226 
BRITISH PHARMACEUTICAL CONFERENCE. 
No. 23 was composed of golden-olive scales having a greenish shade. Ex¬ 
posed to the -air at the temperature of 60°, it was unaffected. It dissolved 
readily in water, yielding a yellowish solution much the same as the preceding, 
but not quite so clear, and having an acid reaction upon test-paper, and a 
strongly bitter but not chalybeate taste. The precipitate by ammonia much 
resembled that of No. 22 in appearance, having a resinous aspect and a brownish 
colour, covered with a white bloom, and separated pretty readily from the paper. 
From two analyses of 25 grains each, I obtained 3*76, 3*76, equal to 15-04 per 
cent, of quinine, or 23 - 5 of its citrate. It was almost entirely soluble in 
ammonia, and closely resembled the preceding in the colour of its ethereal 
solution. 
No. 24 occurred in the form of very bright fine golden green scales. Ex¬ 
posed to the air at a temperature of 00° it remained unaltered. It dissolved 
very readily in water, yielding a fine golden-yellow solution, which was beauti¬ 
fully clear, and had an acid reaction upon test-paper. It was- intensely bitter, 
but not chalybeate. Ammonia produced a very copious precipitate, which, 
when dry, was of a light-brown colour, and of a very resinous appearance. 
From two analyses of twenty-five grains each I obtained 4-2, 4-18, mean 4-19, 
equal to 16-72 per cent, of quinine, or 26-75 per cent, of its citrate. This is 
entirely soluble in ammonia, yielding an almost clear solution. I may mention 
that this specimen was prepared by my own formula, a little additional quinine 
having been purposely added, to ascertain if it were possible to combine a 
greater amount of citrate of quinine than 25 per cent., and at the same time 
retain brilliancy of colour and appearance, and ready solubility of the medicine. 
54, Kentish Totvn Hoad , A. W. 
ON CO'lTON-SEED OIL, AND ITS DETECTION WHEN MIXED 
WITH OTHER OILS. 
BY It. REYNOLDS, F.C.S. 
In the year 1785 the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Commerce 
offered a prize for the successful manufacture of oil from cotton-seed, but it has 
not yet been awarded. The difficulties in purifying the expressed oil seem to 
have been insuperable for a long while, though for several years past the oil has 
been coming into use in the United States. In our own country trifling quan¬ 
tities have been produced during the last dozen years or so, but at the present 
moment a very considerable quantity is being expressed in England. 
There is too much reason to believe that nearly the whole of this is used in 
the sophistication of oils of older repute. The probability that the supply will 
now continue and increase is especially indicated by a consideration of the 
source of the oil. The weight of seed yielded by each cotton plant is' about 
three times as great as the cotton obtained from it, and up to the present time 
nearly the whole of this seed has been wasted, or returned to the soil as a ferti¬ 
lizer. The present price of the refined oil is less than 3s. per gallon, and, con¬ 
sidering the large proportion of seed that has yet to be utilized, it is probable 
that it will long continue to be the cheapest fixed oil on the market. Hence the 
desirability of our giving some attention to a substance which is pretty sure to 
present itself to us in our daily avocations in some shape or other. 
As might have been expected, cotton-seed oil has been noticed in the lite¬ 
rature of our American brethren. Thus, in 1856, Mr. Wayne brought it under 
the notice of the American Pharmaceutical Association, and in 1861 it formed 
the subject of an inaugural essay by Mr. Weatherley (Pharm. Journ. n.s. vol. 
iii. p. 30). 
