416 
Borntrceger^s  Aloes  Test. 
(  Am.  Juur.  Pharm. 
\      Aug.,  1881. 
Tkue  Star-anise.  Shikimi  Fruit. 
Taste  sweet,  anise-like;  odor  Disagreeable  taste,  not  sweet  or 
faintly  of  anise.  like  anise.    Smell  not  like  anise,  but 
Somewhat  larger  than  "shikimi"  faintly  resembling  laurel,  clove  and 
fruits.     Surface  more  resembling  nutmeg. 
cork.  Beak  short,  horizontal,  or  Somewhat  smaller  than  true 
slightly  bent  upwards,  pointing  out-  anise.  Surface  more  shining,  red- 
wards.  Carpels  less  woody,  shriv-  brown.  Beak  thin,  frequently  bent 
eled  in  one  upon  another,  and  strongly  upwards  or  crooked  back- 
wrinkled.  Seed  mostly  dark  brown  wards.  Carpels  more  woody,  much 
with  rounded  apex»  shrunk  in  upon  one  another,  wrin- 
kled.   Seed  mostly  yellow-brown, 
with  a  stout  keel  and  a  raised  apex. 
— Abstract  from  Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans. ^  June  25. 
BOKNTR^GER^S  AI.OES  TEST. 
By  Richard  H.  Groves. 
Read  before  the  School  of  Pharmacy  Students'  Association,  June  9, 1881. 
This  test,  proposed  by  Hugo  Borntraeger,  appeared  in  the  Zeitschr, 
fiir  anaL  Chemie/^  vol.  xix,  p,  165,  1880.  It  is  there  described  as 
being  an  easy  and  very  delicate  test  by  which  1  part  of  aloes  in  5,000 
can  be  detected.  The  mode  of  operating  is  as  follows:  A  little  of  the 
suspected  liquor  is  well  shaken  with  about  twice  its  bulk  of  benzin^ 
which  is  allowed  to  se]>arate,  and,  being  carefully  decanted,  is  shaken 
with  a  few  drops  of  strongest  solution  of  ammonia;  this  i&  again 
allowed  to  separate,  when,  if  aloes  be  present,  the  ammonia  solution 
will  be  of  a  beautiful  clear  red  color.  In  the  case  of  solids,  a  cold 
alcoholic  solution  is  made  and  treated  in  the  above  manner. 
Tliinking  that  the  color  might  be  due  to  aloin,  I  tried  the  test  on 
some  barbaloin,  but  obtained  only  a  very  slight  pink  color,  which  was 
probably  due  to  the  occurrence  in  the  aloin,  as  an  impurity,  of  traces 
of  the  substance  giving  the  color.  This  being  the  case,  the  next 
thought  that  presented  itself  was  whether  all  the  varieties  of  aloes 
would  furnish  the  reaction,  and  if  so  to  what  extent  in  each  case. 
The  test  was  accordingly  tried  on  alcoholic  solutions  of  six  different 
varieties  of  aloes,  namely,  Barbadoes  (1st  and  2d  quality),  Socotrine^, 
hepatic,  Ca[x;  and  JSTataL  The  solutions  tested  were  of  40  per  cent.^ 
10  per  cent.,  5  per  cent.,  2  per  cent,  and  1  per  cent,  strength.  In  the 
stronger  solutions  the  color  was  too  intense  for  the  gradual  lessening 
of  color  to  be  well  seen,  nevertheless  the  2d  quality  Barbadoes  was 
always  the  darkest  and  the  ^^atal  the  lightest.    The  following  table 
