430 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



been orisjinated. Many of these methods will appear in a report on 

 coal tar colors, now in press. 



Cider vinegars. — The study of cider vinegar has been continued, 

 one member (^f tlie laboratory having spent a considerable portion of 

 the past fiscal year in the factories of New Jersey, Massachusetts, and 

 New York. A large number of amilyses of genuine cider vinegars 

 and of vinegars manufactured from dried waste and from second 

 pressings have been made and the data is being put in proper form 

 tor use in connection with the interpretation of results or analyses of 

 commercial samples. 



Coffee. — The matter of the artificial sweating of coffee, which is 

 sometimes practiced in the trade for the purpose of making the South 

 American and other coffees imitate in color and appearance the Java 

 coffee, has been the subject of much study during the past year. 

 Both cliemical and microscopical methods for the detection of this 

 sophistication have been investigated to a considerable extent. 

 These studies will be continued. 



Drug work. — Continued improvement in the crude drugs is shown. 

 Only a small number of instances of entire substitution of foreign 

 or inferior products is reported. In the case of certain leaves, such 

 as buchu, uva-ursi, cubebs, senna, etc., the occurrence of excessive 

 amounts of stems or twigs has raised a question as to the maximum 

 amount of these substances that should be permitted, and as a general 

 nde 10 per cent has been adopted as a temporary limit. This may be 

 regarded as too liboral by many, but it was the opinion that at present 

 trade conditions did not warrant a more severe limit, for the reason 

 that the admixture has been very high, in some instances as much as 

 50 per cent, and it is necessary to give the trade some time to correct 

 the methods of collection. Certain importers have arranged to 

 remove the excessive portion of stems from the leaves, and shipments 

 have been permitted entry on condition that this be done, the goods 

 being again examined after the stems have been separated. During 

 the past j'^ear buchu leaves have been scarce, due to the failure of the 

 crop, and this has resulted in the presentation for entry of many lots 

 of mferior quality as well as large quantities of long buchu, both of 

 w^hich have often contained large amounts of stems. 



Ergot. — Failure of the supply of ergot both from Spain and Rus- 

 sia has led to the shipment of very inferior lots of this product. 

 Many of these are undoubtedly old goods and haA'C been subjected 

 to some process, such as baking, to prevent decay and worms, wliich 

 treatment rendered the ergot worthless for medicinal purposes. 



Cubebs. — Large quantities of cubebs are continualh^ being im- 

 ported, the majority of which do not conform to the requirements 

 of the United States Pharmacopoeia, since they contain large quanti- 

 ties of sticks, stems, and immature and overripe berries. It is 

 claimed, however, that these are being brought m for distillat'on 

 purposes, and such shipments are released by the Treasury Depart- 

 ment under such conditions as will insure their use for this purpose 

 only. From the analytical figures it appears that immature berries 

 are richer in oil than those that meet the requirements of the United 

 States Pharmacopoeia, and are therefore more suitable for distilla- 

 tion purposes. Tliis matter is being further studied. 



