As^ptJeTbe?,hia8r9™-}      Black  and  White  Mustard  Seed.  433 
remain  in  contact  with  the  normal  ammonia  solution  for  about  fif- 
teen minutes.  This  was  done.  The  yield  with  the  correction  was 
about  1 8  per  cent.,  and  was  accordingly  so  reported.  The  solution, 
however,  was  tested  in  the  usual  way  by  allowing  it  to  stand  over 
night  in  contact  with  the  ammonia,  and  to  my  surprise  the  result 
was  not  1 8  per  cent.,  but  37-5  per  cent.,  or  about  100  per  cent, 
above  what  was  reported  the  day  previous.  You  can  imagine  my 
mortification  to  be  compelled  to  make  a  subsequent  report  of 
37-5  per  cent,  on  the  article  that  had  been  reported  only  the  day 
previous  as  containing  18  per  cent. 
This  is  not  the  only  sample  that  has  behaved  in  this  way,  but  a 
series  of  experiments  showed  that  it  was  the  rule,  rather  than  the 
exception,  that  the  reaction  between  the  ammonia  and  the  formal- 
dehyde was  rather  slow.  Consequently,  it  is  undesirable,  generally, 
to  report  results  on  a  reaction  of  less  than  six  hours'  duration. 
The  results  of  the  above  experiments  varied  from  16  per  cent,  for 
fifteen  minutes  to  37-5  for  six  hours.  Neither  were  the  results 
constant,  for  duplicates  of  the  same  sample.  Why  this  peculiarity, 
it  is  difficult  to  say. 
In  my  opinion,  the  only  reason  that  Professor  Smith  arrived  at 
the  results  that  he  did,  was  because  the  number  of  samples  worked 
on  was  too  limited.  They  evidently  were  not  representative  of  the 
commercial  article. 
In  conclusion,  I  wish  to  place  myself  on'  record  with  those  who 
have  found  it  necessary  to  allow  considerable  time  for  completed 
reaction  between  the  ammonia  and  the  formaldehyde.  And  it  is 
not  safe  to  report  the  per  cent,  of  absolute  formaldehyde  in  a  solu- 
tion, on  a  reaction  continued  for  less  than  six  hours. 
3  5  Poplar  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
STANDARDS  FOR  BLACK  AND  WHITE  MUSTARD 
SEED.1 
John  Uri  1,1,0yd.'2 
The  work  was  undertaken  solely  with  a  view  to  establish  a 
standard  concerning  starch  in  powdered  black  and  white  mustard 
seed.    Although  starch  is  not  a  constituent  of  ripe  mustard  seed,  it 
1  This  investigation  was  undertaken  under  the  auspices  of  the  Research  Com- 
mittee of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association. 
2  Read  at  the  Baltimore  meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association. 
