72  SPECIFIC  GRAVITY  OF  MEDICINAL  CHLOROFORM. 
and  appearance,  so  obvious  in  the  accompanying  specimens,  is  a 
characteristic  one,  or  only  accidental,  and  depending  upon  the 
age  of  the  root,  manner  of  collecting,  washing  and  drying,  &c, 
I  cannot  state. 
The  American  root  is  raised  in  the  northern  part  of  Vermont, 
New  Hampshire  and  New  York  ;  it  is  dug  up  in  the  autumn  ; 
the  adhering  dirt  is  shaken  from  it  and  it  is  carefully  washed, 
generally  in  running  water,  and  dried  quickly  in  the  air  and 
shade  and  comes  into  the  market  very  clean  and  light  colored. 
It  is  sometimes,  however,  washed  in  still  water  and  allowed  to  re- 
main longer  in  the  water,  by  which  it  acquires  a  somewhat  darker 
color  ;  a  sample  of  each  will  be  seen  in  the  bottle  containing  the 
specimen  of  the  American  root.  In  making  the  solid  extract, 
the  first  trial  was  from  the  dark  and  the  second  from  the  light 
colored. 
The  German  root  is  gathered  late  in  the  autumn  or  early  in 
the  spring  ;  nearly  all  that  comes  to  this  country  is  not  washed 
and  comes  with  lumps  of  dirt  enclosed  between  the  fibres.  A 
large  proportion  of  that  which  is  imported  as  English  is  actually 
German  root  coming  through  English  hands. 
Valerian  thrives  best  in  a  light  dry  soil,  and  that  which  grows 
in  a  low  wet  situation  possesses  less  medicinal  properties  than 
the  former. 
The  American  variety  has  almost  entirely  superseded  the  for- 
eign in  this  market,  and  a  large  manufacturer  of  fluid  extracts 
says  that  he  has  used  them  indiscriminately  and,  of  late,  the  * 
American  entirely. 
Boston,  August,  1866.       — Proc.  Am.  Pharm.  Ass.  1866. 
ON  THE  SPECIFIC  GRAVITY  OF  MEDICINAL  CHLORO- 
FORM. 
By  John  M.  Maisch. 
While  the  IT.  S.  Army  Laboratory  at  Philadelphia  was  in 
operation,  large  quantities  of  chloroform  were  prepared.  It 
being  our  aim  to  furnish  all  preparations  in  every  respect  up  to 
the  requirements  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  it  was  aimed  to  have  the 
specific  gravity  of  the  chloroform  between  1-490  and  1-494.  A 
