44 Kansas Academy of Science. 



the latter by the large starch grains which the seeds contain. 

 Blown cloves, also an adulterant, are those which have been 

 collected after the petals have expanded. Both the petals an i 

 stamens have been broken off, leaving the thick portion of 

 the clove crowned by somewhat prominent calyx teeth. 



It is evident from the above that the microscopist has a 

 ready means for detecting these spurious admixtures, and 

 coupled with the chemical analysis furnishes data which is 

 legally satisfactory. 



In connection with the chemical examination, we note, from 

 the results of a prominent food inspector, R. O. Brooks, the 

 following maximum and minimum limits of constituents, found 

 in eighty-six analyses of botanically pure cloves : 



Minimum. Maximum. 



Per cent. Per cent. 



Moisture 2 . 90 11 . 80 



Volatile ether extract (oil) 11 .03 20.53 



Nonvolatile ether extract 4 .87 12.00 



Quercitannic acid 11 . 28 24 . 18 



"Protein" (N X 6.25) 4.20 7.06 



"Starch" (by diastase method) 2.08 3.15 



Crude fiber 6.18 9.75 



Ash (mineral matter) 5 . 03 13.05 



Ash, insoluble in acid (sand) 0.00 0.13 



This author, speaking of clove stems as a common form of 

 adulteration, says the federal standard provides for a reason- 

 able and unavoidable presence of clove stems, viz., 5 per cent. 

 The skilled spice microscopist can tell very closely whether this 

 limit has been over-stepped, although it is doubtful if strictly 

 chemical means would prove it, unless the adulterant is present 

 in large amounts. The most noticeable difference, chemically, 

 which would upset the chemical values of pure cloves, if a 

 considerable admixture were attempted, is the decidedly 

 greater portion of fiber found in the stems. The following 

 he gives as the mean results of two analyses of clove stems : 



Per lent. 



Moisture 8 . 74 



Volatile ether extract 5 .00 



Nonvolatile ether extract 3 . 83 



Quercitannic acid 18 . 79 



"Protein" (N X 6.25) 5.88 



"Starch" (by diastase method) 2.17 



Crude fiber 18.71 



Ash (mineral matter) 7.99 



Ash, insoluble in acid (sand) 0.60 



In order to adulterate a clove with clove stems, the clove 

 must be very rich in oil, because of the low volatile ether ex- 



