22 
Adulteration  of  Drugs. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1     January,  1902. 
are  found  containing  such  added  foreign  material.  Frequently  as 
high  as  from  10  to  30  per  cent,  of  such  matter  is  found  in  crude 
drugs.  If  crude  drugs  free  from  such  diluents  and  other  impurities 
and  debris  cannot  be  purchased  in  the  open  market,  garbling  must 
necessarily  be  resorted  to  before  use.  In  powdered  form  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  detect  such  impurities.  It  might  also  be  stated  in  this 
connection  that  roots  sometimes  contain  as  high  as  20  per  cent,  of 
earthy  matter.    Such  drugs  are  not  fit  for  medicinal  use. 
Lactucarium. — There  is  no  doubt  as  to  what  the  nature  of  this 
article  should  be.  The  Pharmacopoeia  distinctly  specifies  what  is 
wanted.  During  the  past  year  when  lactucarium  was  materially 
advanced  in  price  there  was  received  extract  of  lettuce  when  lactu- 
carium was  wanted.  It  seems  that  anything  of  this  character  should 
be  repudiated  in  the  most  vigorous  terms,  because  the  two  articles 
are  so  entirely  different  and  distinct  that  there  is  no  possibility  of 
confusing  the  one  with  the  other,  except  for  pecuniary  gain. 
Rock-Candy  Syrup  is  probably  an  article  which  is  used  as  freely 
by  many  druggists  as  any  other  commodity  they  deal  in,  and  it  is 
well  known  that  it  generally  contains  a  small  percentage  of  invert 
sugar,  which  finds  its  way  into  the  syrup  in  the  course  of  its  manu- 
facture by  atmospheric  influences.  Certain  dealers  having  knowledge 
of  this  thought  that  a  little  more  reducing  sugar  would  not  do  any 
harm,  and  consequently,  when  rock-candy  syrup  was  ordered,  they 
supplied  glucose  of  the  same  specific  gravity  as  the  rock-candy 
syrup  usually  furnished.  A  superficial  examination  might  not  have 
revealed  the  nature  of  this  fraud,  but  it  is  easily  detected  by  the 
application  of  Fehling's  solution,  or  placing  a  suitable  quantity  of 
the  syrup  into  a  porcelain  capsule,  then  evaporating  on  a  steam  or 
water  bath.  A  glucose  syrup  will  simply  assume  a  heavier  body, 
while  pure  rock-candy  syrup  will  dry  completely,  with  either  distinct 
crystals  or  crystalline  crusts,  or  both. 
Venice  Turpentine. — There  are  at  present  at  least  three  articles  on 
the  market  which  pass  under  this  name.  One  is  the  genuine  Larch 
Venice  turpentine  ;  another  is  an  imported  artificial  product,  and  the 
third  is  a  domestic  artificial  product.  The  genuine  article  brings 
quite  a  good  price,  and  being  of  such  a  composition  that  it  is  very 
difficult  to  get  at  the  actual  component  constituents,  the  adulterator 
has  worked  along  the  lines  of  substitution  so  skilfully  as  to  be  able 
at  present  to  imitate  the  genuine  article  very  closely  at  a  very  much 
