THE NEW YORK JOURNAL OF PHARMACY 



13 





Professor George C. Diekman. 



Detection of Oil of Sesame. 



G. F. A. ten Bosch, in Pharm. 

 Weekbl., 1913, 526, recommends tliat 

 the reaction of Kries, in modified 

 in place of the customary methods, 

 form be employed. The reaction is 

 shown as follows: One drop of oil 

 of sesame is dissolved in one ccm. 

 petroleum ether (benzol or chloro- 

 form may also l)e employed), and an 

 equal volume of a mixture of one vol- 

 ume of sulphuric acid and ^ volume 

 of hydrogen dioxide solution (pre- 

 pared at lowered temperature) i^ 

 added. 



After shaking a green color is at 

 once noted. The author states that 

 the presence of sesamin is responsible 

 for the color reaction. Examination 

 spectroscopically in layers of one ccm. 

 thick shows the following: A sharply 

 defined absorption band in the red, and 

 a less sharply defined band in the yellow 

 part of the spectrum. 



If ground sesame seed ,is shaken 

 out with petroleum ether, or with ben- 

 zol or chloroform, the presence of se- 

 samin can readily be demonstrated by 

 this method. Bosch claims that the 

 presence of 0.5% of sesame oil in 

 olive oil is readily detected as follows : 



I ccm. of the oil to l)e examined is 

 mixed with i ccm. of petroleum ether, 

 and an equal volume of reagent added. 

 Shake thoroughly, and note after sep- 

 aration of the layers, the characteristic 

 green color, more or less intense. 



Estimation of Morphine by Means of 



Extraction with Phenyl-Ethyl 



Alcohol. 



A. D. Thorburn recommends the 

 following method in case of tablets 

 and powders : 



The powders or tablets in proper 

 quantity are dissolved in a small quan- 

 tity of slightly acidulated water. The 

 resulting mixture is treated with 3/7 

 of its own volume of alcohol and 

 filtered. 



The filtrate is washed with 30% al- 

 cohol, collecting in all 15 ccm. of liq- 

 uid. To this liquid are now added a 

 few drops of ammonia water, or 

 enough to make it alkaline, and it is 

 then shaken out with a mixture of 3 

 ccm. of phenyl-ethyl alcohol, and i 

 ccm. of benzine. The aqueous liquid 

 is again shaken out with the same 

 mixture, using 1.5 ccm. and 0.5 ccm. 

 respectivel}'. The three extracts are 

 heated on a water-bath carefullv for 

 one hour, and, after cooling, enough 



