250 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [September 34, 1870. 
No starch was found in any of the samples, and they 
were all perfectly soluble in turpentine. 
• 
Specimens. 
Solidifying 
Point. 
Soluble in 
Alcohol. 
Paraffin. 
Pure Scotch wax. 
151-5 
2-4P-C. 
none 
Crude wax, Gambia . 
152-5 
3-10 
not tested 
„ No. 1_ 
154-0 
2-40 
11 
„ No. 2_ 
153-0 
3-60 
11 
„ No. 3.... 
147-5 
11 
11 
„ No. 4.. .. 
147-0 
11 
,, No. 5.. .. 
146-0 
none 
Purchased samples, No. 1 .. 
153-5 
l-8p.c. 
not tested 
„ No. 2.. 
153-0 
2-28 
33 
5) 
,, No. 3 .. 
152-0 
3-18 
33 
„ No. 4 .. 
152-0 
2-34 
33 
„ No. 5 .. 
150-5 
5-20 
33 
„ No. 6 .. 
147-0 
11 
„ No. 7 .. 
145-0 
none 
„ No. 8 .. 
139-0 
13-30 
,, No. 9 .. 
137-5 
36-60 
Samples 
sent for analysis, 
No. 1 
142-0 
42-60 
,, No. 2.. 
140-0 
43-36 
,, Is o. 3.. 
135-0 
56-50 
33 
„ No. 4.. 
134-0 
56-00 
1 
These results show that the degree given in the P. B. 
of 140° F. is too low; pure yellow wax melts at 151-5° 
F., and no sample, not containing paraffin, has a melt¬ 
ing-point below 145°. I think that 150° should he the 
standard, for samples containing more than 40 per cent, of 
paraffine may be made to agree with the Pharmacopoeia 
standard, if a paraffin with a sufficiently high fusing- 
point be selected. The question may seem an unim¬ 
portant one, but a difference of 16° in the fusing-point of 
two samples of wax must considerably affect the quality 
of ointment made from them, especially in hot weather. 
The effect of the application of paraffin to the skin, 
though probably not injurious, is not sufficiently known 
to render its presence a matter of indifference. Most of 
the samples were bought in the lower parts of the town, 
and the results show that in Liverpool there is not much 
cause to complain. I have to thank Mr. Thomas Williams 
for valuable assistance in working out the above results. 
The Chairman said that the fatty material referred to 
by Mr. Davies might probably be stearin, which was 
used in the neighbourhood of Bristol for adulterating 
wax sometimes to the extent of fifteen or twenty per 
cent. He had found as the result of experience that if 
there was a crack about an inch from the upper edge of 
the cake, together with a greasy appearance, these cha¬ 
racters indicated the presence of stearine. 
Professor Attfield remarked that this was an interest¬ 
ing practical paper, and that the results were in favour 
of his suggestion that the melting-point assigned to bees¬ 
wax in the Pharmacopoeia should be raised ten degrees 
above the number now given. Some discussion took 
place as to the mode of determining the melting- or rather 
solidifying-point of wax and similar materials. 
Mr. Groves (Weymouth) pointed out that a difference 
of ten degrees in the result of experiment might be due 
to the method adopted. He recommended dipping a ther¬ 
mometer bulb in the melted wax, and after the film of 
wax had solidified upon the bulb, suspending the thermo¬ 
meter in water, which was gradually heated until the 
film of wax became transparent and liquid ; then read¬ 
ing off the temperature at which this took place as the 
melting-point. 
It was also mentioned that the presence of Japan wax 
would render the melting-point of beeswax low, but no 
known means seemed to be available for detecting th's 
admixture, except the occurrence of that kind of bloom 
on the surface of the wax so adulterated, which is cha¬ 
racteristic of Japan wax itself, as stated by Mr. Parkin¬ 
son, Ph.D., Bradford. 
Mr. Davies said that he had found that pure wax, 
when melting, passes suddenly from the opaque to the 
transparent condition, but that when paraffin was pre¬ 
sent the transition was gradual. 
Mr. Brady (Newcastle) recommended that as this was 
a subject of much pharmaceutical interest, well-authen¬ 
ticated samples of wax should be sent to Mr. Davies for 
examination, and that he should be requested to con¬ 
tinue his inquiries so as to report on the subject at a 
future meeting of the Conference. 
Saccharo-Chirettine, a New Preparation of 
Chiretta. 
BY MR. D. S. KEMP, BOMBAY. 
The two official preparations of Chiretta, the tincture and 
the infusion , although efficient as containing the active 
matter of the drug, present inconveniences for habitual 
administration. The tincture becomes impaired in strength 
by keeping, and is partially incompatible with salts of 
iron and of the alkaloids; and the infusion, besides 
having the same incompatibilities, will not keep longer 
than a few hours. 
The Extract , prepared in the usual way, is a still more 
unsatisfactory preparation, containing, as it does, a mere 
fractional part of the bitter originally in the dried 
plant. I have not seen an extract of chiretta prepared 
entirely in vacuo; probably such would be a valuable 
product, although still liable to deterioration. No pre¬ 
paration can, in my opinion, be good which undergoes 
evaporation by heat or exposure to the air, as I have 
always found that the bitter principle in such a process 
disappears, and is replaced by a tasteless brown resinous 
matter, separating from, the aqueous solution. The fol¬ 
lowing is the process by which I have succeeded in ob¬ 
taining a trustworthy preparation of chiretta: — 
An infusion of chiretta was made at 120°, and the 
colouring matter precipitated by an excess of solution of 
subacetate of lead; the product, after filtration, was a 
nearly colourless but very bitter liquid. The addition 
of a sufficiency of ammonio-acetate of lead (mixture of 
ammonia and solution of acetate of lead) then produced 
a white precipitate, consisting of the whole of the chiret- 
tine in combination with lead. The precipitate being- 
well washed, first with ammoniacal water, then with al¬ 
cohol, was treated with a mixture of sulphuric acid and 
alcohol and filtered. The filtrate containing the chiret- 
tine was further treated with carbonate of lime to remove 
the excess of acid. The filtered liquid, which was of 
indescribable bitterness, I had no means of subjecting to 
more appropriate evaporation than spreading out on a 
clean glass plate ; the result being a transparent extract, 
pale yellow in colour, dry at first, but in time becoming 
moist. This product I consider to be impure chirettine; 
and the same has always resulted when modifications of 
the above process were tried. 
It is a neutral substance, quite soluble in water and 
alcohol. Its aqueous solution, when evaporated in the 
air, deposits a tasteless brown resin, into which the chi¬ 
rettine becomes entirely converted if the evaporation is 
continued to dryness. It is very difficult to preserve the 
pure solution at all from this change ; if aqueous, it de¬ 
posits the resin; if alcoholic, it darkens in colour. But 
the addition of glycerine will preserve either solutions 
apparently imchanged for many months. Dilute acids 
do not affect chirettine; but liquor potassae hastens its 
conversion into resin. 
I now prepare two pharmaceutical forms of chiretta 
founded on this process, one, saccharo-chirettine, a dry 
product; the other, liquor chirettine, a liquid. 
Saccharo-chirettine .—To prepare this, I follow the pro¬ 
cess above described with an economical modification, 
