July 15, 1871.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
43 
monly employed ; and Wiederhold has sliovm that, 
in the experimental scale at least, good matches 
may be made with chlorate of potash and hyposul¬ 
phite of lead, without the use of phosphorus at all. 
TESTING PETROLEUM. 
BY PROFESSOR, ATTF1ELD. 
In ascertaining the temperature to which a speci¬ 
men of petroleum must be warmed before its vapour 
can be ignited, different experimenters obtain different 
results. The fact is this “flashing-point” varies 
according to circumstances; unless, therefore, two 
operators work under exactly similar conditions, their 
reports will not coincide. In the British Petroleum 
Act of 1808 somewhat minute directions for applying 
the flashing test to samples of petroleum are given 
in a schedule. As originally drawn up, those direc¬ 
tions were supplied to the Government by Mr. Abel, 
Dr. Letheby and myself, and related to the testing 
of the liquid when contained in a three-inch half- 
filled cup. After they left our hands, they were made 
to apply to petroleum contained in a two-inch full 
cup; the protection from draughts afforded to the 
surface of the liquid by the upper part of the half- 
filled cup being substituted by that of a screen so 
placed round the full cup, that the efficiency of the 
original directions should not be affected. That is 
to say, a sample of petroleum flashing at 100° in the 
unscreened half-filled cup should flash at 100° in the 
screened full cup. This should be borne in mind by 
all persons testing petroleum, as the screen can be 
so constructed or so arranged as to cause flashing- 
points to be above or below the standard now given. 
Just before the Act passed, I pointed out to the Go¬ 
vernment that the alteration would lead to endless 
disputes, and was assured by letter (which I still 
possess) that the construction of the apparatus was 
only varied in a point of detail to meet an objection; 
that, in short, the screen was to be so efficiently dis¬ 
posed as not to interfere with the standard previously 
fixed. I may add that one year later (June 1869) 
in a Bill for consolidating and amending the Petro¬ 
leum Acts of 1862 and 1868, this standard was 
maintained with the concurrence of the wholesale 
and retail petroleum traders, a covered screen (which 
gives results similar to those obtained in the half- 
filled cup) being directed to be employed. It is to 
be hoped that this standard, which has been accepted 
by all parties interested in the sale of mineral oils, 
will rigidly be adhered to in any attempt at further 
legislation respecting these liquids. In a Bill now 
(June 1871) before Parliament, the oils are directed to 
be tested in a covered cup , and the defining clause de¬ 
scribes “petroleum” as being a certain liquid giving 
off inflammable vapour below 85° Fahrenheit. It is 
to be expected that this is the exact equivalent of the 
foregoing standard—that petroleum flashing at 85° 
in the closed vessel would flash at 100° in the open 
vessel. If not, one section or other of oil traders will 
probably prevent the maturation of the Bill; a result 
to be avoided if possible, for fresh legislation is 
sorely needed. My own testing apparatus is so 
constructed as to give results such as just indicated, 
results which I believe to be in exact accordance 
with the intentions of the Legislature. I may state, 
shortly, that it is a modification of what is known in 
trade as “ Miles’s instrument,” with a screen five- 
inches high; no cover to the screen, and with the 
front third of the smoke-holes of the outer casing 
permanently closed. The removal of the cover of 
the screen produces no difference in the flasliing- 
point of a sample of petroleum, the walls of the 
screen being sufficiently high to protect the cup from 
draughts in an ordinary room ; still I operate with¬ 
out it, to avoid objections that might be raised 
against the apparatus in a court of law, no special 
mention of a cover to the screen being made in the- 
Petroleum Act (1868). I close up the front “ smoke- 
holes ” (as I have called the holes through which 
escape the products of combustion of the flame that 
heats the water-bath), in order to avoid a slight in¬ 
constancy of results caused possibly by draughts 
from these apertures. Miles’s instrument, as sold to- 
the public, gives results which are close to those I 
obtain by the slight modification I have described _ 
but the latter gives me those results with greater’’ 
constancy and certainty. 
17, Bloomsbury Square. 
CLEARING NUTS. 
(Strych n os pot a to ru m.) 
BY M. C. COOKE, M.A. 
The clearing nuts of India are the produce of a 
tree which is described as larger than that of the 
nux vomica. It is without thorns or tendrils; leaves 
very shortly petioled, elliptic, acute, glabrous, mem¬ 
branaceous, five- and almost penninerved; corymbs 
axillary, opposite, shorter than the leaf; corolla hir¬ 
sute within; berry one-seeded; flowers greenish- 
yellow, fragrant. It is found on the Coromandel 
coast, the Concans and the western Ghauts, flower¬ 
ing in April. 
The native names given by Moodeen Sheriff are, 
— Nirmali, Hindustani, Bengali and Gujerati; Chil¬ 
li inj, Duklini; Tetrcui Kottai, Tamul; Cliilla-gingalu , 
Telugu; and Tetran-parala, Malayalim. 
The fruit, says Ainslie, when very young, is made 
into a preserve and eaten, but is reckoned, in its 
mature state, amongst the emetics of the Tamul 
doctors of southern India, given in powder in the 
quantity of about half a teaspoonful. The dried 
seeds are used for the purpose of clearing muddy 
water, one of them being usually rubbed hard for a 
short time round the inside of the earthen pot; the 
water is afterwards poured into it, and left to settle. 
The impurities soon subsiding, the water will be 
found clear, tasteless, and wholesome. Roxburgh 
adds that the natives never drink clear well-water if 
they can get pond or river water, which is always 
more or less impure, according to circumstances. 
These seeds are therefore constantly carried about 
by the more provident part of our officers and soldiers 
in time of war, to enable them to purify their water ; 
They are easier obtained than alum, and probably 
less hurtful. 
The tree grows to a larger size than the nux 
vomica, and is not so common, being only foimd 
amongst mountains and woods of great extent, 
flowering during the hot season. The berry is shin¬ 
ing, and black when ripe, containing only one seed,, 
whereas that of nux vomica is many-seeded. (See 
