ON  AN  ADULTERATION  OF  CARMINE. 
17 
I  will  state,  that  by  attaching  the  apparatus  to  a  hydrant  by  a 
caoutchouc  tube,  and  the  opening  d  to  a.  large  receptacle,  a  large 
operation  may  be  performed  without  any  attention  to  the  conden- 
sing arrangement  after  it  is  set  fairly  at  work. 
PMlad.  Dec.  10th,  1860. 
ON  AN  ADULTERATION  OF  CARMINE. 
By  J.  M.  Maisch. 
That  adulterators  are  everywhere  busily  engaged  in  the 
sophistication  of  many  articles  of  daily  use,  is  well  known,  and 
this  business  will  continue  to  be  a  profitable  one  so  long  as  the 
purchaser  prefers  to  rely  on  other  people's  assertions,  instead 
of  examining  for  himself,  and  thus  becoming  convinced  of  the 
purity  of  the  article  which  he  may  wish  to  buy.  This  nefari- 
ous business  is  not  confined  to  America,  as  will  be  admitted  by 
all  who  are  in  some  measure  acquainted  with  the  commerce  in 
foreign  countries  ;  and  if  a  proof  was  demanded,  we  may  simply 
point  to  the  journals,  whose  columns  occasionally  take  notice  of 
some  gross  fraud.  The  object  of  these  publications  is  obvious, 
to  put  the  buyer  on  his  guard,  and  make  him  acquainted  with 
the  various  substances  used  for  adulteration.  If  every  one 
would  spend  a  few  moments  in  chemically  investigating  a 
newly  bought  article,  return  the  same  if  adulterated,  and  re- 
port to  some  influential  journal  the  results,  a  more  effectual 
stop  would  be  put  to  sophistication  than  could  be  effected  by 
the  most  stringent  laws. 
The  paper  by  J.  Attfield,  copied  on  page  361  of  theAmeri- 
Journal  of  Pharmacy,  1860,  is  a  very  interesting  one.  I 
was,  indeed,  surprised  at  the  extent  of  the  sophistication  of 
carmine  by  chrome  red  and  vermillion,  carried  on  or  counte- 
nanced by  leading  drug  establishments  of  London  ;  though  it 
cannot  be  justified,  it  is  possible  that  the  specimens  examined 
were  the  low-priced  commercial  varieties. 
Within  the  last  ten  years,  I  have  examined  a  number  of 
finer  qualities  of  carmine  occurring  in  our  commerce  ;  the  test 
employed  by  me  was  treatment  with  cold  liquor  ammonige, 
which  will  dissolve  pure  carmine.  This  test  I  believe  to  be 
sufficient  for  all  practical  purposes.    In  most  instances  I  found 
2 
