ADULTERATION  OF  CHINESE  RHUBAEB. 
433 
Dr.  Christison  further  reported  from  the  Pharmacopoeia  Committee,  that 
the  Committee  had  felt  it  advisable  to  refer  to  the  General  Medical  Coun- 
cil for  instructions  as  to  the  powers  of  the  Committee  in  certain  parts  of 
the  business  entrusted  to  them  by  the  Council.  The  Council  were  of  opin- 
ion that  the  Committee  had  rightly  interpreted  their  powers.  In  connex- 
ion with  this  opinion,  Dr.  Christison,  as  requested  by  the  Pharmacopoeia 
Committee,  moved  the  following  resolutions,  which  were  seconded  by  Dr. 
Storrar,  and  agreed  to  by  the  Council : — 
"  1.  That  it  be  remitted  to  the  Pharmacopoeia  Committee,  either  to  dis- 
pose of  the  forthcoming  edition  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  to  a  pub- 
lisher or  publishers,  or  to  publish  the  edition  as  the  property  of  the  Gen- 
eral Medical  Council,  according  as  the  Committee  shall  judge  to  be  expe- 
dient." 
"  2.  That,  in  the  event  of  the  Committee  resolving  to  sell  the  edition, 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  General  Medical  Council  shall  have  the 
power  to  grant,  in  favor  of  the  publisher  of  the  work,  such  title  in  the  prop- 
erty of  it  as  the  General  Council  can  grant." 
"  3.  That  the  sum  of  500Z.  be  voted  by  the  General  Medical  Council,  in 
addition  to  the  vote  of  November  24th,  1858,  towards  defraying  the  current 
expenses  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  Committee." — Lon.  Pharm.  Journ.  July, 
1860. 
MEANS  OF  DETECTING  THE  ADULTERATION  OF  CHINESE 
RHUBARB  WITH  THE  AID  OF  ESSENTIAL  OILS. 
Br  Emile  Rillot,  Pharmacien  a  Mutzig  (Bas-Rhin). 
Chinese  Rhubarb  has  at  all  times  been  sufficiently  high  in 
price  to  form  a  temptation  to  the  cupidity  of  adulterators.  M. 
Chevallier,  in  his  Treatise  on  Adulterations,  says  that,  in  1846, 
there  was  cultivated  in  the  suburbs  of  Paris  a  species  of  rhu- 
barb, which  was  sold  as  foreign  to  the  pharmaciens  in  the  coun- 
try. This  rhubarb  could  not  well  be  sold  to  the  public  whole, 
for  the  fraud  was  too  evident ;  but  it  is  probable  that  it  was 
powdered  and  then  mixed  in  varying  proportions  with  Chinese 
rhubarb.  The  mixture  of  powdered  Rhapontic  with  Chinese 
rhubarb  is  difficult  to  discover,  for  the  color,  odor,  and  taste  of 
Rhapontic,  although  more  feeble,  are  nevertheless  very  analo- 
gous to  Chinese.  The  trials  which  I  have  made  to  detect  this 
adulteration  have  produced  some  results,  which  will,  I  believe, 
be  useful  to  my  brethren,  and  enable  them  to  discover  even  the 
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