342  On  the  Detection  of  Exhausted  Ginger.  {Am'i^;^ttm- 
admitted  that  in  proportion  to  the  increased  demand  for  Triturate 
Tablets  there  appears  to  be  a  decreased  demand  for  pills,  capsules, 
and  powders.  While  there  still  remains  an  active  demand  for  pills, 
powders  are  being  rapidly  supplanted  by  tablets.  It  is  not  claimed 
by  the  writer  that  this  condition  exists  wherever  tablets  have  been 
introduced.  The  reverse  of  this  condition  may  exist  in  many 
sections. 
It  is  a  settled  fact  that  Triturate  Tablets  have  come  to  stay,  at 
least  until  some  better  means  has  been  discovered  that  will  accom- 
plish the  same  end.  As  there  is  no  secrecy  about  the  "  modus 
operandi  "  for  the  manufacture  of  Triturate  Tablets,  they  can  be 
produced  by  the  average  pharmacist  through  the  employment  of 
ordinary  skill  and  the  utensils  he  now  has  at  hand,  i.  e.f  with  mortar 
and  pestle,  glass  or  porcelain  slab,  spatula,  and  a  few  sets  of  hard 
rubber  or  metallic  moulds,  he  finds  himself  equipped  for  the  pro- 
duction, on  a  small  scale,  of  any  tablet  that  the  large  manufacturer 
is  capable  of  making,  with  the  exception,  as  in  all  other  things,  that 
they  can  be  made  on  a  larger  scale  at  a  greatly  reduced  cost.  The 
possible  danger  of  ultimate  injury  to  the  prescription  business  can 
only  result  where  the  pharmacist  fails  to  recognize  the  preference  the 
physician  is  disposed  to  show  towards  the  Triturate  Tablets,  and 
refuses  to  supply  them  when  prescribed. 
ON  THE  DETECTION  OF  EXHAUSTED  GINGER.1^ 
By  A.  H.  Ai^ivEN  and  C.  G.  Moor. 
Since  the  publication  of  the  paper  of  Dr.  Dyer  and  Mr.  Gilbard 
in  The  Analyst  for  August,  1893,  purchases  of  ground  ginger  under 
the  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  Act  have  been  made  in  various  parts 
of  the  country.  In  order  to  report  on  such  samples  to  the  best 
advantage,  we  have  made  a  series  of  experiments  on  various  speci- 
mens of  ginger,  and  have  collected  data  of  considerable  interest. 
Taking  advantage  of  the  experience  of  Dyer  and  Gilbard,  we 
have  in  each  case  determined  the  proportion  of  soluble  ash,  by 
which  we  mean  the  percentage  on  the  original  ginger  which  is  dis- 
solved out  on  treating  the  total  ash  with  boiling  water.  In  practice, 
perfectly  good  results  are  obtainable  by  regarding  as  the  '*  soluble 
1  The  Analyst,  19,  124. 
