280  Bechi's  Test  for  Cotton-Seed  Oil.  {Amju™m7arm' 
preventing  "  caking "  of  the  powder.  Although  this  specimen  has 
been  kept  since  January  there  is  no  sign  of  the  "  caking  "  sometimes 
complained  of ;  the  only  precaution  has  been  to  keep  it  in  a  well 
corked  bottle.  The  ash  of  No.  2  consisted  largely  of  calcium  sul- 
phate, which  points  to  an  admixture  of  about  5  per  cent,  of  gypsum, 
added,  no  doubt,  to  prevent  the  "  caking  "  as  well  as  to  cheapen.  No. 
3  contained  starch,  and  Nos.  4,  5  and  6  were  probably  pure,  a  differ- 
ence in  amount  of  moisture  would  account  for  the  variation  in  ash. 
No.  7  contained  starch,  and  probably  some  other  impurity  or  the  ash 
would  have  been  less  from  the  presence  of  starch,  instead  of  higher 
than  the  average. 
ON  BECHI'S  TEST  FOR  COTTON-SEED  OIL  IN  OLIVE 
OIL. 
Abridged  from  the  Report  of  the  Commission  of  Florence  appointed  to  ex- 
amine "  Bechi's  Test."   See  L'Orosi,  Feb.  1887,  p.  37. 
Translated  by  Joseph  W.  England,  Ph.  G. 
Bead  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  May  17th. 
In  a  lengthy  and  exhaustive  communication,  the  Commission  of 
Elorence  has  made  public  the  results  of  the  experiments  upon  the 
value  of  the  "  Bechi's  Test "  as  a  reliable  and  positive  indicator  of  the 
presence  of  cotton-seed  oil,  fraudulently  contained  in  olive  oil.  This 
Commission,  appointed  in  the  early  part  of  last  year,  was  as  follows  : 
U.  Peruzzi,  N.  Bidolfi  and  Prof.  G.  Roster. 
The  method  of  Professor  Bechi,  as  used  by  the  Commission  and 
with  successive  modifications  by  the  author,  consists  in  the  subjection 
of  a  sample  of  the  suspected  oil  to  the  heat  of  boiling  water,  after 
first  having  added  an  alcoholic  solution  of  silver  nitrate,  and  amylic 
alcohol  and  oil  of  rape,  in  the  manner  and  proportions  hereinafter  in- 
dicated. 
Take  one  grain  of  crystallized  silver  nitrate,  and  dissolve  in  the 
smallest  possible  quantity  of  water  (about  1  cc.)  and  add  200  cc.  of 
alcohol  (96°).  The  addition,  also,  of  20  cc.  of  sulphuric  ether  is  a 
good  one,  in  that  it  makes  the  reagent  better  miscible  with  the  oil  to 
be  examined,  but  it  is  not  necessary.  On  the  other  hand  prepare  a 
solution  composed  of  85  parts  of  amylic  alcohol  and  15  parts  of  oil 
of  rape  seed.  These  reagents  should  be  made  as  needed  and  not  kept 
on  hand  for  any  length  of  time. 
