550      Linimentum  Ammonice  and  other  Liniments.  {AmN^v.?i887arm" 
perfectly  emulsify  cotton-seed  oil  by  simple  agitation  with  ammonia 
water,  nor  for  that  matter  olive  oil  either;  but  the  latter  yields  the  far 
better  product,  although  occasionally  gelatinizing  on  standing. 
Numerous  other  fixed  oils,  as  the  fatty  base,  have  been  suggested, 
such  as  almond,  benne,  peanut,  sunflower-seed,  etc.,  etc.,  and,  notably, 
lard  oil,  by  Prof.  Remington,  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Pharmaceutical  Association.  This  last  fatty  liquid,  in  its  pure  state, 
certainly  furnishes  a  most  superior  product,  but  the  writer  has  had 
d ifficul ty  in  obtaining  a  pure  commercial  lard  oil,  of  unvarying  chemi- 
cal composition,  and  to  this  fact  is  due  the  excellent  qualities  of  some 
of  the  lard  oil  liniments,  and  the  partial  saponification  and  very  quick 
separation  of  many  others.1  Again,  it  is  more  than  suspected  that 
certain  commercial  makes  of  lard,  and  if  lard  then  lard  oil,  contain 
cotton-seed  oil.  The  application  of  "  Bechi's  test,"  for  detecting  the 
presence  of  cotton-seed  oil  in  lard  oil,  is  of  no  value,  since  lard  oil  is 
the  only  fixed  oil  known  to  the  writer  that  reduces  that  test  the  same 
as  cotton-seed  oil.  The  best  test  would  probably  be  the  "Elaidin 
test,"  or,  possibly,  its  solubility  in  absolute  alcohol  which  the  writer 
found  to  be  about  ten  times  its  weight  in  the  cold-pressed  product ;  but  if 
that  same  product  be  previously  heated  its  solubility  was  diminished. 
The  following  editorial  in  the  Philadelphia  Times,  for  September  23, 
may  be  of  interest  as  showing  the  extent  of  asserted  adulteration  in 
this  commodity  : 
"  Philip  D.  Armour,  of  Chicago,  recently  made  the  assertion,  when  trying  to 
obtain  oil  at  low  rates  from  the  Cottonseed  Oil  Trust,  that  he  consumed  in  his 
lard  factory  one-fifih  of  the  entire  cotton-oil  product  of  the  United  States,  or 
3,500,01)0  gallons  annua'ly.  Mr.  Armour  sells  only  pure  lard,  if  his  brands  are 
to  be  credited.  The  public  is  thus  left  to  choose  which  it  will  believe — that 
Mr.  Armour  was  lyins  when  he  boasted  of  the  use  of  3,500,000  gallons  of  cotton- 
seed oil,  or  that  the  labels  on  his  packages  of  so-called  pure  lard  are  all  lies. 
"  Assuming  that  Mr.  Armour's  statement  as  to  the  amount  of  cotton-seed  oil 
used  annually  at  his  lard  factories  is  true,  the  revelation  involved  as  to  the  in- 
gredients constiiuting  the  pure  lard  of  commerce  is  not  without  importance. 
Such  methods  of  business  furnish  the  only  ju  tification  for  legislative  inter- 
ference in  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  butter,  cheese,  lard,  and  other  articles 
of  d  dly  consumption.   The  public  is  entitled  to  protection  against  the  sale  of 
1  Prof.  Remington,  in  his  "Practice  of  Pharmacy  "  (p.  866),  says, concerning 
the  commercial  character  of  lard  oil,  that  "as  found  in  commerce  it  is  almost 
invariably  adulterated  with  paraffin  oil.  As  it  is  largely  employed  in  lubricating, 
this  admixture  is  not  particularly  injurious,  but  for  its  principal  use  in  phar- 
macy as  the  base  of  citrine  ointment,  the  presence  of  the  paraffin  oil  prevents 
solidification." 
