Abstract
THE “Year-book of Pharmacy” for 1886 contains a larger number than usual of abstracts of papers. Amongst the most interesting of them are perhaps those treating of coca and substances obtained from it. It appears that when the active principle, cocaine, is heated with water it decomposes, losing methyl (CH3), which is replaced by hydrogen. The product of this decomposition is benzoyl-ecgonine, which can again be converted into cocaine by heating with methyl iodide and methyl alcohol. The replacement of methyl by hydrogen in the conversion of cocaine into benzoyl-ecgonine produces a very marked change in the physiological action of the substances, for while cocaine is distinguished by its extraordinary power of paralyzing the sensory nerves and thus producing anæsthesia of any part to which it is applied, this power is completely absent in benzoyl-ecgonine. Benzoyl-ecgonine, however, has a physiological action very closely allied to that of caffeine—a circumstance which is very interesting in relation to the use of coca and coffee as a beverage.
Year-book of Pharmacy for 1886.
(London: Churchill, 1887.)
General Index to Year-books of Pharmacy, 1864–1885.
(London: Churchill, 1886.)
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Our Book Shelf . Nature 36, 243 (1887). https://doi.org/10.1038/036243a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/036243a0