— 139 — 



With regard to the oil obtained from the aromatic wood of 

 Myrocarpus fastigiatus Fr. AIL, compare Gildemeister's and Hoffmann's 

 The Volatile Oils, p. 447. 



Peru Balsam. There is little to be said concerning the market 

 position and the prospects of this article. The sluggish sale has caused 

 the Hamburg importers to show a little more pliability during the last 

 few months and several holders of important consignments are on the 

 look-out for interested parties. It is quite impossible to hazard any 

 opinion as to the probable course of prices during the coming months, 

 because no information is procurable as to the extent of the production, 

 the stocks in the producing districts, etc. 



With regard to the solubility of Peru balsam in alcohol, the German 

 Pharmacopoeia, Ed. IV, only says that it is "clearly miscible with spirits 

 of wine (90 to 91 per cent, by volume)". Although this indeterminate 

 mode of expression, which leads to misunderstandings, has been fre- 

 quently exposed in the pharmaceutical press 1 ), yet claims on account 

 of imperfect solubility of balsam supplied are made again and again 

 from the ranks of the pharmacists. We therefore feel compelled to 

 call attention to the fact that the requirements of the German Pharma- 

 copoeia, as quoted above, are in need of a correction in the form of 

 amplification; for, although the concentrated alcoholic solution of Peru 

 balsam (1:1) is clear, further addition of alcohol soon induces cloud- 

 iness, which increases in proportion to the extent of the dilution. Peru 

 balsam which gives a clear mixture with spirits of wine in any pro- 

 portion does not exist. 



The obscurity of the prescription of the German Pharmacopoeia 

 Ed. IV is the more to be regretted, because the previous Edition (III) 

 of that work correctly stated that 1 part of Peru balsam gives a clear 

 mixture with 1 part of spirits of wine. In the commentary to the 

 third Edition, edited by Hager, Fischer, and Hartwich it is, moreover, 

 expressly pointed out that turbidity ensues when more spirits of wine 

 is added, and that, when the diluted mixture is allowed to stand, a 

 sediment is precipitated. 



As regards the sp. gr. we may observe that, according to our ex- 

 perience, in the case of pure balsam this lies between 1,144 an d 

 1,154 (15 ), while the German Pharmacopoeia Ed. IV, only allows 1,150 

 as the maximum sp. gr. In the interests of honest trade it must be 

 remembered in this connection that the sp. gr. of most balsams ex- 

 ceeds 1,150. A sp. gr. of up to 1,154 should in no case be allowed 

 to justify claims when the balsam concerned answers the Pharmacopoeia 

 requirements in other respects. 



v ) Pharm. Zentralh. 44 (1903), 241; Pharm. Ztg. 48 (1903), 363, 754. 

 2 ) Second Ed., Vol. I, p. 390. 



