Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  » 
January,  1902  / 
Adulteration  of  Drugs. 
19 
being  the  first  portion  of  the  distillate,  while  the  heavier  oil  is  an 
intermediate  or  higher  boiling-point  product.  It  would  seem  that 
this  theme  could  be  taken  up  to  advantage  by  some  one  with 
ample  time,  whose  careful  researches  might  be  of  extreme  value. 
The  present  Pharmacopoeia  does  not  prescribe  any  requirements  of 
any  value  for  ethereal  oil,  excepting  specific  gravity.  The  probable 
reason  for  this  is  that  no  two  manufacturers  can  produce  identically 
the  same  quality  of  heavy  oil  of  wine,  and  the  same  manufacturer 
frequently  encounters  difficulties  in  his  efforts  to  turn  out  products 
of  uniform  quality.  It  does  seem  that  a  standard  for  heavy  oil  of 
wine  should  be  fixed,  especially  when  it  is  remembered  that  it  is 
one  of  the  most  important  constituents  of  Hoffmann's  anodyne. 
SIMPLE  DRUGS  AND  ALLIED  PRODUCTS. 
Beeswax.— This  is  one  of  the  most  frequently  adulterated  com- 
modities met  with.  In  former  years  adulterations  were  of  a  very- 
gross  nature,  but  within  recent  years  it  has  been  manipulated  in  a 
very  skillful  manner.  With  ceresin  having  a  color  and  a  melting 
point  practically  the  same  as  beeswax,  it  is  very  easy  to  manipu- 
late beeswax  with  this  article  ;  but  the  difficulty  does  not  end  here, 
for  the  up-to-date  adulterator  knows  that  beeswax  is  at  present  ex- 
amined in  other  ways  than  simply  physical  appearance  and  the 
application  of  a  few  crude  tests,  consequently  he  has  endeavored  to 
so  adulterate  the  wax  that  it  will  comply  with  nearly  all  the  tests 
to  which  this  article  is  usually  subjected.  By  adding  a  little  stearic 
acid  he  is  enabled  to  bring  up  the  acid  number,  which  has  been 
lowered  by  the  addition  of  ceresin,  and  a  little  tallow  or  japan  wax 
will  adjust  the  disturbed  saponification  number.  From  this  it  can 
readily  be  seen  that  he  is  practically  in  position  to  make  an  artifi- 
cial beeswax  which  will  comply  with  the  specific-gravity  test,  acid 
number  and  ether  number.  The  melting  point  can  be  adjusted 
by  properly  selecting  the  adulterants.  There  is  only  one  test  left  us 
now,  and  that  is  the  detection  of  stearic  acid  by  Fehling's  method. 
It  should  be  noted  in  this  connection  that  we  frequently  find  stearic 
acid  in  beeswax,  which  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  comes  from 
a  good  source.  The  reason  for  the  presence  of  this  stearic  acid  is 
best  explained  by  remembering  that  it  is  not  a  very  unusual  thing 
for  beeswax  and  tallow  to  be  handled  together,  and  accidentally  a 
sample  of  the  latter  may  find  its  way  into  the  former.    On  subse- 
