24 
Adulteration  of  Drugs. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\     January,  1902. 
appearance  and  the  viscocity  test  between  the  expensive  and  the 
cheaper  articles.  It  can  readily  be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  one  is 
liable  to  be  substituted  for  the  other,  especially  in  powdered  form, 
in  cases  where  the  greatest  care  is  not  exercised  by  the  purchaser. 
Gum  Kino. — During  the  past  few  years  the  official  product  ap- 
pears to  have  been  in  the  hands  of  a  monopoly,  and  an  article  has 
been  supplied  occasionally  which  represented  the  genuine  very 
closely.  In  fact,  there  appeared  to  be  so  very  little  difference  be- 
tween the  genuine  article  and  that  supplied  that  it  was  necessary 
to  resort  to  chemical  analysis  in  order  to  differentiate  between 
them.  One  sample,  nevertheless,  complied  with  the  usual  tests  so 
closely  that  it  was  impossible  to  find  a  point  of  distinction,  except 
that  the  fresh  official  product  possessed  a  slight  aromatic  odor 
which  the  sample  supplied  did  not  have,  but  this  cannot  be  con- 
sidered a  distinguishing  feature,  inasmuch  as  all  gum  kinos  will 
lose  their  peculiar  aroma  in  process  of  time.  This  sample  contained 
even  more  tannin  and  was  more  readily  soluble  in  alcohol  and  in 
water  than  the  pharmacopceial  article,  as  the  following  results  clearly 
show  : 
Kind.  Ash,  Per  Insoluble  in  95  Per       Insoluble  in  Per  Cent. 
Cent.  Cent.  Alcohol.  Water.  of  Tannin. 
True                  1*48                  8-20                  31*04  51  "07 
"                    0*84                 10*54                   26*88  43'9* 
Unknown           1*14                   7*08                    i'i6  57"26 
The  sample  marked  "unknown "  is  the  one  referred  to  above. 
Aloes. — It  is  well  known  that  the  various  kinds  of  aloes  are  sub- 
stituted one  for  the  other,  and  it  is  quite  unnecessary  to  make  much 
comment  in  this  connection.  Very  little  Barbadoes  finds  its  way 
into  commerce.  That  which  is  labeled  as  such  and  put  up  in  the 
usual  Barbadoes  package  is  conceded  to  be  for  the  most  part  pure 
Curacoa.  There  are  reasons  for  believing  that  Curacoa  is  also  sold 
for  the  other  kinds  of  aloes.  We  may  be  in  a  position  in  course 
of  time  to  be  able  to  apply  tests  which  will  distinguish  between 
these  several  varieties,  inasmuch  as  very  extensive  chemical  inves- 
tigations are  at  present  being  made  on  the  composition  of  these 
gums. 
Gum  Asafoetida. — The  poor  quality  of  asafcetida  has  during  the 
past  few  years  been  brought  up  on  a  number  of  occasions.  It  is 
referred  to  here  simply  to  give  additional  testimony  to  the  inferior 
quality  of  the  article  as  usually  supplied  to  the  trade  in  this 
