Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
December,  19 17.  J 
Current  Literature. 
605 
CURRENT  LITERATURE. 
SCIENTIFIC  AND  TECHNICAL  ABSTRACTS. 
Unicorn  Root  of  Inferior  Quality. — Samples  of  true  uni- 
corn root,  Aletris  farinosa  L.,  obtainable  in  interstate  trade,  have 
been  examined.  As  a  result  of  this  study  it  was  found  that  excessive 
amounts  of  total  ash  and  acid-insoluble  ash  (sand)  were  present. 
In  a  few  instances  the  limit  of  16  per  cent,  given  in  the  new  Na- 
tional Formulary  was  exceeded.  The  bureau  is  of  the  opinion  that 
material  properly  collected  would  contain  not  more  than  10  per  cent, 
of  total  ash,  and  the  amount  of  insoluble  ash  would  be  considerably 
below  5  per  cent.  Of  special  interest  is  the  fact  that  one  sample 
which  contained  about  3  per  cent,  of  true  unicorn  root  consisted 
otherwise  entirely  of  false  unicorn  root,  Chamcclirium  luteum. 
The  department  will  regard  as  adulterated  or  misbranded  under 
the  Food  and  Drugs  Act  any  unicorn  root  containing  total  ash  in 
excess  of  16  per  cent,  or  which  contains  material  other  than  true 
unicorn  root,  Aletris  farinosa.  {Service  and  Regulatory  Announce- 
ments, U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture.) 
Viburnum  Opulus  Substitute. — A  recent  survey  of  the  Vir- 
bunum  barks  on  the  market  showed  that  while  all  samples  of  black 
haw  {Virburnum  prunifolium,  U.  S.  P.)  examined  proved  to  be 
genuine,  in  most  instances  the  bark  of  mountain  maple  {Acer  spica- 
tum  Lam.)  has  been  substituted  for  true  cramp  bark  {Virbunum 
opulus,  N.  F.).  A  similar  survey  of  preparations  of  Viburnum 
opulus  L.  on  the  market,  especially  of  fluid  extracts,  indicates  that 
most  of  them  also  were  prepared  from  Acer  species,  very  probably 
from  Acer  spicatum. 
The  bark  of  Acer  spicatum.  may  be  distinguished  from  that  of 
Viburnum  opulus  by  its  fracture,  which  is  fibrous,  due  to  the  pres- 
ence of  large  and  numerous  groups  of  long  bast  fibers,  while  that  of 
Viburnum  opulus  is  short  and  weak,  since  it  has  no  bast  fibers,  or 
the  bast  fibers,  if  present,  are  few  and  scattered.  The  barks  may, 
furthermore,  be  distinguished  by  the  color  which  develops  when  a 
drop  of  1  per  cent,  or  0.1  per  cent  ferric  chlorid  solution  is  placed 
on  the  inner  surface  of  the  bark.  After  several  minutes  a  blue 
color  develops  in  the  case  of  Acer  spicatum,  while  in  the  case  of 
