iSVember,hi*97?'}    Balsam  Copaiba  and  Gurjun  Balsam.  577 
In  an  old,  rancid  or  ropy  cerate,  similarly  treated,  a  white  precipi- 
tate will  be  found,  and  if  the  cerate  is  discolored,  the  varying 
degrees  of  intensity  will  be  revealed  in  the  chloroform  solution. 
V   :  
BALSAM  COPAIBA,  OIL  OF  COPAIBA,  MASS  COPAIBA, 
RESIN  COPAIBA  AND  GURJUN  BALSAM. 
BY  IyYMAN  F.  Kebler. 
The  1890  U.S.P.  recognizes  the  first  four  of  the  above-named 
products.  These  are  supplied,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  leguminous 
shrubs  and  trees  of  the  genus  Copaiba,  all  natives  of  tropical 
America,  excepting  two  African  species.  According  to  the  investi- 
gations of  J.  C.  Umney,1  the  African  species  supply  a  very  different 
product  from  those  met  with  in  commerce  coming  from  tropical 
America.  All  these  varieties  and  the  unknown  composition  of  any 
of  them  contribute  materially  to  the  difficulties  attending  a  quali- 
tative analysis  of  the  oleoresins. 
In  1895  I  made2  a  careful  comparison  of  the  available  methods  for 
detecting  gurjun  balsam  in  balsam  copaiba.  The  conclusion  arrived 
at  then  was  that  a  modification  of  the  glacial  acetic  acid  test  gave 
the  most  trustworthy  results.  Since  contributing  the  article  referred 
to  above,  I  have  tested  many  samples  of  copaiba,  some  of  which 
were  reported  as  coming  to  hand  in  original  packages.  In  every 
case  the  glacial  acetic  acid  test  was  relied  on  to  reveal  the  presence 
of  gurjun  balsam. 
Having  had  an  opportunity  for  accumulating  ample  material,  and 
to  make  a  further  study  of  the  commercial  products,  it  was  thought 
the  results  and  some  comments  might  be  of  service  for  future  refer- 
ence.   The  results  of  this  examination  are  tabulated  below. 
The  articles  examined  two  years  ago,  and  the  samples  in  the  table, 
marked  copaiba,  represent  the  commodity  largely  used  in  commerce. 
Sample  collected  in  1846  was  kindly  furnished  by  Prof.  Remington, 
from  his  cabinet.  The  Para  samples  were  very  good,  except  one, 
which  had  a  specific  gravity  of  0  9874  at  150  C.  This  was  probably 
not  a  normal  Para  copaiba,  but  a  more  concentrated  oleoresin.  The 
solidifiable  copaiba  fairly  represents  the  commercial  article.  I  have 
never  examined  a  sample  that  had  a  specific  gravity  below  0-9800  at 
1 5°  C.  and  solidified  well. 
Pharm.  J.,  Trans.  (3),  22,  449.    Am.  Jour.  Pharm.,  64,  33.  1893, 
Pharm.J.  Trans.  (3),  24,  215.    Am.  Jour.  Pharm.,  65,  544. 
2  Am.  Jour.  Pharm.,  67,  394. 
