364 
Adulteration  of  Pepper. 
f  Am.  Joitr.  Pharm. 
1     Aug.  1,  1873. 
glass  tube,  and  after  evaporating  off  the  ether,  weigh  the  fat  and  de- 
termine its  melting-point;  melt  carefully,  and  allow  it  to  cool  grad- 
ually. Place  a  small  accurately  graduated  thermometer  with  pear- 
shaped  bulb  in  the  melted  fat,  and  observe  the  temperature  at  which 
the  latter  begins  to  solidify.  When  quite  solid,  re-warm  the  tube 
gradually,  by  placing  it  in  water,  the  temperature  of  which  is  slowly 
raised,  and  observe  the  re-melting-point  of  the  fat. 
(6).  Or,  melt  the  fats  in  a  thin  glass  or  porcelain  dish,  floated  in 
water,  the  temperature  of  which  is  slowly  raised,  a  thermometer  being 
placed  in  the  water.  In  this  case  the  apparent  melting-point  will  be 
2°  or  3°  above  the  correct  figure,  but  the  relative  differences  between 
the  melting  points  of  the  several  deposits  will  be  the  same  as  in  (12a). 
13.  Determine  the  taste  and  smell  of  each  of  the  deposits. 
44.  The  number  of  grs.  per  oz.  may  be  reduced  to  parts  per  cent, 
by  multiplying  by  the  factor  0-22857. — Chem.  News,  July  4,  1873. 
ADULTERATION  OF  PEPPER.* 
By  M.  Bouchardat. 
During  the  examination  of  a  large  number  of  specimens  of  ground 
pepper  the  author  met  with  various  inert  powders,  and  among  those 
which  he  detected  the  most  often  was  one  prepared  by  drying  and 
finely  pulverizing  the  parenchyma  of  potatoes  which  is  left  as  a  resi- 
due in  the  manufacture  of  starch.  Pepper  mixed  with  this  adulterant 
has  a  more  feeble  odor ;  its  taste  is  at  first  sweetish,  and  afterwards 
pungent,  but  less  intensely  so  than  in  normal  pepper.  The  mixed 
powder  is  uniformly  grey,  whilst  the  powder  of  pepper  presents  some 
blackish  particles  and  some  of  a  yellowish-grey  color.  Comparison 
should  therefore  be  made  between  a  suspected  powder  and  one  pre- 
pared by  grinding  pepper  to  the  same  degree  of  fineness.  Ground 
pepper  mixed  with  this  potato  powder  floats  longer  on  the  surface  of 
water  than  that  which  is  pure,  and  the  coloration  of  the  water  is  dif- 
ferent. Liquor  iodi,  added  drop  by  drop,  gives  a  more  intense  blue 
with  the  potato  mixture  than  with  normal  pepper.  Too  much  impor- 
tance, however,  must  not  be  attached  to  this  test,  as  M.  Leon  Soubei- 
ran  has  shown  that  pepper  contains  a  considerable  quantity  of  a  pecu- 
liar fecula. 
The  other  substances  found  mixed  with  ground  pepper  were :  (1) 
*L'Union  Pharmaceutique,  vol.  xiv,  p.  145. 
