Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
January,  1897.  J 
Petrolatum  vs.  Vaseline. 
21 
follows:  specific  gravity,  1-0653;  melting  point,  520  C;  saponifica- 
tion number,  173-28.  From  pure  samples  examined  at  the  same 
time,  the  following  results  were  obtained :  specific  gravity,  0-980 ; 
melting  point,  540  C;  saponification  number,  220-98.  The  amount 
of  foreign  matter  indicated  by  the  lowering  of  the  saponification 
number  was  found  upon  calculation  to  be  21-24  Per  cent.  The 
starch  was  estimated  directly  by  treating  a  weighed  sample  of  the 
wax  in  a  flask  with  chloroform,  which  dissolves  the  wax,  but  does 
not  take  up  the  starch ;  the  solution  was  filtered,  the  residue  upon 
the  filter  was  washed  well  with  ether,  dried  at  100°  C.  and  weighed  ; 
the  percentage  obtained  by  this  method  of  procedure  was  23-42, 
corresponding  favorably  with  the  amount  indicated  by  calculation 
from  the  saponification  number. 
A  microscopical  examination  was  made  of  the  starch,  which 
showed  a  lack  of  uniformity  existing  in  the  material  used  in  dif- 
ferent cases.  In  one  instance  it  was  unmistakably  identified  as  corn 
starch,  but  in  others  it  was  difficult  to  decide  upon  the  identity  of 
the  starch. 
The  consumers  and  handlers  of  this  article  will  observe  that  they 
are  likely  to  have  offered  to  them  a  product  which  is  dear  at  a  price 
even  considerably  below  the  market  quotation  ;  and,  as  the  sophist- 
ication is  so  easily  detected,  it  becomes  an  important  duty  to  search 
out  and  reject  every  case  of  this  fraudulent  material,  in  order  to 
make  it  impossible  for  the  originators  of  the  compound  to  find  a 
market  for  their  product. 
305  Cherry  Street,  Philadelphia. 
PETROLATUM  VS.  VASELINE. 
By  Louis  Emanuel. 
In  the  advertising  pages  of  the  New  York  Medical  Times  the 
manufacturers  of  vaseline  make  the  following  unjust  attack  on 
petrolatum  : 
TO  the:  medical,  profession  of  the  united  states. 
We  consider  it  our  duty  to  iuform  you  that  when  you  prescribe  petrolatum 
for  a  patient  (in  accordance  with  the  Pharmacopoeia)  and  have  the  prescription 
filled  at  the  nearest  drug  store,  you  are  much  more  likely  to  injure  than  to 
benefit  your  patient  and  may  do  him  serious  harm.  The  committee  in  charge 
of  the  last  Pharmacopoeia  declined  to  enter  therein  the  word  "Vaseline," 
because  it  was  our  trade-mark,  and  we  would  not  agree  to  surrender  it,  and  in 
