Am.  Jonr,  Pharm. 
Oct.,  1885. 
Commercial  Spayiish  Saffron. 
495 
addition  of  an  acid,  and  deeper  red  on  the  addition  of  ammonia;  bnt 
the  infusion  is  not  blackened  by  salts  of  iron.  A  few  fragments  of  a 
red  wood,  found  in  two  or  three  of  the  samples  of  saffron,  showed  tlie 
«ame  behavior,  and  by  microscopic  examination  and  comparison  with 
JBrazil  wood  were  j^roved  to  be  identical  with  the  latter.  In  order  to 
make  the  dyed  calendula  florets  more  closely  resemble  true  saflpron, 
they  are  rolled  or  twisted  in  such  a  manner  as  to  assume  an  approxi- 
mately cylindrical  shape.  In  several  of  the  samples  examined  a 
number  of  elongated  bodies,  curved  near  one  end,  and  there  divided 
into  several  nearly  cylindrical  parts,  were  observed,  bearing  some 
resemblance  to  the  stamens  of  papilionaceous  flowers,  deprived  of  the 
anthers.  But  the  hairs  described  before  at  once  revealed  their  true 
nature,  and  after  soaking  these  bodies  in  water  they  could  be  separated 
into  from  6  to  12  calendula  florets,  which  during  the  manipulation  for 
rendering  them  safFron-like  had  been  twisted  together  by  the  strap- 
shaped  portion  of  the  j:)etals,  while  the  tubular  parts  remained  distinct. 
It  is  very  likely  that  the  ray  florets  of  Calendula  arvensis,  Lin.,  as  stated 
by  Guibourt  Jour.  Phar.  Chim.,"  May,  1841,  ]).  315),  are  used  in 
precisely  the  same  manner.  The  marigold  of  our  gardens  is  very  fre- 
quently this  species,  which  is  distinguished  from  Calendula  officinalis, 
Lin.,  by  the  more  lanceolate  stem  leaves,  the  pale  yellow  and  usually 
shorter  ray  florets,  and  the  erect  (instead  of  incurved)  akenes  of  the 
outer  row ;  the  tubular  portion  is  beset  with  the  same  kind  of  hairs. 
Logwood  could  not  be  detected  in  any  one  of  the  samples  exam- 
ined; the  crocus  tubes,  in  most  cases,  also  the  corolla  shn  ds,  and  fre- 
quently the  stamens,  were  dyed  with  either  red  saunders  or  Brazil 
wood.  The  stamens  were  also  generally  rolled  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  anthers  were  not  readily  recognized  until  after  immersion  in  water, 
when  they  expanded  and  revealed  their  valves,  the  cells  of  which, 
near  the  margin,  are  somewhat  irregularly  quadrangular,  and  gradu- 
ally change  towards  the  connective  to  a  transversely  elongated  form. 
Several  of  the  earlier  writers  on  saffron  mention  sand  and  pieces  of 
lead  as  mineral  adulterants.  The  first  account  of  a  mineral  salt,  lead 
carbonate,  being  used  for  this  purpose,  I  have  found  in  the  diction- 
aries of  Chevallier,  Richard,  and  Guillemin  (1829),  and  of  Merat  and 
De  Lens  (1830);  subsequently  it  is  rarely  mentioned.  The  use  of 
chalk  in  this  connection  appears  to  have  been  first  noted  by  Her^eus, 
but  was  not  reported  to  a  scientific  journal  until  1870,  though  pub- 
lished in  the  "Gazette  de  Marseille''  in  the  fall  of  1860.    The  same 
