Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
May,  1882.  J 
Chia  Seed, 
227 
and  weighed.  On  an  average  the  pure  cacao  mass  contains  50  per 
cent,  of  fat,  and  the  amount  of  fat  must,  therefore,  be  nearly  equal  to 
half  the  weight  of  the  chocolate,  minus  the  amount  of  sugar.  By  the 
estimation  of  the  ash,  which  should  not  amount  to  more  than  2  per 
cent.,  mineral  adulterations  may  be  detected,  while  flour,  chicory, 
acorns,  etc.,  may  be  recognized,  by  a  microscopical  examination. 
Ibid.,  No.  12,  1882,  p.,  222;  from  Bad.  Gew.  Ztg.,  15,  p.  65. 
The  Detection  of  Tin  with  Arsenic.  By  Patterson  Muir. — The 
precipitated  sulphides  of  the  arsenic  group  are  warmed  with  hydro- 
chloric acid,  the  insoluble  residue  tested  for  arsenic,  and  f  of  the 
solution  boiled  with  copper  turnings  for  ten  minutes.  The  stannic 
chloride  is  thereby  converted  into  stannous  chloride,  which  first 
reduces  mercuric  chloride  to  calomel,  and  soon  to  gray,  metallic 
mercury.  The  rest  of  the  solution  may  be  tested  in  the  usual  way  for 
antimony. — Ibid.,  p.  222  ;  from  Chem.  News,  45,  p.  69. 
CHIA  SEED. 
By  Hiland  Flowers,  Ph.G. 
Head  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  April  18th. 
The  Chia  seed  is  obtained  from  the  Salvia  hispanica  or  Salvia  Chian, 
a  plant  which  grows  in  the  northern  States  of  Mexico,  and  is  a  species 
of  the  Sage  genus. 
The  seed  is  a  small  one,  about  the  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch  in  length 
and  about  the  one-twenty-fourth  of  an  inch  in  Mddth ;  it  is  oblong- 
ovate,  somewhat  flattish,  nearly  cylindrical,  but  both  ends  rounded  and 
slightly  tapering ;  the  thinner  end  has  a  small,  dark  line  forming  a 
slight  projection  which  is  the  eye  of  the  seed,  and  this,  when  exposed 
to  moisture,  opens  in  a  star-shaped  or  scalloped  manner,  emitting  the 
growing  embryo  ;  below  this  eye  are  oil  cells. 
The  seed  is  smooth  and  glossy,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  transparent 
epithelium,  swelling  very  largely  when  in  water.  The  testa  is  darkish- 
gray,  striated  with  dark  brown  lines,  running  diagonally,  and  dotted, 
forming  a  very  beautiful  variegated  surface ;  when  pressed  or  cruslied 
under  a  spatula  it  bursts  at  the  hilum,  exposing  the  cotyledons  and  the 
oil  cells,  leaving  an  oily  stain  upon  the  pa])er  or  other  surface.  Inter- 
nally the  testa  is  dark,  grayish-brown,  perfec^tly  smooth,  glossy,  and 
devoid  of  the  external  variegations  or  strite.     The  seed  contains  the 
