Am'sijt.?i893arm'}  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  457 
Mace. — In  the  course  of  an  investigation  of  a  number  of  samples 
of  mace,  it  was  found  that  the  tests  relied  upon  for  the  detection  of 
adulteration  of  mace  with  inferior  varieties  depending  upon  the 
presence  and  behavior  of  coloring  principles  (Am.  Journ.  Pharm., 
1 89 1,  188)  might  lead  to  error,  since  it  was  found  that  with  some 
practice  the  test  revealed  small  quantities  of  coloring  matter  not 
only  in  the  genuine  Banda  mace,  but  also  in  the  nutmeg.  The 
color  tests  are  best  obtained  by  extracting  mace  first  with  petro- 
leum-ether and  then  with  ether;  the  ethereal  solution  is  evaporated, 
the  residue  taken  up  with  alcohol  and  the  test  made  with  the  alco- 
holic solution.  In  this  connection  an  observation  was  made  which 
probably  will  be  of  considerable  service  in  deciding  upon  the  ques- 
tion of  adulterated  mace.  The  samples  were  extracted  successively 
with  hot  petroleum-ether,  ether  and  alcohol;  the  petroleum-ether 
•extracts  in  the  cases  of  Barida  mace  and  nutmeg  represent  extract 
free  from  volatile  oil. 
Alcohol 
Petroleum-ether  (96  per  cent.) 
Material.  Extract.        Ether  Kxtract.  Extract. 
Per  Cent.  Per  Cent.  Per  Cent. 
I.  Dark  Bombay,  whole,  ....        31 '60  30*40  5*90 
II.  Light      "  "      ....        34-00  29-50  3-30 
III.  Mixed     "        coarse  powder,  30*40  36*70 
I.  Dark  Banda,  selected,  whole,  19*10  3*49  3*47 
II.  Light     "           "           "  24*50  2*50  2*60 
III.  Commercial    Banda,  coarse 
powder,   23*90  2*86  4*50 
IV.  Commercial    Banda,  coarse 
powder,   —                2*14  — 
V.  Commercial    Banda,  coarse 
powder,   —                3  21  — 
VI.  Commercial    Banda,  coarse 
powder,                              .  —                 1*82  — 
VII.  Commercial    Banda,    coarse   •  ' 
powder,   —  3*10 
I.  Nutmeg,   3170              o*6o  1*40 
The  ether  extracts  are  of  a  resinous  nature,  soluble  in  alcohol, 
and  yield  the  color  tests ;  the  ether  and  alcohol  extracts  from  the 
Bombay  mace  are  both  much  deeper  in  color  than  those  from  the 
Banda  mace.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Bombay  mace  is  not  dis- 
tinguished from  the  Banda  mace  so  much  by  the  difference  in  fat  as 
it  is  by  the  ether  extract,  after  the  petroleum-ether  extraction  ;  Banda 
mace  yielding  a  maximum  of  3-50  per  cent.,  while  Bombay  mace 
