INSECT POWDER. 
33 
method for the detection of added coloring matter as more accurate 
than the microscopic method. The results obtained on these 12 
samples are shown in Table 5. 
Table 5. — Chemical examination of insect powder (Howie). 
Sample 
No. 
Vendor's definition. 
Color. 
Adulterant. 
Ash. 
1 
J)rab 
Per cent. 
6 2 
2 
3 
do 
.....do 
do 
...do 
7.1 
6 
4 
Yellowish 
do 
6.8 
5 
6 
All closed flowers 
do 
do 
do 
do.... 
6.2 
6.2 
7 
Yellow. . . 
10.5 
8 
9 
do 
Opt 
do 
do 
do 
do 
9.6 
9.2 
10 
All closed flowers 
do 
...do... 
8.0 
11 
9. 4 
12 
Dalmatian 
Very yellow 
6.0 
An anonymous writer in 1884 (13) suggested testing insect powder 
with ammonia water, which would cause an artificially colored powder 
to turn a more or less dark brown, while an uncolored powder would 
change only slightly. Exposed to direct sunlight a genuine powder 
in the course of a few hours loses its color, according to this writer. 
Meyer (202), in 1887, proposed to test for mineral impurities in an 
insect powder by shaking the sample with chloroform, which would 
cause the powder to rise to the top of the liquid, while the inorganic 
substances would settle to the bottom. 
In 1888 Hart (119) found an ash content of from 6.10 to 6.40 per 
cent in samples of insect powder and one of from 5.40 to 6.10 per cent 
in insect flowers. The ash content of the peduncles and receptacles 
of the flowers was 5.60 per cent. Beringer (29), in 1889, made the 
determinations given in Table 6 on flowers of the Chrysanthemum 
cinerarisefolium and of the Hungarian daisy (C. leucanthemum) . 
Table 6. — Chemical analysis of flowers of C. cinerarisefolium and C. leucanthemum 
(Beringer). 
Determination. 
Product. 
Petro- 
leum- 
ether 
extract. 
Ether 
extract. 
Alcohol 
extract. 
Water 
extract. 
Ash. 
Per cent. 
2.49 
3.37 
Per cent. 
2.85 
2.68 
Per cent. 
6.57 
9.45 
Per cent. 
16.70 
13.43 
Per cent. 
6.50 
9.30 
Beringer stated that no difference could be detected between the 
two powders by microscopical examination, 
139815°— 20— Bull. 824 3 
