RECTIFYING  ALCOHOL  BY  MEANS  OF  GELATIN. 
557 
annatto,  is  merely  a  paste  of  farina  and  salt,  colored  with  about 
fifteen  per  cent,  of  annatto. 
It  may  be  that  the  merchants  are  not  able  to  sell  it  pure  at 
the  price  charged,  Is.  4c?.  per  lb.  Let  them  give  it  pure  and 
charge  a  fair  price,  whatever  it  may  be  ;  the  honest  dealer  will 
not  refuse  it. 
Mr.  J.  D.  Smith  said  that  the  members  of  the  Conference  from  a  dis- 
tance would  do  a  practical  service  to  chemists  in  the  country  if  they 
could  tell  t-hem  were  to  get  good  annatto.  They  could  hardly  sell  a  pound 
of  annatto  now-a  days  without  having  it  returned  as  being  adulterated. 
They  would  be  glad  to  sell  pure  annatto  if  they  could  get  it. 
The  President  said  that  annatto  was  no  longer  grown  in  the 
British  West  Indies,  but  he  thought  he  might  say  that  the  whole  came 
from  the  French  colony  of  Cayenne,  and  it  certainly  was  grossly  adulter- 
ated. He  was  glad  to  know  that  there  was  a  possibility  of  its  being  grown 
in  English  colonies,  as  a  specimen  prepared  in  Guiana  had  been  sent  to 
him,  and  most  favorably  reported  on  by  a  London  importer  who  had  seen 
it. 
Mr.  Evans  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  one  sort  of  annatto  was 
used  for  butter  and  another  for  cheese.  What  was  usually  sold  was  cer- 
tainly u  a  villainous  compound."  He  had  reason  to  believe  that  attention 
was  being  given  to  the  reintroduction  of  the  manufacture  in  the  British 
West  Indies. 
Professor  Attfield  said  that  no  better  illustration  could  be  given  of  the 
use  of  their  discussions  than  the  present.  A  crying  evil,  felt  by  the  trade 
throughout  the  country,  had  been  now  exposed,  and  the  many  thousands 
of  reports  of  this  discussion  which  would  be  circulated  throughout 
Europe  and  the  colonies  would  tell  those  who  could  produce  a  pure  article 
that  they  would  find  a  ready  market  in  England. 
— London  Pharm.  Journ.,  Sept.,  1868* 
RECTIFYING  ALCOHOL  BY  MEANS  OF  GELATIN. 
Whilst  witnessing  the  manipulations  of  the  Eburneum  process 
in  the  studio  of  Mr.  Burgess,  at  Norwich,  Mr.  Burgess  mentioned 
a  curious  circumstance.  When  the  gelatin  and  pigment  form- 
ing the  layer  of  eburneum  is  quite  dry,  it  is  coated  with  collodion 
to  render  it  impervious  to  moisture.  This  operation  he  noticed 
always  rendered  the  eburneum  soft  and  limp,  so  that  it  required 
placing  in  the  drying-box  again.  The  greediness  of  the  gelatin 
for  moisture  causes  it  to  absorb  the  trace  of  water  in  the  sol- 
