Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1897. 
Estimation  of  Menthol. 
will  stand  foremost  among  the  few  bright  stars  in  the  galaxy  of 
pharmaceutical  master  minds  during  the  second  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Hager  has  set  himself  the  most  enduring  monu- 
ment by  his  life  work  and  writings,  and  should  the  present  or  the 
succeeding  generation  of  pharmacists  erect  some  worthy  memorial  to 
the  most  deserving  pharmaceutical  author  and  mentor  of  his  time, 
these  words  might  well  be  inscribed  with  particular  application  and 
truth : 
"  Das  Edle  in  der  Menschenwelt, 
Es  lebt  im  menschlichen  Gemiithe. 
Es  ist  nicht  Macht,  nicht  Gut  und  Geld, 
Es  ist  ein  Herz  voll  Iyieb'  und  Giite, 
Es  ist  ein  Sinn  voll  Thatenkraft, 
Der  zielbewusst  das  Hochste  schafft." 
Leipzig,  March,  1897. 
A  BRIEF  RESUME  OF  ACETIC  ANHYDRIDE  IN  OIL 
ANALYSIS,  AND  A  MODIFICATION  OF  THE 
METHOD  FOR  ESTIMATING  MENTHOL 
IN  OIL  OF  PEPPERMINT. 
By  Lyman  F.  Kebi/er. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  official,  requirements  for  some  of  the 
essential  oils  are  not  rigid  enough,  on  the  one  hand,  to  detect  all  forms 
of  adulterations  or  manipulated  products,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
some  of  the  qualitative  tests  are  so  exacting  as  frequently  to  dis- 
criminate very  unfavorably  against  genuine  oils  produced  in  large 
quantities  in  the  United  States.  Just  where  to  draw  the  line  at 
present  is,  in  many  cases,  a  difficult  problem — a  problem  which 
will  probably  never  be  solved  in  some  cases,  for  the  ingenious  adul- 
terator always  aims  to  debase  his  goods  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make 
the  fraud  difficult  of  detection. 
The  chemical  investigations  of  essential  oils,  during  recent  years, 
are  contributing  much  toward  laying  the  foundation  on  which  to 
base  analytical  methods.  In  some  cases  simple  and  efficient  pro- 
cesses for  estimating  certain  valuable  constituents  have  already  been 
formulated.  Methods  that  are  no  more  difficult  of  application  than 
those  commonly  employed  for  determining  the  quality  of  fixed  oils. 
In  fact,  some  methods  are  common  to  both,  as  the  one  in  which 
acetic  anhydride  is  used. 
