Am'janu.!'i878.rm'}  Notts  on  Casual  Drugs.  27 
thick,  honey-like  consistence.  Proximately,  it  consists  of  a  large  pro- 
portion of  olein  and  a  rather  small  one  of  stearin  ;  its  color  is  not 
extracted  by  cold  or  boiling  water  nor  alcohol.  It  is  insoluble  in  alco- 
hol, but  freely  soluble  in  benzin,  oil  of  turpentine,  ether  and  olive  oil. 
Boiled  with  an  equal  part  of  a  solution  of  18  per  cent,  of  potash,  a 
translucent  homogenous  mass  or  soap,  of  a  deep-green  color,  is  pro- 
duced. The  soda  soap  is  of  a  lighter  green  color,  and  of  a  more  flaky 
consistence. 
The  pure  oil,  I  think,  may  be  distinguished  from  some  of  the  fatty 
oils  as  follows  :  If  mixed  with  cocoanut  oil  the  mixture  [in  which  pro- 
portion ? — Editor]  will  congeal  at  120  above  zero  ;  if  mixed  with 
expressed  oil  of  laurel,  alcohol  will  extract  the  green  color  of  the  latter,, 
and  should  castor  oil  be  the  admixture,  alcohol  will  detect  it. 
NOTES  ON  CASUAL  DRUGS.1 
By  E.  M.  Holmes,  F  L.S. 
Occasionally  drugs  which  have  no  recognized  value  in  England  are 
sent  over  on  speculation  from  foreign  countries.  These  find  their  way 
into  the  dock  warehouses  at  the  principal  ports,  such  as  London  and 
Liverpool,  and  if  no  commercial  use  is  discovered  for  them,  they 
remain  in  the  warehouses  until  the  expense  of  housing  them  necessi- 
tates their  sale.  Such  sales  are  known  as  "  rummage  sales  "  and  take 
place  periodically. 
Inasmuch  as  the  drugs  thus  sent  to  English  ports  are  in  most  cases 
of  value,  or  at  least  are  thought  to  be  so  in  the  countries  from  which 
they  are  exported,  a  short  notice  of  them  may,  perhaps,  present  some 
points  of  interest. 
At  a  sale  of  the  kind  alluded  to,  which  took  place  last  month,  the 
following  articles  were  noticed  : 
Tamarisk  Galls. — These  small  galls  came  from  Mogadore.  They 
vary  in  size  from  that  of  a  pea  to  a  horsebean,  or  more  rarely  reach 
the  size  of  a  small  nut.  The  taste  is  powerfully  astringent.  Inter- 
nally they  are  found  to  be  full  of  small  cavities,  in  which,  however, 
the  insect  that  forms  them  is  very  rarely  found  in  a  state  to  be  exam- 
ined.   So  far  as  I  am  aware,  the  name  of  the  insect  has  not  yet  been 
1  Read  at  the  Evening  Meeting  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain^ 
November  7,  1877. 
