AmDe°cU^8^9.rm"}       Adulteration  of  Spanish  Saffron.  607 
NOTE  ON  ADULTERATED  SPANISH  SAFFRON. 
By  G.  M.  Beringee,  Ph.G. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  November  19. 
Two  lots  of  adulterated  saffron  have  recently  come  under  my  notice. 
The  first  was  of  a  handsome  color,  excellent  in  odor,  and  brought  a 
very  high  price.  It  yielded  on  incineration  40  per  cent,  of  ash.  On 
close  inspection  it  was  found  to  be  an  admixture  of  vegetable  fibre  of 
unknown  origin  with  a  small  quantity  of  genuine  saffron. 
The  fibre  was  in  pieces  from  j-  inch  to  1J  inches  long,  and  upon 
microscopic  examination  proved  to  be  the  stem  of  a  monocotyledon, 
most  likely  a  species  of  grass.  This  was  loaded  with  a  calcium  sul- 
phate artificially  colored,  and  attached  thereto  with  some  saccharine 
substance,  most  likely  glucose.  A  small  quantity  thrown  on  water 
soon  deposited  a  heavy  precipitate  of  the  sulphate,  tinting  the  water  a 
pinkish  yellow. 
A  portion  was  taken  from  the  centre  of  the  can,  and  of  this  5  gms. 
was  carefully  weighed  and  then  carefully  picked  over,  separating  the 
true  saffron  and  the  adulterant.  The  following  statement  exhibits  the 
proportion  of  each  : 
'915  gms.  genuine  saffron. 
3*745  gms.  adulterant. 
•240  gms.  refuse  so  broken  as  to  be  impossible  to  separate. 
•1    gm.  loss  in  handling. 
5-000  gms. 
From  these  figures  it  would  appear  that  the  saffron  contained  only 
about  20  per  cent,  of  genuine  saffron. 
The  adulterant  yielded  52*7  per  cent,  of  ash,  containing  considerable 
calcium  sulphide. 
The  coloring  matter  of  the  adulterant  was  found  to  yield  an  orange- 
yellow  solution  to  alcohol,  and  when  thus  extracted  and  the  solvent 
evaporated  was  obtained  as  an  orange-red  powder,  which  dyed  silk  a 
bright  yellow  and  showed  with  reagents  the  following  reactions :  With 
concentrated  sulphuric  acid  a  violet-red,  on  diluting  the  color  gradually 
fades.  With  concentrated  hydrochloric  acid  a  violet-red,  on  diluting 
destroyed.  With  sodium  hydrate  the  color  gradually  fades.  With 
ammonium  hydrate  the  aqueous  solution  produces  a  bright  yellow 
color.  Stannous  chloride  and  hydrochloric  acid  destroyed  the  color. 
Its  aqueous  solution  is  bleached  by  calcium  hypochlorite  and  precipi- 
