[Reprinted from the Journal of the American Chemical Society, 
Vol. XVI, No. 12. December, 1894.] 
NOTE ON THE TEST FOR STRYCHNINE.1 
By W. P. Mason and J. W. Bowman. 
ORGANIC matter having been removed, and the solution 
containing the purified alkaloid having been evaporated 
to dryness on the water-bath, the dry residue is taken up with a 
little concentrated sulphuric acid, one of several oxidizing agents 
added in solid form, and the well-known strychnine color reac- 
tion forthwith appears as usual. Or, in the event of the evapo- 
ration having been accomplished in a platinum dish, such dish 
may be connected with the positive pole of a battery, and, upon 
touching the negative pole to the acid contents, the strychnine 
color instantly flashes out. All this being long since known, the 
following table is offered to indicate the relative degrees of deli- 
cacy of the several reagents commonly employed. 
In each instance the figures at the top indicate the num- 
ber of milligrams of strychnine sulphate actually operated 
upon, i.e., the amount left upon the evaporating dish by the 
evaporation of the measured quantity of standard solution 
employed. 
Amount used 
in milligrams. 0.500 
0.400 
0.300 
0.250 
0.150 
K2Mn2O8 •.. very strong 
very strong 
very strong 
very strong 
strong 
K2Cr2O7 • • • • very strong 
very strong 
very strong 
very strong 
strong 
PbO2 fair 
fair 
weak 
no test 
no test 
K6Fe2(CN)12 strong 
strong 
strong 
strong 
strong 
MnO2 strong 
strong 
strong 
strong 
strong 
H2CrO4 very strong 
very strong 
very strong 
strong 
strong 
Battery ■. • • strong 
fair 
no test 
no test 
no test 
Amount used 
in milligrams. 0.050 
0.025 
O.O2O 
0.015 
0.010 
K2Mn2O8 • • • strong 
strong 
w*eak 
very weak 
no test 
K2Cr2O7 • • • • fair 
weak 
very weak 
no test 
no test 
PbO2 no test 
no test 
no test 
no test 
no test 
K6Fe2(CN)12 fair* 
fair 
weak 
very weak 
no test 
MnO2 strong 
fair 
weak 
weak very weak 
H2CrO4 weak 
no test 
no test 
no test 
no test 
Battery - • • • no test 
no test 
no test 
no test 
no test 
1 Read at the Brooklyn Meeting, August j6, 1894. 2 
NOTE ON THE TEST FOR STRYCHNINE. 
From the foregoing it will be seen that beautiful as Letheby's 
galvanic test is, it does not compare favorably in point of deli- 
cacy with the more common ones using chemical reagents It 
certainly fails long before the bitter taste disappears. 
From the table it would seem that MnOa should be given the 
first rank, but the slowness of its action is greatly in its disfavor, 
and the consequent difficulty of getting the color to flow down 
the side of the dish from the crystal of reagent is an objection. 
The presence of a little organic matter, also masksits action. 
Altogether, we found that K„Mn2OB gave the most satisfactory 
results. Of course, the color of this reagent is an argument 
against its use, but if the acid used be of full concentration, and 
if a blank experiment be run at the same time with acid only in 
the dish, no trouble need be feared from that source. 
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 
June 4, 1894.