INSECT POWDER 97 
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 La 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 6.1 to 6.4 per 
cent in samples of insect powder and one of from 5.4 to 6.1 per cent 
in insect flowers. The ash content of the peduncles and receptacles 
of the flowers was 5.6 per cent. Beringer (29), in 1889, made the 
determinations given in Table 6 on flowers of the Chrysanthemum 
cinerarizfolium and of the Hungarian daisy (C. leucanthemum). 
TaBLE 6.—Chemical analysis of flowers of C. cinerarixfolium and C. leucanthemum 
(Beringer) 
Determination 
| | 
Product Petro- 
leum- Ether Aleohol | Water Ach 
ether extract extract | extract 2 
extract 
| Per cent Per cent | Per cent | Per cent | Per cent 
Chrysanthemum cinerarixfolium___...-._._-----------| 2.49 | 2. 85 6. 57 | 16. 70 | 6. 50 
PMI P ALLA als yer 2 ae 5108 | fee Sate PE a ee eb thy) 3. 37 | 2. 68 9. 45 | 13. 43 9. 30 
| | | 
eo 
Beringer stated that no difference could be detected between the 
two powders by microscopical examination. _ 
Unger (282) reports certain results of examination of Pyrethrum 
flowers (Table 7). 
TABLE 7.—Chemical analysis of Pyrethrum flowers and powder (Unger) 
Determination 
Sam- Moisture 
ple Product Ash on Remarks 
No. Rae 
= Dried ree 
over Los ee basis 
HoSO;z 
Per cent | Per cent | Per cent 
1 | Closed Dalmatian flowers____________ 7. 02 8.4 7.67 | Much manganese present. 
Hg ace Dee Sie 8 SE ee ee ee ee fPOdu pesen eee 6. 89 Do. 
3 | Open Dalmatian flowers_____________ E45 es SS 6. 04 Do. 
Aa eSeeh POW Gers. = ee BeAQh Wena ee ee. 7.07 Do. 
5 | Closed Dalmatian flowers____________ 10. 29 10. 81 7pni 9 Do. 
6 | Powdered closed Dalmatian flowers_- (Say (Tin ek eee 2 7. 56 
7 | Dalmatian insect powder___________- HON pera oo 6. 21 Do. 
Three samples of flowers, two of Pyrethrum roseum and one of P. 
caucasicum, grown near Berlin, were examined, the results in Table 8 
being obtained. 
