Am.  Jour.  Pharni.  \ 
August,  1904.  j 
Some  Recent  Literature. 
389 
tomary  prizes,  which  this  year  were  more  numerous  and  handsome 
than  ever,  were  then  awarded  and  the  evening  closed  with  the  serv- 
ing of  refreshments  in  the  dining-room. 
The  value  of  these  meetings  to  the  retail  druggist  has  often  been 
dwelt  upon  at  length  ;  so  let  it  suffice  to  say  that  the  interest  which 
was  shown  this  year  in  a  meeting  which  was  held  so  far  away  from 
the  centre  of  the  State  shows  that  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical 
Association  is  to  be  congratulated  upon  the  fact  that  in  vitality  as 
well  as  in  point  of  size,  it  is  surpassed  by  no  other  State  association. 
SOME  RECENT  LITERATURE. 
DETECTION  OF  FORMALDEHYDE. 
Albert  F.  Judd,  in  a  paper  to  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical 
Association,  utilizes  the  method  employed  in  the  detection  of  for- 
maldehyde in  milk  as  follows :  Ten  c.c.  of  the  sample  are  added  to 
IO  c.c.  of  a  5  per  cent,  aqueous  solution  of  sodium  hydroxide,  con- 
taining one  or  two  drops  of  an  alcoholic  solution  of  phloroglucin. 
If  the  sample  contains  formic  aldehyde  the  rose  color  produced  lasts 
for  twelve  minutes  and  then  fades  to  a  yellowish-brown,  which  is 
permanent ;  if  amylic  aldehyde  is  present,  the  reddish  color  fades 
completely  in  four  minutes,  whereas  if  the  sample  contains  ethylic 
aldehyde  the  same  result  is  produced  in  from  six  to  eight  minutes. 
LABORATORY  NOTES. 
Willard  Graham  {ibid.)  has  examined  four  samples  of  yellow  cin- 
chona bark  and  found  the  alkaloidal  content  to  range  from  4-8  to 
8-9  per  cent.  Seven  samples  of  red  cinchona  bark  yielded  between 
5-7  and  8-8  per  cent,  of  total  alkaloids.  Five  samples  of  Spanish 
saffron  answered  the  U.  S.  P.  requirements  for  ash  and  moisture ; 
one  contained,  however,  considerably  more  styles  than  usual.  Of 
three  samples  of  oil  of  rose  examined  one  had  an  unusually  low 
congealing  point,  y°-g°  C.  As  the  result  of  examinations  of  olive 
oil,  the  author  ascertained  that  when  0-5  per  cent,  or  more  of  cap- 
pock  oil1  was  added  to  olive  oil,  it  produced  the  same  coloration  as 
cottonseed  oil  in  Halphen's  test.  Mr.  Graham  states  that  there  is 
little  difficulty  in  obtaining  high-grade  table  oils. 
1Cappock  oil,  probably  better  known  as  kapok  oil,  is  obtained  by  pressing 
the  seeds  of  Eriodendron  anfractuosum.  The  oil  is  used  in  soap-making  as  a 
substitute  for  cottonseed  oil. 
