SOPHISTICATIONS OF SULPHATE OF QUINIA, ETC. 257 
ART. LVI. — ON SOPHISTICATIONS OF SULPHATE OF QUINIA 
AND BLUE MASS. 
By William Procter, Jr. 
The boldness with which the adulteration of medicines 
is carried on could hardly be believed, were it not for the 
occasional revelations which occur from time to time, either 
through the vigilance of some members of our profession, 
or the accidental concurrence of circumstances. The fol- 
lowing letter to my friend E. Durand, enclosing a sam- 
ple of a white crystalline substance, which he believes to be 
salicin, was handed to me for examination. 
Savannah, October 5th, 1846. 
Mr. E. Durand: 
Bear Sir, — I enclose you a sample of an article sold here 
as quinia; is it or is it not ? I am under the impression it 
is salicin. It has been sold in considerable quantities at a 
reduced price, which led me to suspect it. The label is 
Pelletier & Delondre. 
Your answer to the above will oblige 
Yours, truly, Jos. M. Turner. 
The substance referred to above, has the following cha- 
racteristics. It is white, crystalline, inodorous, fusible by 
heat, and entirely combustible, has a bitter taste accompanied 
by the peculiar flavour of willow bark, is decomposed by 
sulphuric acid, which is coloured intensely red by it, is readily 
soluble in water and alcohol, and when distilled along 
with a mixture of bichromate of potassa and sulphuric acid 
a liquid is obtained which is turned purple by the per salts 
of iron, has the odour of teaberry oil, and other properties 
of a solution of hyduret of salicyle. Its solution is not pre- 
cipitated by nitrate of baryta or tannic acid. 
From these results the substance in question does not 
contain sulphate of quinia, but is identical with salicin, 
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