98  Editorial  Notes  and  Comments.  {ArebiuaryP?9aoom' 
the  discussion  which  followed  the  reading  of  Mr.  Moore's  paper,  Mr.  Chatta  way- 
said  that  he  had  found  asafetida  in  tears  as  required  by  the  B.P.  to  give  8  per 
cent,  of  ash,  and  some  even  as  low  as  2  to  3  per  cent.  Mr.  Cribb  said  that 
samples  purchased  of  London  chemists  contained  from  15  to  37  per  cent,  of 
ash.  Mr.  E.  M.  Holmes,  acting  as  referee  to  the  B.P.  committee,  had  examined 
asafetida,  and  said  that  while  the  ash  of  the  crude  drug  often  reached  from  20 
to  60  per  cent.,  still  pure  samples  yielding  as  low  as  8  per  cent,  had  been  found 
upon  the  market. 
J.  C.  Umney, 1  in  a  recent  paper,  has  given  his  results  on  the  ash  yielded  by 
asafetida,  which  varies  in  the  picked  tears  from  3-2  to  13*9  per  cent.  ;  in  com- 
mercial masses  from  35*5  to  62*2  per  cent,  and  in  powdered  gum  resin  from  21*5 
to  577  per  cent.  The  solubility  of  asafetida  in  alcohol  Mr.  Umney  finds 
to  vary  from  21*1  to  79*8  per  cent.,  and  furthermore  that  there  is  a  great 
difference  in  the  solubility  in  alcohol  of  50  per  cent,  and  70  per  cent.  Mr. 
Umney  claims  that  a  case  of  the  finest  drug  that  enters  the  port  of  London 
would  not  yield  5  per  cent,  of  the  drug  of  the  official  standard,  although  tears 
could  be  picked  answering  the  pharmacopoeial  requirements.  The  printing  of 
proportions  of  ash  yielded  by  the  various  grades  of  powdered  gum  as  practised 
by  some  wholesalers  is  commended  and  it  is  recommended  that  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  tincture  the  quantity  of  drug  be  increased  so  that  100  c.c.  yield  12 
grammes  of  extractive. 
In  a  subsequent  note  on  the  subject,  Mr.  B.  M.  Holmes2  points  out  the  fact 
that  in  none  of  the  more  recent  Pharmacopoeias — German,  Swiss  and  Japanese 
— does  the  per  cent,  of  ash  in  asafetida  exceed  10  per  cent,  as  the  maximum, 
and  that  Mr.  Umney  himself  has  shown  that  the  tears  will  yield  between  3-6 
per  cent,  of  ash.  In  regard  to  the  scarcity  of  good  asafetida  Mr.  Holmes  consid- 
ers it  purely  a  matter  of  price,  and  that  if  dealers  would  pay  the  price  the  demand 
-would  soon  bring  about  a  supply.  "  The  standard  of  purity  for  drugs  to  be 
used  in  prescriptions  should  be  the  very  highest  obtainable,  and  it  can  hardly 
be  expected  that  the  General  Medical  Council  should  countenance  the  use  of  a 
drug  containing  20-60  per  cent,  of  mineral  matter  to  suit  the  convenience  of 
cheap  buyers,  when  an  article  containing  less  than  10  per  cent,  is  procurable  by 
those  who  will  pay  an  adequate  price  for  it  and  buy  it  when  imported." 
Mr.  Holmes  further  considers  that,  inasmuch  as  there  is  a  use  for  asaletida 
outside  of  prescription  work,  there  is,  therefore,  a  necessity  for  a  normal 
or  average  standard  of  purity  of  drugs  to  be  used  for  technical  and  domestic 
purposes.  This  is  certainly  an  interesting  subject,  and  involves  a  question  as  to 
whether  high  pharmacopoeial  and  legal  standards  will  drive  out  poor  or  sophisti- 
cated drugs,  and  as  to  whether  low  standards  of  articles  for  technical  and  domes- 
tic purposes  (unless  standardized  and  sold  on  standard)  may  not  tend  to  keep 
the  article  from  meeting  the  highest  requirements  in  regard  to  purity  for  other 
purposes. 
Chemistry. — The  explosion  of  156  tons  of  chlorate  of  potassium  which  was 
properly  packed  and  •stored  and  in  which  no  organic  matter  was  present,  at 
St.  Helens,  appears  to  be  analogous,  according  to  C.  A.  Lobry  de  Bruyn,3  toa 
1  Ghent,  and  Drug.,  1899,  p.  983. 
■2  Chem.  and  Drug.,  1899,  p.' 1037. 
3  Zeitschr.f.  angeiv.  Chem.,  1899,  p.  633  ;  Chem.  Neivs,  1899,  p.  270. 
