''""Au^S;mL°''}        ^  ^^^^  Vegetable  Adulterant.  377 
A  NEW  VEGETABLE  ADULTERANT. 
(outer  layers  of  the  pericarp  of  the  fruit  of  juglans 
REGIA  L.) 
By  Henry  Kraemer. 
At  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  Colleige  of 
Pharmacy  held  November  16,  1909,  Mr.  E.  H.  Gane  exhibited  a 
sample  of  "  vegetable  shells/'  which  he  stated  were  imported  pro- 
bably for  the  purpose  of  replacing  walnut  shells,  olive  pits,  etc., 
owing  to  the  ease  with  which  these  latter  products  can  now  be 
detected  when  used  as  adulterants.  (See  Am.  Jour.  Pharm.,  81, 
p.  597,  December,  1909.) 
A  preliminary  examination  of  the  sample  showed  that  it  was 
composed  of  the  pericarp  of  some  fruit.  I  then  gave  the  sample 
to  one  of  my  students,  Mr.  Peter  Amsterdam,  tO'  study  micro- 
scopically and  in  comparison  with  the  pericarps  of  similar  fruits 
in  our  collection.  This  study  showed  that  the  material  consisted 
of  the  hulls,  or  outer  layers  of  the  pericarp,  of  the  fruit  of  Juglans 
regia,  or  English  walnut,  the  nuts  of  which  are  common  in  the 
markets  as  an  article  of  food. 
The  hulls  (outer  portion  of  the  pericarp)  of  the  fruit  of  Juglans 
regia  have  been  used  in  the  fresh  and  green  condition  in  medicine, 
and  are  described  in  foreign  works  imder  the  name  of  Cortex  Fruc- 
tus  Juglandis  {Cortex  nucum  Juglandis  viridis.  Griine  Walnuss- 
schalen.  Brou  de  noix).  The  hulls  are  described  by  Vogl  in  his 
Pharmaco^gnosy,  and  a  rather  extensive  article  on  their  histology 
is  given  by  Hartwich  in  the  Archiv  dcr  Pharmacie,  66,  p.  325 
(1887). 
Macroscopic  Characters. — The  dried  hulls,  or  shells,"  consist 
of  pieces  or  fragments  composed  for  the  most  part  of  the  outer 
layers  of  the  pericarp,  i.e.,  the  epicarp  and  sarcocarp.  The  pieces 
are  more  or  less  irregular,  involuted,  shrivelled,  vary  from  5  to  35 
mm.  in  diameter,  and  break  with  a  short  fracture.  Some  of  the 
pieces  are  marked  by  the  stem-scar  or  still  have  attached  to  them 
portions  of  the  stem.  Externally,  the  epicarp,  or  outer  layer,  is 
rather  smooth,  though  coarsely  wrinkled,  marked  by  numerous 
small  dots,  and  varies  in  color  from  light  to  dark  brown.  The  sar- 
cocarp, or  inner  layer,  is  somewhat  spongy,  dark  brown  or  black- 
