254 
CONTAMINATION  OF  DISTILLED  WATERS  WITH  TIN. 
very  graphic  account  of  a  personal  visit  he  had  made  to  the 
manufactory  of  Jean  Marie  Farina,  at  Cologne,  on  the  Rhine. 
He  concluded  his  remarks  by  stating  his  conviction  that  the 
best  and  truest  test  for  the  quality  of  this  article  lay  in  its  pecu- 
liar fragrance,  and  if  there  be  added  to  this  respectability  of 
merchant,  congelation,  and  price,  he  thought  a  more  genuine 
article  might  be  got,  than  testing  by  the  acid  process.  This 
opinion  he  gave,  because  though  the  acid  test  answers  a  certain 
purpose,  so  far  as  depth  of  color  is  concerned,  it  only  does  so  in 
cases  which  would  be  more  easily  detected  by  the  organ  of  smell, 
or,  in  other  words,  the  distinctive  red  color  will  only  be  given 
when  the  adulterating  oil  is  in  such  quantities  as  to  be  easily 
distinguishable,  and  thus  to  rank  it  under  the  name  of  Commer- 
cial Otto,  but  certainly  not  having  any  pretension  to  be  recog- 
nized as  Pure  Virgin  Otto. — Pharmaceutical  Journal  and 
Transactions,  Feb.,  1859. 
ON  THE  CONTAMINATION  OF  DISTILLED  WATERS  WITH  TIN. 
By  Flach,  Apothecary  of  Kevelaer. 
Liquids  distilled  from  a  metal  still  have  a  peculiar  smell, 
which  is  not  observed  on  distilling  the  liquids  in  a  glass  appa- 
ratus, i  It  is  apparent  that  this  so-called  still  odor  (Blasen- 
geruch,)  has  its  origin  in  the  employment  of  metal,  and  must  be 
similar  to  the  smelling  of  metals.  To  find  out  the  nature  of  the 
compound  imparting  the  smell,  the  author  has  made  a  series  of 
experiments  and  demonstrated  the  presence  of  tin  in  all  waters 
distilled  and  condensed  in  a  tin  worm. 
From  a  copper  still  with  head  and  worm  made  of  pure  tin, 
eight  gallons  of  water  were  distilled,  the  first  3i  gallons  reject- 
ed, the  next  gallon  with  the  addition  of  60  drops  pure  nitric  acid 
set  aside.  After  four  months,  on  examination,  a  number  of 
small  white  floccules  like  slime  had  been  separated,  which  for 
the  greater  part  would  pass  through  the  filter,  but  could  be 
taken  out  with  a  glass  tube.  Under  the  microscope  the  floc- 
cules appeared  to  consist  of  blue  and  a  few  yellowish  globules, 
interwoven  like  the  cells  of  mould.  When  heated  they  run  to- 
gether, and  were  darkened  by  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  the  blue 
