PHARMACEUTICAL  NOTES. 
387 
filled,  as  soon  as  finished,  in  small,  well-corked  vials,  covered 
with  blue  paper,  so  as  to  exclude  light  and  atmospheric  air.  I 
am  inclined  to  think  that  this  will  prevent  change,  from  the  fact 
that  some  of  the  syrup  which  had  been  wrapped  and  corked 
securely,  and  placed  on  the  shelf  for  sale,  remained  unchanged 
during  the  time  in  whieh  a  portion  of  the  same  lot,  exposed  to 
light  in  a  loose-stoppered  bottle,  had  formed  a  deposit  and 
became  darkened. 
The  precipitate  formed  was  examined,  and  found  to  consist  of 
phosphate  of  iron  ;  it  was  feared  at  first  that  a  portion  of  the 
quinia  or  strychnia  was  also  precipitated,  but  this  was  negatived 
by  appropriate  tests.* 
Adulterated  Oil  of  Lemon. — Preparing,  a  short  time  ago, 
some  extract  of  lemon,  I  was  surprised  to  find  that  a  large  per- 
centage of  the  oil  of  lemon  employed  was  insoluble  in  alcohol. 
The  insoluble  portion,  evidently  fixed  oil,  was  not  acted  upon  at 
all  by  new  additions  of  strong  alcohol,  and  amounted  to  over 
33  per  cent.,  a  little  over  two  pounds  remaining  from  six 
pounds  of  oil  of  lemon.  This  residue  was  introduced  into  a 
still,  with  five  gallons  of  water,  and  distilled  until  three  gallons 
of  distillate  were  obtained ;  the  first  gallon  contained  about 
ten  ounces  of  oil  of  lemon  ;  the  remaining  two  gallons  had  but 
a  slight  odor  of  lemon,  and  remained  perfectly  clear  after  stand- 
ing for  more  than  a  week. 
The  fixed  oil  remaining  in  the  still,  when  separated  from 
water,  amounted  to  about  1 J  pounds  or  25  per  cent,  of  the  oil 
of  lemon  originally  used.  It  was  of  a  viscid  consistence,  (inter- 
mediate between  olive  and  castor  oil,)  insoluble  in  absolute 
alcohol,  but  readily  dissolved  by  ether  or  chloroform,  of  a  yellow 
color  and  of  a  very  rancid  odor  and  taste.  Its  sp.  gr.  was  0*925 
at  62°  F.  ;  its  boiling  point  was  not  ascertained,  as  I  was  not  in 
possession  of  a  thermometer  graduated  sufficiently  high,  but  it 
is  above  500°  F.  It  is  acted  upon  violently  by  nitric  acid,  less 
so  by  sulphuric  acid,  and  least  by  chlorhydric  acid.    The  most 
*  The  amount  of  phosphoric  acid  is  insufficient  to  keep  all  the  iron  in 
solution  after  it  becomes  oxidized  by  contact  with  the  air.  Diffused  day- 
light is  without  action  on  it.  J.  M.  M. 
