i8 
Adulteration  of  Drugs. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Phartu. 
1    January,  1902. 
contains  very  little  genuine  oil  of  thyme,  but  consists  for  the  greater 
part  of  oil  of  turpentine,  distilled  over  some  herbs  of  thyme.  For 
this  the  consumer  is  in  a  measure  responsible,  in  that  he  demands  a 
colorless  article,  which  the  producer  is  unable  to  supply  in  pure 
quality,  because  pure  oil  of  thyme  will  always  be  more  or  less  dark- 
ened in  process  of  time.  It  is  sometimes  stated  that  pure  oil  of 
thyme  is  not  available.  This  is  a  mistake.  All  samples,  however, 
should  be  carefully  tested  as  to  the  specific  gravity  and  the  percent- 
age-content of  phenol  bodies. 
Oil  of  Walnuts. — Some  time  ago,  while  in  quest  of  pure  oil  of 
walnuts,  several  parties  purporting  to  deal  in  this  commodity  were 
requested  to  send  samples  and  prices  for  the  same.  One  of  the 
samples  was  marked  (concentrated,  white),  had  a  sweetish  taste,  and 
was  soluble  in  water.  This  proved,  upon  further  examination,  to  be 
nothing  but  diluted  glycerin,  flavored  with  a  menthol-like  body. 
Another  sample  proved  to  consist  of  about  one  volume  of  oil  of 
mirbane  and  four  volumes  of  ethyl  alcohol.  The  nature  of  this 
mixture  was  easily  revealed  by  fractionation:  three-fourths  came  over 
near  8o°  C,  then  the  temperature  rose  rapidly  to  205  °  C,  which  is 
the  boiling  point  of  oil  of  mirbane,  and  then  the  temperature 
remained  stationary  until  distillation  ceased.  When  it  is  remem- 
bered that  oil  of  walnuts  is  used  chiefly  by  artists  in  painting,  be- 
cause it  dries  with  a  better  film  than  even  linseed  oil,  the  reprehen- 
sibleness  of  such  an  action  can  very  readily  be  seen. 
Oil  of  Wine  {Heavy  and  Light). — Up  to  the  present  time  we  are 
in  doubt  as  to  the  probability  of  the  composition  of  heavy  and  light 
oils  of  wine.  The  various  books  describe  them  as  consisting  of 
such  and  such  constituents,  but  no  two  of  them  agree  on  the  same. 
Merck's  Index,  1896,  describes  them  quite  specifically  as  to  boiling 
points  and  to  specific  gravities.  Every  effort  has  been  made 
through  all  available  sources  to  obtain  what  might  be  considered  a 
good  quality  of  these  two  oils,  and  invariably  the  samples  would 
turn  out  about  the  same.  One  light  oil  of  wine  submitted  proved 
to  be  fusel  oil.  The  lighter  oil  usually  had  a  lower  boiling  point 
and  a  lower  specific  gravity  than  the  heavy  oil  of  wine,  but  farther 
than  this  it  was  impossible  to  establish  a  difference,  although  there 
must  have  been  some.  The  conclusion  ultimately  arrived  at  is,  that 
the  light  and  heavy  oils  of  wine  are  undoubtedly  obtained  in  dis- 
tilling the  residue  left  in  the  manufacture  of  ether,  the  lighter  oil 
