Am.  Jour.  Pharin.) 
January,  1902.  J 
Adulteration  of  Drugs. 
i-3 
nation  of  all  the  members,  and  full  information  concerning  them  will 
be  cheerfully  given.  It  is  hoped  that  all  who  have  the  opportunity 
of  doing  so  will  examine  them,  and  that  they  will  in  this  way,  and 
through  what  may  be  said  herewith,  be  better  equipped  to  detect 
adulteration  of  articles  that  may  come  to  them  in  the  regular  course 
of  business. 
The  adulterations  herewith  described  are  typical  in  character  of 
what  may  be  expected  to  be  met  with,  and  more  than  that  it  is  not 
deemed  necessary  to  give. 
For  convenience  of  reference,  the  articles  described  are  divided 
into  chemicals,  oils,  simple  drugs  and  allied  products. 
CHEMICALS. 
The  first  subject  to  be  considered  is  chemicals. 
Ammonium  acetate  is  quite  a  difficult  chemical  to  make,  espe- 
cially in  warm  weather,  being  very  prone  to  liquefy  and  even  to 
dissociate.  This  probably  accounts  tor  the  fact  that  an  article  is 
frequently  supplied  which  is  freely  soluble  in  water  and  alcohol, 
having  a  mousy  odor,  a  melting  point  of  820  C.  and  a  boiling  point 
of  222°  C.  These  are  the  physical  properties  of  acetamide,  and 
acetamide  it  was.  It  seems  to  be  the  custom  of  certain  manufac- 
turers to  deliver  this  article  when  ammonium  acetate  is  asked  for. 
No  manufacturer  is  justified  at  any  time,  either  for  convenience  or 
otherwise,  to  deliver  one  article  for  another,  even  though  they  re- 
semble each  other  very  closely,  both  chemically  and  physically. 
But  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  physiological  uses  of  ammonium 
acetate  are  well  known,  and  those  of  acetamide  are  as  yet  obscure 
such  a  substitution  must  be  considered  high-handed. 
Calcium  Phosphate,  Precipitated. — An  article  of  fine  physical  ap- 
pearance proved  upon  examination  to  contain  30  per  cent,  of  cal- 
cium carbonate.  The  presence  of  this  impurity  is  not  incidental  to 
the  manufacture  of  calcium  phosphate,  as  some  one  has  intimated. 
Any  one  using  such  a  phosphate  of  calcium,  for  the  purpose  of 
diluting  powdered  opium  in  manufacturing  laudanum,  would  have 
no  end  of  trouble  before  the  product  is  finished. 
"  Chromic  Acid!' — Quite  a  number  of  grades  of  "  chromic  acid  " 
are  regularly  supplied  by  manufacturers,  and  unless  great  care  is 
exercised  the  purchaser  will  find  himself  in  possession  of  an  article 
containing  about  40  per  cent,  of  chromic  acid  and  60  per  cent,  of 
