212 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [September 9,1871 
entirely drawn from St. Petersburg, Archangel, and 
other ports of the North; also from Odessa, Taganrog, 
and other ports on the coast of the Black Sea in the 
South. But during the Russian War these ports were 
"blockaded, and the difficulty then experienced in obtain¬ 
ing the required supplies led to considerable importa¬ 
tions from India; and such an impetus was thus given 
to the growth of linseed, that the quantity now imported 
from the East is larger than that received from Russia, 
which has never fully recovered her trade. 
Even before the war, linseed had always more or less 
of foreign seeds mixed with it, and was shipped in a 
very impure condition; but it was during the scarcity 
•caused by the war that it became so very much adul¬ 
terated, and the principal seat of that adulteration was 
Odessa. 
At that time there existed in this country no institu¬ 
tion for checking the growing evil, but this check was 
ultimately provided by the formation of the “ Linseed 
Association of London.” 
(Samples of linseed were shown as imported previous 
to, and during the war, to illustrate how loaded it was 
with impurities.) 
There must necessarily be found mixed with every 
kind of linseed a certain amount of wild seeds gathered 
during the operation cf harvesting. This is especially 
the case with “ flax dodder,” which is a parasitical plant; 
but as all, or nearly all, the accidental seeds are smaller 
than the linseed, proper screening should remove them. 
Careless harvesting and positive adulteration had, 
however, reached such a pitch that, in 1864, importers 
and crushers founded an association called the “ Lin¬ 
seed Association,” and agreed in future to buy and sell 
on L. A. terms, which were that 4 per cent, only of 
admixture should be allowed, and that all beyond 
that proportion should bo more or less a loss to the 
merchant. These terms were soon understood and con¬ 
formed to by the shippers; and there is consequently, 
at the present time, no difficulty in procuring linseed 
almost pure; neither, on the other hand, is there any 
difficulty in procuring linseed with a large admixture of 
weed seeds, for at the present time Riga and St. Peters¬ 
burg seed, and probably others, may be purchased with¬ 
out reference to L. A. terms; and, when it is under¬ 
stood that there are sometimes from 12 to 15 or 20 dif¬ 
ferent foreign seeds mixed with the linseed, and that the 
whole adulteration may amount to 30 per cent., it will 
be seen how wide a margin there is left for unscrupulous 
crushers of linseed. 
(Samples were exhibited showing a great improvement 
in linseed imported after the L. A. was established.) 
It will also be observed that there exists much dif¬ 
ference in size between the Russian and the Sicilian or 
East Indian linseed. The linseed grown in a tropical 
climate does not produce so fine a quality of oil, but it 
yields a larger amount of farina, and makes a more "nu¬ 
tritious cake, and of the different samples of East Indian 
linseed before you, that from Bombay has the pre¬ 
ference. The small seed grown in a cold climate, how¬ 
ever, yields the linseed oil most esteemed by painters 
and varnish makers for its excellent di'ying qualities. 
It is in the East Indian linseed, the best for its farina, 
that the wild rape and wild mustard are found, usually not 
.alone, but mixed with grass seeds, and it is to these pun¬ 
gent seeds of the Natural Order Cruciferm that our espe¬ 
cial objections apply, the volatile oil being developed 
on the addition of the hot water necessary to form a 
poultice. 
[There arc here samples of flax dodder found chiefly 
with seed from the Russian ports; also wild rape, wild 
mustard from the East Indian linseed, and others, pro¬ 
bably grass seeds.] 
It would be well for those who reside in agricultural 
districts and may be called upon to examine linseed-cake, 
to make themselves especially acquainted with the micro¬ 
scopical characters of linseed, and for that purpose I 
cannot do better than refer them to some interesting re¬ 
marks on the subject in the Pharmaceutical Journal, 
February 18, 1871, page 663, by our President Mr. 
Stoddart. 
I will just mention here a case where the agricultural 
mind has been imposed upon. Wild charlock or corn- 
mustard seed, of little or no value, is mixed with turnip 
seed (which it much resembles), and is then sold as 
genuine turnip seed, but, previous to its being mixed, it 
is subjected to a temperature sufficient to destroy its 
germinating property. When the mixed seed is sown, 
the turnip consequently only comes up, and the fraud is 
not discovered, “for dead men tell no tales.” Charlock 
is usually met with in English linseed, which is not 
used by crushers. 
The ordinary linseed-meal of commerce, as I have pre¬ 
viously remarked, is usually made by grinding and sifting 
a very dry linseed-cake; this is generally an imported 
cake, as English-made cake always contains water, whilst 
the foreign cake must have been thoroughly dried to have 
stood the voyage without becoming mouldy or heated. 
Fresh English linseed-cake ordinarily contains 10 per 
cent, of water, and such a cake, if ground into meal, 
would not keep well. The foreign cake is chiefly im¬ 
ported from New York and Marseilles. 
In the United States linseed is pressed for its oil as it 
is here; the consumption of linseed-oil in that country 
being greater than the home supply, it is supplemented 
by purchases of oil made in England, but the cake is not 
used for fattening cattle to the same extent as it is here, 
consequently they are able to export cake for the English 
market; they are thus buyers of oil and sellers of cake. 
This imported and impure cake is the material from 
which the ordinary linseed meal of the shops is prepared, 
and though largely and extensively used, does not fulfil 
tho requirements of British Pharmacy. Its price, one- 
half that of the pure farina of crushed linseed, is a suffi¬ 
cient indication of its character and quality. Sometimes 
the farina of crushed linseed is mixed with this cheap 
meal so as to reduce "the price, and the mixture is thus 
sold with a semblance of purity. 
The conclusion at which I have arrived is, that most of 
the linseed-meal of commerce does not come up to the re¬ 
quired standard of the Pharmacopoeia. On the other 
hand, a great deal of that which is commercially pure is 
not elegant, containing either too much oil or too large 
a quantity of husk, sometimes both, and that which is 
the produce of foreign cake can never be relied on, inas¬ 
much as it contains irritating matter, which has in many 
instances on record resulted in considerable mischief. 
To produce a good “ Lini Farina,” the linseed (prefer¬ 
ence having been given to that from Bombay or Sicily) 
should, after being passed through the rolls, have a por¬ 
tion of its oil expressed without heat, then be ground, 
and afterwards have the husk sifted out; the resulting 
farina, when mixed with hot water, will then assume a 
gelatinous consistence, and be quite free from volatile 
pungency such as that of mustard, and, if kept in a cask 
lined with tin, it will remain good for several months. 
This, in my opinion, is the “ Lini Farina,” best adapted 
for a linseed-meal poultice, a therapeutic agent seldom 
properly made, generally despised, but for which there 
has not yet been introduced an efficient substitute; and I 
trust that some crusher who may have his attention 
drawn to the contents of this paper will make it his busi¬ 
ness to prepare a “ Lini Farina ” for pharmacists in con¬ 
formity with these suggestions. 
In conclusion, I would submit for your examination, 
samples of true lini farina, pure English cake, good Ame¬ 
rican cake, inferior American cake, from which the meal 
is ground and the linseed-meal of the shops. 
The Chairman said that his experience rather asto- 
, nished him. "When he went to the West of England 
first, in Worcester, the rate was threepence "for linseed 
and sixpence for linseed-meal; but when he got to 
