Du Mez—The Galenical Oleoresins. 
1063 
acid added to a drop of the oleoresin spread out in a thin layer on a white 
porcelain surface should produce a blood-red mixture. 
German Pharmacopoeia (1910): If 1 cubic centimeter of & mixture of 
4 parts of concentrated sulphuric acid and 1 part of water is poured over 
1 drop of the oleoresin, a red color should be produced. Upon diluting 
the mixture with water the color should disappear. 
Special Quantitative Tests. 
Apparently but one attempt has been made to develope a 
method for the quantitative determination of the constituents 
of therapeutic importance in this preparation, the same having 
been made by Kremel in 1887. As no work of this nature was 
done on the oleoresin in the laboratory, and, as there is no 
further information on this subject in the literature, a state¬ 
ment cannot be made as to the value of this method. However, 
as a suggestion of what might be accomplished in this direction, 
a description of the method is included here. It is as follows: 
KremeVs Method for the Estimation of Cubebic Acid (1887): Dissolve 
3 to 5 grams of the oleoresin in 4 times the quantity of alcohol (90 per 
cent.), filter the solution and add alternately to the filtrate an alcoholic 
solution of calcium chloride and ammonia water until a distinct cloudi¬ 
ness appears. Set the liquid aside for a day or two to allow the cal¬ 
cium salt of cubebic acid to crystallize. Then, collect the precipitate 
on a filter, wash successively with alcohol (90 per cent.) and ether, dry 
at 100°C and weigh. Compute the weight of the cubebic acid using the 
formula, C H O Ca, for the calcium salt. 
7 13 12 7 1 
According to the results obtained by Kremel, the oleoresin 
prepared with ether shsowed a cubebic acid content of 2.35 per 
cent., while the same when prepared with alcohol gave 5.75 per 
cent, of cubebic acid. 
Adulterations. 
Willful adulteration of this preparation does not appear to 
be practiced very extensively, although, the occassional use of 
fixed oils 1 or salts of copper 2 3 for this purpose has been reported 
1 Schneider and Suess, Handkommentar zum Arzneibuch fuer das deutsche 
Reich (1902), p. 376. 
3 B6dall (1894). 
A trace of copper is usually present in the commercial preparations as a 
result of the use of copper utensils in their manufacture. (See under 
“Ash”.) 
