i6 
Adulteration  of  Drugs. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    January,  1902. 
vanillin  to  the  extent  of  50  per  cent.,  and  is  usually  identified  by 
the  same  test  as  those  described  above,  under  coumarin,  for  detect- 
ing this  substance. 
Oil  of  Bergamot. — On  examining  a  large  consignment  of  this  oil, 
conditionally  purchased,  it  was  found  to  contain  an  abnormally 
high,  -j-  280,  optical  rotation,  in  a  100  m.m.  tube.  The  genuine  oil  is 
recorded  as  never  having  a  higher  rotation  than  -f-  20°.  In  every 
other  respect  the  oil  tested  up  well,  except  that  the  per  cent,  of 
linalyl  acetate  was  somewhat  low,  namely,  28  per  cent.  A  number 
of  adulterants  might  be  added  to  bring  about  this  abnormality,  such 
as  oils  of  lemon,  orange  and  turpentine;  but  after  taking  everything 
into  consideration,  the  writer  came  to  the  conclusion  that  oil  of 
lemon  to  the  extent  of  about  20  per  cent,  had  probably  been  added- 
Oil  of  Cassia. — It  seems  to  be  a  periodical  disease  with  the  China, 
men  to  adulterate  this  oil  with  kerosene,  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to 
find  it  adulterated  to  the  extent  of  20  per  cent.  The  manipulator, 
unfortunately,  however,  sometimes  makes  the  mistake  of  adding 
more  kerosene  oil  than  the  oil  of  cassia  will  readily  mix  with ;  con- 
sequently, it  has  been  the  writer's  misfortune  to  find  oil  of  cassia  to 
contain  a  considerable  quantity  of  kerosene  floating  on  top  of  the 
cassia  oil  in  an  original  package.  This  adulteration  has  not  been 
met  with  within  the  past  year,  and  it  is  believed  that  this  is  chiefly 
due  to  the  fact  that  oil  of  cassia  is  now  largely  bought  and  sold  on 
the  basis  of  percentage-content  of  cinnamic  aldehyde.  It  is  hoped 
that  this  practice  will  be  extended  more  and  more  in  the  trade  for 
the  purpose  of  gradually  rooting  out  the  adulterations  of  oils.  It 
may  not  be  possible  to  eliminate  adulterations  entirely  by  such  a 
procedure,  but  it  is  certain  that  it  will  minimize  it,  and  that  is  the 
best  we  can  probably  hope  to  do  in  a  great  many  cases  at  present. 
Oil  of  Copaiba. — It  is  not  a  new  thing  to  tell  the  members  of  the 
American  Pharmaceutical  Association  that  balsam  copaiba  is  adul- 
terated with  and  even  substituted  entirely  by  gurjun  balsam,  but  it 
is  doubtful  if  many  of  them  have  met  with  an  oil  adulterated  with 
the  corresponding  oil  of  gurjun  balsam.  There  are  a  number  of 
tests  given  for  detecting  the  presence  of  this  adulterant,  and  some  of 
them  are  of  service  ;  but  the  writer,  so  far  as  his  experience  goes 
has  the  utmost  confidence  only  in  the  following :  Into  the  bottom 
of  a  test-tube  place  1  c.c.  of  glacial  acetic  acid  (99  5  per  cent.),  add 
four  drops  of  pure  concentrated  nitric  acid  and  mix  well,  then  add 
