May, 1920] COMMERCIAL SUPPLI] 245 



1703. Youngkbn, II. W. Ballota hirsuta, a recent adulterant for Marrubium vulgare. 

 Amer. Jour. Pharm. 91: 1 17 L56. Fig. I '■>. L919. A rep* :t on the examination of a ship- 

 ment Labeled "horehound herb" thai had been sent from a Greek porl t o a Philadelphia firm 

 but which had been condemned by the government on the ground thai it contained an adul- 

 terant. Examination Bhowed Bhipmenl to contain "Ballota hirsuta." macroscopical 

 mill microscopical characteristics of both Marrubium vulgare and Ballota kin Ua are fully 

 discussed and are shown in a scries of photographs and . Anton Hogstad, Jr. 



1701. Knapp, A. W. The separation and uses of cacao shell. Amer. .lour. Pharm. 91: 

 107-112. 1919. — An account of the method of separation and uses of cacao shell au- 



thor slates that the world production of cacao shell is found to he aboul 36,000 tons \ ■ 

 of which Europe consumes 22,000 tons, the consumption in Great Britain being 1773 tons. 

 Analyses of the roasted and unroasted shell and a discussion of the price of i hell are also 



given. (Reprinted from Jour. Soc. Chem. Ind., July, 1918.) — Anton Hogstad, Jr. 



1705. Anonymous. Japanese chiretta. Chem. and Druggist 91: 733. 1919. — Under this 

 name a new substitute for Indian chiretta was offered at a recent drug sale in London. It is 

 used in Japan in medicine as a bitter tonic, and was described in a list of Japanese drugs re- 

 ceived from Japan by the late Mr. Thos. Christy in 1879. In Japan it is known as toyaku 

 or semburi. The plant is about a foot high and bears some resemblance in foliage to Eryth- 

 raea Centanrium, with flowers somewhat like those of Chlora perfoliata, but having pink- 

 ish-white flowers striped with purple. It is interesting botanically on account of the stigma 

 being prolonged downwards over the edges of the valves of the ovary, whence the name given 

 by Grisebach, Pleurogyne rolata. Matsumura in his "Index Plantarum Japonicarum" (p. 

 503) places it under Swertia Chinensis, and gives as synonyms Pleurogyne rolata and Ophelia 

 dilula. The plant is widely spread in Japan and there are eleven other Japanese species of 

 the genus Swertia. The drug is reported to be more bitter than the Indian chiretta. So far 

 as pharmacy is concerned, the short stature of the plant and the larger prominent flowers 

 will serve to distinguish it easily from the Indian drug.- — E. N. Gathercoal. 



1706. Claassen, Edo. Examination of a sample of gum asafoetida. Amer. Jour. Pharm. 

 91 : 164. 1919. — The author reports that a sample of gum asafoetida in which whitish, shining 

 specks could be seen contained 54.45 per cent of gum, 35.51 per cent of calcite and 10.04 per 

 cent of granite, the adulteration representing nearly half of the quantity of gum. Author 

 also reports that the adulteration of another piece of gum, previously examined, consisted 

 of calcite only in about the same amount. — Anton Hogstad, Jr. 



1707. Scoville, W. L. Scammony and its substitutes. Amer. Jour. Pharm. 91: 388- 

 3S9. 1919.— A report on the examination of a sample of Resina drastica, a Mexican plant which 

 closely resembles the Mexican Scammony, Ipomoea orizabensis. Examination of the Resina 

 resin disclosed the fact that this product is far different from the resin of Mexican Scammony. 

 A comparison is given of the resin of Scammony, resin of Mexican Scammony and the resin 

 of Resina drastica, in tabulated form. (Reprinted from Jour. Ind. andEngin. Chem., April, 

 1919.) — Anton Hogstad, Jr. 



1708. Holmes, E. M. Strophanthus semina, B. P. Amer. Jour. Pharm. 91: 24S-250. 

 1919. — Author sets forth the danger involved in the use of the preparations of Strophanthus 

 seeds owing to the admixture of other seeds with the crude drug, and states that, in case of 

 such powerful drugs as Strophanthus, aconite and Digitalis, the Foods and Drugs Act should 

 be strictly applied to punish those using adulterated or mixed samples, or that a government 

 inspector of vegetable drugs should be appointed to prevent such important remedies, if 

 adulterated or diluted with other species, from entering commerce. A discussion of similar 

 dangers regarding aconite follows, with the suggestion that the tincture of Aconitum Xapellus 

 should be prepared from the fresh plant, grown in Great Britain and collected in May. (Re- 

 printed from Pharm. Journ. Pharmacist, Jan., 1919.) — Anton Hogstad, Jr. 



