1000

ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

t ii. j|je dlf

tity of eacli, is a matter of some importance. It is effected t bc

ferent degrees of solubility of these alkaloids or their salts, aneasy crystallizability of cinchonia. ..

* h's liij 1111 ’

1. Boiling Alcohol may be employed to separate these alkaloids: when 1 theq>“

charged with the two alkaloids, cools, the cinchonia crystallizes, bu p e lle-remains in the mother liquor. This mode of separation was adopte Jtier and Caventou (Journ. de Pharm. vii. 305). , re ll a*

2. Ether was used by Scharlau ( Pharm,. Central Blatt. far 1832, S. 488) a c j nC boB* a

by others, to separate the two alkaloids: quinia is more soluble than

in this liquid. . lie I,ce ’

3. Disulphate of quinia is less soluble in water than disulphate of cinchon _' ta ]]ize s

• when these two salts have been dissolved in boiling water, the li ! st c $ e mother

as the solution cools, while the disulphate of cinchonia remains inliquor.

to h a ' e

To manufacturers of disulphate of quinia it is of importance -a ready means of estimating the quantity of quinia, as distin D t jyfrom cinchonia, which a bark yields. Sulphate of Soda is he 1used for this purpose. It has been found that the yellow (Calisaj ty-contains so much lime that an infusion (prepared by digesting f° r ^ c0 idfour hours one part of coarsely-powdered bark in sixteen parts 0 fwater) yields, on the addition of sulphate of soda, a white precip 1sulphate of lime ; whereas those barks (as the pale kinds) which are decient in quinia give no precipitate with this salt. Guibourt (J° t heChim. Med. ii. 624, 2 nde Ser.) directs this test to be used thus :; to

powder of the bark with water, so as to form a thin paste ; w g0 <la

be placed on a filter, and the filtered liquor tested with sulphate(crystals). , e e %-

Physiological Effects.—I. Of the Cinchona Barks■ v r ^ gfl ics,periments of Dr. Adair Crawford {Exp. Inquiry into the Effects of ^j^al1816) on the effects of tonics in promoting the cohesion of thetissues have been already (p. 80) refeVred to. He found that a a

intestines, which had been immersed in a thick mixture of c *° jin-

bark and water, required a greater weight to break them than tnmersed in water merely, in the ratio of 255 to 20-7. He found) eS ;over, that the same effect was produced on the blood-vessels and i . j j6 d

but an opposite effect on the skin, the cohesion of which it

diinhdf

m the ratio of 24'5 to 7 - 9. Hence he inferred that cinchona ^ astrengthened the alimentary canal, blood-vessels and nerves, but^ ^ jeSt >debilitating or relaxing effect on the skin. The error pervaduio,inferences has been already pointed out (see p. 80). Admitting 1 pr-dead animal tissues are invariably affected by cinchona in the n • ce dCrawford states, the conclusion that living tissues would be n 1 j ea d,in the same way is not supported by facts. Cold water relaxesbut corrugates living, animal tissues. . pal e

(a.) On vegetables .—Leaves of plants, immersed in an infusion , 0 jje,bark, were dried, but not contracted, in twenty-four hours (D ec ‘

Phys. Veg. 1349). that

y. ( b.) On animals generally .—Dr. Freind ( Emmenol. c. xiv.) - nt0 th e' an ounce and a half of a strong decoction of bark injected of

jugular vein of a dog, caused, in fifteen minutes, strong p alpha 1 te d,the heart, and frequent spasms. Half an ounce more being 1 h u ;d,brought on tetanus and death. The blood was found after deat i ^j o0 d,the lungs red and turgid; the right ventricle was distended