Am.  Jour.  Pharni.  \ 
January,  1902.  J 
Cinchona  Bark, 
25 
country.  The  adulterants  are  chiefly  calcareous  rocks  and  other 
earthy  matter. 
The  reader  has  undoubtedly  noticed,  in  going  over  the  above  re- 
sults, that  gross  adulterations  are  very  little  practiced  at  present. 
In  closing  this  paper  the  writer  wishes  to  leave  impressed  upon 
every  mind  one  last  thought,  viz.,  adulterations  at  present  are 
generally  carried  on  in  such  a  way  that  they  are  not,  in  most  cases, 
perceptible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  it  is  necessary  to  resort  to  the 
test  tube,  the  analytical  balance,  the  microscope  and  the  polar- 
iscope,  before  positive  conclusions  can  be  arrived  at.  It  therefore 
behooves  every  druggist,  who  is  not  in  a  position  to  carefully 
examine  his  own  goods,  to  secure  them  from  such  dealers  or  man- 
ufacturers as  are  known  to  carefully  and  conscientiously  investigate 
the  commodities  they  handle. 
VAN  KETEL'S  RESEARCHES  ON  ALKALOIDAL 
CONTENTS  OF  CINCHONA  BARK. 
By  J.  B.  Nagei,voort. 
Ever  since  the  preparation  of  galenicals  passed  from  the  realms 
of  the  medical  kitchen  to  the  pharmaco-chemical  laboratory,  and 
stringent  requirements  of  establishing  an  opinion  in  accordance 
with  the  results  of  the  analytical  balance  came  in  use,  cinchona- 
bark  assays  have  been  improved  upon.  One  has  only  to  look  at 
the  financial  value  and  pharmaceutical  importance  of  the  sales  of 
the  bark  at  Amsterdam  and  the  regular  tri-monthly  Reports  of  the 
Director  of  the  Cinchona  plantations  published  in  the  Ned.  Tijdschr. 
Voor  Pharm.  Chem.  en  Toxic,  ('s  Gravenhage,  Geb's  Van  Cleef)  to 
be  convinced. 
At  the  request  of  this  author  it  affords  me  much  pleasure  to  call 
the  attention  of  the  American  readers  to  the  important  contribu- 
tion on  this  subject  from  his  pen,  whereby  I  take  the  liberty  to 
simplify  some  directions  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  compare  1  results 
with  my  own.  Analytical  chemists  are,  as  a  rule,  not  over- 
burdened with  much  leisure  time,  neither  can  they  often  command 
the  mental  quiet,  which  is  necessary  for  original  work,  to  conduct 
1  "  Alkaloid-gehalte  in  Kinabast,"  door  B.  A.  Van  Ketel.  Overgedrukt  uit 
De  Indische  Mercuur,  Van  2  Juli,  1901.    Amsterdam  :  J.  H.  De  Bussy,  1901. 
