Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
March,  1886.  J 
Annatto. 
155 
the  ash  the  amount  soluble  was  determined,  and  qualitatively  examined,  as  was 
the  insoluble  portion  in  most  of  them. 
The  results  are  as  follows  : 
1. 
2- 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10. 
Moisture  . 
Resin  .  . 
Extractive . 
Ash   .   .  . 
2175 
300 
5729 
17.96 
21-60 
2.90 
59-33 
16-17 
20  39 
1-00 
65-00 
1361 
69-73 
8-80 
19  47 
2  00 
18-00 
3-00 
58.40 
20-60 
18-28 
1-80 
65  67 
14-25 
15  71 
5-40 
26  89 
52-00 
38  18 
1200 
20-82 
29  00 
19  33 
5-90 
23  77 
51  00 
22  50 
9  20 
28  50 
39  80 
100  00 
100-00 
100  00 
100  00 
100-00 
100  00 
100-00 
100-00 
100  00 
100  00 
Ash  .  .  . 
Soluble  .  . 
Insoluble  . 
132 
4  76 
12  57 
36 
7-5 
611 
Almost 
wholly 
NaCl. 
10- 
10-6 
11-75 
2-5 
18-5 
33  5 
20-0 
9-0 
15- 
36- 
138 
26- 
The  first  six  are  the  ordinary  red  rolls,  with  the  exception  of  No.  4.  which  is  a 
red  mass,  the  only  one  of  this  class  direct  from  the  manufacturers.  The  re- 
mainder are  brown  cakes,  all  except  No.  7,  being  from  the  manufacturers  direct. 
The  ash  of  the  first  two  was  largely  common  salt;  that  of  No.  3  contained,  be- 
sides this,  iron  in  some  quantity.  No.  4  is  unique  in  many  respects.  It  was  of 
a  bright  red  color,  and  possessed  a  not  disagreeable  odor.  It  contained  the 
largest  percentage  of  moisture  and  the  lowest  of  ash;  had,  comparatively,  a 
large  amount  of  coloring  matter;  was  one  of  the  cheapest,  and  in  the  course  of 
some  dairy  trials,  carried  out  by  an  intelligent  farmer,  was  pronounced  to  be 
the  best  suited  for  coloring  butter.  So  far  as  my  experience  goes,  it  was  a  sam- 
ple of  the  best  commercial  excellence,  though  I  fear  the  mass  of  water  present 
and  the  absence  of  preserving  substances  will  assist  in  its  speedy  decay.  Were 
such  an  article  easily  procured  in  the  usual  way  of  business  there  would 
not  be  much  to  complain  of,  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  it  was  got  direct 
from  the  manufacturers — a  somewhat  suggestive  fact  when  the  composition  of 
some  other  samples  is  taken  into  account.  No.  5  emitted  a  disagreeable  odor 
during  ignition.  The  soluble  portion  of  the  ash  was  mostly  common  salt,  and 
the  insoluble  contained  three  of  sand — the  highest  amount  found,  although 
most  of  the  reds  contained  some.  No.  6  was  a  vile  looking  thing,  and  when 
associated  in  one's  mind  with  butter,  gave  rise  to  disagreeable  reflections.  It 
was  wrapped  in  a  paper  saturated  with  a  strongly  smelling  linseed  oil.  When 
it  was  boiled  in  water  and  broken  up,  hairs,  among  other  things,  were  observed 
floating  about.  It  contained  some  iron.  The  first  cake,  No.  7,  gave  off  during 
ignition  an  agreeable  odor  resembling  some  of  the  finer  tobaccos,  and  this  is 
characteristic  more  or  less  of  all  the  cakes.  The  ash  weighed  52  per  cent.,  the 
soluble  part  of  which,  18*5,  was  mostly  potassium  carbonate  with  some  chlorides 
and  sulphates;  the  insoluble,  mostly  chalk  with  iron  and  alumina.  No.  8— 
highest  priced  of  all — had  in  the  mass  an  odor  which  I  can  compare  to  nothing 
else  than  a  well  rotted  farmyard  manure.  Twenty  parts  of  the  ash  were  solu- 
ble and  largely  potassium  carbonate,  the  insoluble  being  iron  for  the  most  part. 
The  mineral  portions  of  Nos.  9  and  10  closely  resembled  No.  7. 
On  looking  over  the  results  it  is  found  that  the  red  rolls  contained  starchy 
matters  in  abundance  (in  No.  4  the  starch  was  to  a  large  extent  replaced  by 
water),  and  an  ash,  mostly  sodium  chloride,  introduced,  no  doubt,  to  assist  in 
its  preservation  as  well  as  to  increase  the  color  of  the  resin;  a  well-known 
action  of  salt  on  vegetable  reds.  The  cakes,  which  are  mostly  used  for  cheese 
coloring,  I  believe,  all  appeared  to  contain  turmeric,  for  they  gave  a  more  or  less 
