544      NEW  FALSIFICATION  OF  OIL  OF  BITTER  ALMONDS. 
Prepare  a  menstruum  of  two  pints  of  water,  half  a  pint  of 
alcohol,  and  two  fluid  ounces  of  diluted  acetic  acid,  and  having 
moistened  the  ergot  residue  with  a  pint  of  it,  allow  it  to  macerate 
two  hours,  introduce  it  into  a  percolator  and  displace  with  the 
remainder  of  the  menstruum,  slowly,  till  exhausted.  Mix  this 
liquid  with  the  acetic  washings  of  the  oil,  and  evaporate  by 
means  of  a,  gentle  heat,  (say  150°  F.)  till  reduced  to  four  fluid 
ounces.  To  this  when  cold,  add  four  fluid  ounces  of  alcohol, 
separate  the  gummy  precipitate  by  filtering,  and  wash  the  filter 
with  sufficient  diluted  alcohol  to  make  the  fluid  extract  of  ergot 
measure  eight  fluid  ounces. 
Fluid  extract  of  ergot,  thus  prepared,  is  a  laudanum  colored 
fluid,  thin  consistence,  a  mild  ergot  odor  and  taste.  A  fluid 
drachm  represents  sixty  grains  of  ergot,  and  the  dose  is  from 
20  minims  to  half  a  tea-poonful,  or  by  adding  a  tea-spoonful  to 
a  table-spoonful  of  sweetened  water,  a  tea-spoonful  of  the  mix- 
ture will  equal  ten  or  twelve  grains  of  ergot. 
Some  may  question  the  necessity  of  complicating  the  process 
by  the  preliminary  ethereal  treatment.  The  reason  urged  for 
its  propriety  is  that  ergot  contains  nearly,  if  not  quite,  a  third 
of  its  weight  in  fixed  oil,  which  shields  the  particles  from  the 
action  of  the  watery  menstruum,  and  obstructs  its  thorough 
action.  If  omitted,  more  care  will  be  required  in  the  exhaustion 
of  the  ergot,  with  the  menstruum  directed. 
From  the  Proceedings  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association — 1857. 
ON  THE  DETECTION  OF  A  NEW  FALSIFICATION  OF  OIL 
OF  BITTER  ALMONDS. 
By  John  M.  Maisch. 
Sometimes  we  meet  in  our  drug  market  with  an  oily  liquid 
termed  artificial  oil  of  bitter  almonds,  the  proper  name  of  which 
is  nitrobenzole,  or  nitrobenzide  ;  it  is  benzole=  C12  H6,  one  equiv. 
of  K  of  which  is  replaced  by  N04 ;  making  its  formula  C12  H5 
(N04.)  Its  physical  appearance  has  a  remarkable  resemblance 
to  the  genuine  oil  of  bitter  almonds,  though  its  spec.  grav.  is 
about  46  greater,  and  its  taste  is  sweetish  instead  of  hot  aro- 
matic. The  close  analogy  of  its  odor  to  that  of  the  real  oil,  and 
its  ready  solubility  in  alcohol  and  ether,  with  both  of  which  it 
may  be  mixed  in  any  proportion,  and  its  low  price,  being  be- 
