  Hyoscine. — This  base,  alleged  to  be  isomeric  with  atropine  and  hyos- 
cyamine, was  originally  obtained  by  Ladenburg1  from  the  so-called  amorphous 
hyosycamine  that  was  separated  in  the  preparation  of  hyoscyamine 
from  Hyoscyamus  niger,  and  remained  in  the  mother  liquor.  Subse- 
quently Ladenburg2  succeeded  in  preparing  the  hydrochloride,  hydrobro- 
mide,  and  hydriodide  of  this  base  in  the  crystalline  form,  and  hyoscine  came 
into  use  as  a  medicinal  agent.  The  preparation  of  hyoscine  from  Hyoscya- 
mus niger  was  then  undertaken  by  E.  Merck,  who  had  supplied  L^adenburg 
with  the.  material  for  his  investigation.  Up  to  within  a  recent  period  he  sup- 
ported the  view  that  the  composition  of  the  base  was  represented  by  the 
formula  C17H23N03,  and  he  adopted  the  formula  C8H15NO  given  by  Laden- 
burg  as  representing  the  composition  of  the  pseudotropine  obtained  by  the 
splitting  up  of  hyoscine.8  This  latter  formula,  however,  is  incorrect,  and  with 
it  falls  also  the  formula  of  hyoscine,  which,  as  I  shall  show,  is  to  be  altered  to 
C17H21N04,  a  formula  which  is  in  agreement  with  the  results  of  numerous 
determinations  made  by  Ladenburg  himself. 
For  the  material  employed  in  my  investigation  I  am  indebted  to  Messrs.  B. 
Merck.  It  consisted  of  hyoscine  hydrobromide,  which  was  quite  pure.  It  had 
the  form  of  large  crystals,  but  the  crystalline  form  could  not  be  recognized. 
On  dissolving  in  the  least  possible  quantity  of  hot  water  it  separated  in  fine 
crystals,  the  form  of  which  agreed  perfectly  with  the  statement  of  Fock.4 
The  gold  salt  also  presented  all  the  characters  described  by  L,adenburg  as 
belonging  to  hyoscine  aurochloride.  When  the  identity  of  the  base  now 
known  as  hyoscine  with  that  originally  described  under  that  name,  had  been 
1  Annalen,  ccvi,  299. 
-  Berichte,  xiv,  1870. 
3  Merck's  Jakresber.,  January,  1892. 
.  4  Berichte,  xiv,  p.  1872. 
