Am'Dec.1]'i892arm"}  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  609 
powdered,  air-dried  bark  are  macerated,  with  frequent  agitation,  for 
24  hours  with  a  mixture  of  10  cc.  water  of  ammonia  (sp.  gr.  0  960), 
20  cc.  alcohol  (90  per  cent.)  and  170  cc.  ether;  100  cc.  of  the 
clear  liquid  are  then  transferred  to  a  beaker,  27  cc.  water  and  3-4 
cc.  normal  hydrochloric  acid  solution  added  and  set  aside  for  24 
hours  to  allow  the  ether  to  evaporate ;  by  placing  the  beaker  in  a 
water-bath  the  alcohol  and  ammonia  are  next  dissipated,  adding, 
if  necessary,  sufficient  hydrochloric  acid  to  assure  a  neutral  or 
faintly  acid  solution  (should  too  much  acid  be  added  the  excess  is 
neutralized  by  the  addition  of  cinchonine,  thus  preventing  the 
introduction  of  ammonia  or  fixed  alkaline  hydrates).  The  liquid  at 
this  stage  should  measure  about  15  cc.  (greater  concentration  in 
presence  of  free  acid  frequently  causes  decomposition) ;  after  cooling 
a  red-brown  coloring  matter  generally  separates,  which  is  filtered  out, 
and  in  the  filtrate  is  then  dissolved  2-3  grams  Rochelle  salt,  the  solu- 
tion heated  upon  a  water-bath  for  fifteen  minutes  and  set  aside  for 
24  hours.  After  filtering  off  the  insoluble  tartrates  of  quinine  and 
cinchonidine  (the  filtrate  is  proven  to  be  free  from  these  alkaloids 
by  warming  with  a  little  additional  Rochelle  salt),  the  tartrates  are 
washed  with  as  little  water  as  possible  and  then  drained ;  for  each 
cc.  of  original  filtrate  an  allowance  of  00008  gm.  quinine,  and  for 
each  cc.  of  washings  an  allowance  of  0  0004.  gm-  quinine  must  be 
made.  The  tartrates  are  dissolved  in  water,  using  the  smallest  pos- 
sible quantity  of  hydrochloric  acid ;  this  solution  is  thoroughly 
extracted  with  ether  to  remove  soluble  substances,  and  •  made 
alkaline  with  sodium  hydrate  and  now  the  alkaloids  (quinine  and 
cinchonidine)  extracted  by  agitation  with  ether  ;  this  ethereal  solu- 
tion is  evaporated  and  the  residue  dried  at  ioo-i  io°  C.  and  weighed. 
By  treating  this  alkaloidal  residue  with  a  saturated  solution  of 
cinchonidine  in  ether,  the  quinine  is  dissolved ;  after  decanting  the 
solution,  the  residue  is  quickly  washed  with  a  few  cc.  of  pure  ether, 
and  dried  at  100-1  io°  C.  to  constant  weight.  To  the  difference 
between  the  two  weighings  must  be  added  the  correction  for  the 
solubility  of  the  tartrate  of  quinine  and  the  sum  represents  the 
quinine  in  10  gm.  of  the  bark.  The  quinine  in  the  ethereal  solution 
can  be  converted  into  tartrate,  which  will  be  beautifully  white  and 
suitable  for  polarization  or  for  de  Vry's  method  of  estimation  
J.  H.  Schmidt  (apothecary  in  Soerabaya),  Pharm.  Centralhalle, 
1892,  594. 
