THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[October 28, 1871. 
nearly as possible the colour and general appearance of 
the genuine article: flour, starch, terra alba, woody 
. fibre, sawdust, musty ship crackers are all in demand for 
ithis purpose. 
Spices, on account of their widely* extended use, are 
■ of all powders most largely adulterated, and some start¬ 
ling revelations might be made if a spice miller could be 
persuaded to disgorge his ill-gotten knowledge. The 
only safe way to get pure powdered drugs is to pay a 
good price, and buy from conscientious persons who are 
•above suspicion. 
Cochineal is adulterated with sulphate of barytes, a 
heavy white powder, which, when shaken with the in- 
.sects, lodges in the wrinkles and crevices on the surface 
•of the body. The weight is thus inci'eased sometimes 
from 15 to 25 per cent. 
Balsam of copaiba is often mixed, and sometimes 
found entirely fictitious, being composed of a mixture of 
•castor oil, resin and oil of copaiba. Powdered ipecacuanha 
is sometimes so adulterated and weakened that tartar 
emetic is necessary to strengthen it. Oil of lemon has 
been met with, mixed with 30 per cent, of fixed oil. 
Powdered opium is often mixed with powdered ex¬ 
tract of liquorice. In fact, some dealers uniformly send 
to the grinders a certain proportion of liquorice with the 
opium, so that they might be ground together. Pow¬ 
dered rhubarb is frequently adulterated with curcuma. 
Sometimes senega root is mixed with cypripedium. 
Castile soap frequently contains an undue proportion 
of water. It has been met with containing as much as 
*30 [ per cent. Acetic acid is also mixed with water, 
acidulated with dilute sulphuric acid. 
Subnitrate of bismuth has been found mixed with 
phosphate of lime to the extent of 20 per cent., and 
citrate of iron and quinine adulterated with citrate of 
-ammonia, and containing less quinine than called for, 
10 or 15 per cent, instead of 25 per cent. Quinine itself 
is frequently met with mixed with cinchona, muriate 
of cinchona and salicine. 
Santonine has been found adulterated with small par- 
•ticles of mica, and cream of tartar frequently mixed with 
tartar emetic. Cream of tartar is grossly adulterated; 
the terms strictly pure, pure No. 1 and No. 2, being 
.used to indicate varying proportions of cream of tartar 
<ind terra alba, the latter material being largely imported 
from Europe for the express purpose of adulterating, 
the importations amounting to many tons annually. 
Chloroform is sometimes diluted with alcohol, and 
iodide of potash in crystals mixed with bromide, and 
•occasionally with bicarbonate of potash. Solid extracts 
^are also much adulterated. 
In the manufacture of syrup a considerable portion of 
ilm sugar is replaced by glucose, especially in making 
iruit syrups. 
This report w r as warmly applauded, and gave rise to 
.some discussions eliciting additional facts in reference to 
adulterations. Among others, Prof. Marcoe, of Boston, 
.referred to wiiite castile soap of handsome appearance 
which he had met with containing 20 per cent, of stea¬ 
tite, which could be detected by its insolubility; and 
AV\ Saunders, of London, Out., to a quantity of oil of 
•peppermint, wdiich has been submitted to him for exa¬ 
mination, containing 25 per cent, of castor oil. The 
presence of this latter, if suspected, may be readily de¬ 
termined by heating a small portion in a test-tube, when 
the volatile oil is driven off by the heat, the fixed oil 
-■remaining in the tube. 
The afternoon of Wednesday was devoted to the exa¬ 
mination of the magnificent collection of drugs, chemi¬ 
cals and pharmaceutical products brought together in 
the large upper half of the institute. Foremost among 
exhibitors of chemicals were Messrs. Powers and Weight- 
man, the well-known manufacturing chemists of Phila¬ 
delphia. At one corner of their table w r as an immense 
block of crystallized alum weighing 700 lb., showing 
throughout very beautiful and perfect crystals. A huge j 
inverted glass globe contained $600 worth of sulphate 
of quinine. A second, of similar size, 153 ounces, $700 
worth of sulphate of morphia, in blocks of interlaced 
crystals. An immense bottle of very pure-looking gallic 
acid ; another of sulphate of cinchona, containing 151 oz. 
