46 Kansas Academy of Science. 



buckwheat starch granules. There are other starchlike or 

 gummy substances in the fruit which by acid inversion yield 

 a considerable amount of reducing material. 



R. O. Brooks' analysis of twenty-five samples of pure all- 

 spice has yielded the following maximum and minimum per- 

 centages of proximate constituents : 



Minimum. Maximum. 



Moisture 5.51% 10.14% 



Ash (mineral matter) 4.01 7.51 



Ash insoluble in acid 0.00 0.95 



Volatile ether extract (oil) 1.29 5.21 



Nonvolatile ether extract 1.60 7.72 



Starch by diastase method '. . 1 . 82 3 . 76 



"Starch" by acid inversion 16.56 20.65 



Crude fiber 13.45 23.98 



Protein (nitrogen x 6.25) 4.03 6.37 



Quercitannic acid 4.32 12 . 48 



Our analysis of commercial allspice as collected promiscu- 

 ously on the market is represented fairly well by the following 

 selected analyses from a number of samples: 



Total ether Volatile ether Nonvolatile Crude 



These results, both microscopically and chemically, show 

 that since the enactment of the pure food and drugs law few 

 samples of these spices on the market are adulterated. How- 

 ever, before the enactment of the law, the majority of spices 

 were found to contain much foreign material. 



It should be added, in this connection, that the same state- 

 ments hold true with regard to black pepper. At the time of 

 the enactment of the food and drugs law it was stated it was 

 a question whether ten per cent of the spices that were on the 

 market previous to the passage of the law were unadulterated, 

 the adulteration sometimes running as high as 92 per cent 

 of ground olive pits. The examination of the samples of the 

 market of recent date show that the actual percentage of low- 

 grade pepper amounts to less than ten per cent. This is a good 

 showing for the administration of the food and drugs law. 



