A™ctober,Pi9^m"}    American  Pharmaceittical  Association.  497 
ment  of  the  starches  with  chromic  acid  and  other  reagents  certain  dis- 
tinctive and  characteristic  changes  in  the  structure  of  the  grains  are 
brought  about.  There  is  the  development  of  a  crystalline-like 
structure,  a  central  cleft  or  fissure,  and  finally  a  rupture  or  disintegra- 
tion of  the  grain,  all  of  which  serve  to  differentiate  the  typical 
potato,  wheat  and  corn-starch  grains.  (2)  The  use  of  stains,  as 
gentian-violet  and  safranin,  shows  that  there 'are  distinct  areas  which 
hold  the  stain,  except  in  the  case  of  corn  starch. 
In  working  with  other  stains  it  was  observed  that  a  solution  of 
fuchsin  was  decolorized  on  the  addition  of  corn  starch.  This  was 
at  first  thought  to  be  due  to  a  peculiarity  of  this  starch,  but  it  is 
apparently  due  to  the  traces  of  alkali  contained  in  the  commercial 
product  as  a  result  of  its  purification  with  alkalies.  The  question 
arises  in  this  connection  as  to  whether  corn  starch  is  the  most  desir- 
able for  pharmaceutical  purposes  and  whether  it  should  be  recog- 
nized as  the  official  starch. 
Examination  of  Milk. 
By  Mabelle  Haydock. 
After  pointing  out  the  sources  of  contamination  of  milk,  and  giv- 
ing the  rules  to  be  observed  in  its  proper  care,  the  author  gave 
methods  for  the  detection  of  the  various  impurities  found  in  milk. 
Oil  of  Cloves  :  A  Problem  in  Pharmaceutical  Revision. 
By  Edward  Kremers. 
At  the  Minnetonka  meeting  the  author  read  a  paper  on  some  of 
the  general  questions  involved  in  the  revision  of  the  text  of  the 
volatile  oils  of  the  U.S. P.,  but  failed  to  elicit  a  discussion.  The  oil 
of  cloves  was  made  the  subject  of  a  paper  in  order  to  present  some 
of  the  difficulties  that  confront  the  revisor  in  establishing  limits  for 
so-called  constants  which  vary  not  only  with  differences  in  the  crude 
material  and  the  methods  of  keeping  the  finished  product,  but  also 
with  changes  in  the  methods  of  manufacture,  Thus  it  has  been 
claimed,  e.  g.,  that  to-day  no  oil  of  cloves,  the  total  product  of 
distillation,  conforms  with  the  U.S. P.  requirement  of  specific  grav- 
ity. The  fluctuations  in  the  specific  gravity  of  this  oil  are  shown  by 
a  table  of  specific  gravities  covering  almost  a  century.  It  would 
seem  that  greater  allowance  should  be  made  as  far  as  this  constant 
