AmbJecU,ri8?farm'}  Notes  on  Insect  Powder.  583 
per  cent,  from  the  bark  of  S.  alba,  and  073  per  cent,  from  the  bark 
of  S.  nigra. 
The  same  specimens  were  examined  quantitatively  for  tannin,  with 
the  following  results : 
Leaves  of  S.  alba,   6*48  per  cent,  tannin. 
Bark  of  S.  alba,   3-58   "  " 
Bark  of  S.  alba,   4-26   "  " 
Bark  of  S.  nigra,   3-29   "      "  " 
NOTES  ON  INSECT  POWDER.1 
By  F.  A.  Thompson,  Ph.C. 
Having  had  seven  samples  of  insect  powder,  representing  six 
eastern  wholesale  firms  and  one  western  one  for  examination,  I 
thought  the  result  of  such  analysis  might  be  of  some  interest  to  this 
society,  and  therefore  present  to  you  the  practical  tests  as  applied. 
Mr.  P.  MacOwen,  F.L.S.  (Pharm.  Journ.  and  Tran.,  Feb.,  1890,  p. 
695),  of  the  "  Capetown  Botanical  Garden,"  points  out  that  plants 
yielding  Persian  insect  powder  are  being  cultivated  in  the  colony, 
and  it  is  hoped  may  be  a  source  of  supply  of  the  genuine,  as  the 
flowers  and  powder  are  largely  adulterated  ;  also  that  Pyrethrum 
cineraricBfolium  likes  an  open,  dry  soil,  not  too  clayey,  as  both  the 
seed  and  plant  are  killed  by  excessive  moisture. 
Mr.  G.  M.  Beringer  (Amer.  Jour.  Pharm.,  Jan.,  1889,  p.  1), 
reports  that  in  1889,  a  number  of  bales  of  Hungarian  daisies  were 
entered  at  the  New  York  Custom  House  as  insect  powder,  and  were 
evidently  intended  as  a  sophistication  of  the  Dalmatian  insect  powder. 
He  states  that  the  similarity  in  size  and  appearance  of  the  flowers 
of  the  Dalmatian  powder  would  easily  deceive  the  careless  or  un- 
guarded observer.  A  microscopical  examination  of  the  two  varie- 
ties as  whole  flowers  rendered  the  distinction  comparatively  easy, 
while  in  the  powdered  form  the  identification  of  the  admixture  was 
impossible.  The  ash  of  the  Hungarian  daisy  amounted  to  9-3  per 
cent.,  that  of  the  Dalmatian  6  5  per  cent.,  while  the  amount  soluble 
in  petroleum  ether  and  ether  seemed  to  be  about  the  same. 
Alcohol  extracted  more  from  the  former. 
In  the  examination  of  the  various  samples,  the  color  of  powder, 
1  Read  before  the  Detroit  Chemical  Societ3%  November  10,  1891. 