There were very fine samples of iodoform, iodide and 
bromide of potassium, and strychnia in crystals. Also ele¬ 
gant scale preparations, including citrate of iron and 
quinine, citrate of iron and strychnia, pyrophosphate of 
iron, soluble citrate of iron, and citrate of iron and man¬ 
ganese. Besides these, there w r ere large bottles con¬ 
taining fine crystals of acetate of zinc, nitrate of am¬ 
monia, nitrate of silver and many other salts, w r hich 
would occupy too much space to enumerate.* 
The Association reassembled at 4 o’clock, when Pro¬ 
fessor Procter read the majority report of the Com¬ 
mittee appointed to consider the feasibility of holding 
the International Congress in Philadelphia in 1876. 
The majority of the Committee report favourably, and 
urge the project of meeting here, but the minority 
thought it unwise. Discussion ensued, Messrs. Brady, 
Maisch, Procter, Parrish and Ebert participating, and 
on a division, the yeas and nays being called, the vote 
was largely in favour of the meeting being held in 
Philadelphia in 1876. 
It w r as afterwards moved and adopted that, if the 
International Congress do not accept the invitation, a 
general invitation be extended to the pharmacists of all 
nations to meet this Association at its annual meeting 
to be held in Philadelphia in 1876, and that a committee 
of five be appointed a committee of arrangements, to 
report at a future (annual) meeting. 
Mr. H. B. Brady then read a paper by Mr. Daniel 
Hanbury, entitled, “ Instructions to the Colony of Vir¬ 
ginia of such things as are to be selected and exported 
to Great Britain.” The paper was received with great 
enthusiasm, and a motion made and adopted that the 
thanks of the Association be returned to Mr. Hanbury 
for forwarding it. 
The reading of answers to queries and volunteer papers 
was then commenced. The following are a few of the 
titles. We hope to be able to furnish some of the more 
important papers, or abstracts from them, on a future 
occasion. 
The Preparations of Rennet and Pepsin, by Clemens 
Parrish; the Preparation of Camphor in Powder so that 
it wall remain in that Condition, by Mr. Lowd, of Bos¬ 
ton ; Extracts of Meat, their Nutritive Value and their 
Comparison with each other, by Professor Ebert. 
On Thursday papers were read on Cantharides, by 
Dr. E. R. Squibb; the Best Method of making Supposi¬ 
tories Extemporaneously, by Mr. R. B. Ferguson; 
Chloral, by Dr. Squibb; Adulteration of Olive Oil; 
Pharmaceutical Education, Citrate of Magnesia, by Pro¬ 
fessor Markoe and Mr. E. H. Sargent (two papers) ; 
the Substitution of Glycerine for Sugar in Fluid Ex¬ 
tracts, by Mr. Gordon, etc. 
It was decided that next year the Association should 
meet at Cleveland, Ohio, on the first Tuesday in Sep¬ 
tember. 
On Friday papers were read on Wild Cherry Bark, 
its Collection and the Preparation of the Cold Infusion, 
by Mr. J. L. Lemberger; the Root of Pareira Brava , by 
Dr. Squibb ; Fluid Extract of Senega (two papers) ; the 
Preservation of Herbs, by Mr. J. Harrop. 
Votes of thanks were passed to the Public School 
Board for the use of the place of meeting, to the local 
secretary, and to the “ pharmaceutists, druggists and 
the citizens generally of St. Louis for their cordial and 
generous hospitality,” and shortly afterwards the meeting 
was adjourned until 1872. 
# The only collection illustrative of British pharmacy was 
one forwarded by Messrs. Herring and Co., with an intima¬ 
tion that after the exhibition was closed it was to become the 
property of the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. 
