Am.  Jour.  Pharin.  \ 
Dec.  1886.  J 
Chemical  Notes. 
slight  traces  of  that  metal.  By  boiling  with  acetic  acid,  treating  the 
filtrates  with  hydrogen  sulphide,  and  evaporating  the  filtered  liquids, 
a  minute  quantity  of  residue  was  left  in  each  case.  In  one  of  the 
samples  a  trace  of  the  sulphate  was  observed,  and  the  presence  of 
traces  of  carbonate  and  chloride  was  indicated  in  each  sample.  The 
four  samples  are  regarded  to  be  of  medicinal  purity. 
Chlorinated  lime  is  now  often  met  with  put  up  for  retail  sales 
either  in  glass  bottles  or  in  paper  boxes  lined  on  the  inside  with  rosin. 
Robert  C.  Bicknell,  Ph,  G.,  examined  one  specimen  put  up  in  glass 
and  found  it  to  contain  35  per  cent,  of  available  chlorine;  the  high 
price  of  the  container  as  compared  with  the  cost  of  the  contents  is 
regarded  as  the  only  objection  to  this  form  of  package.  A  number  of 
paper  packages  were  examined,  the  top  layers  of  which  were  gener- 
ally found  more  or  less  deficient  in  chlorine  strength,  while  in  the 
interior  from  30  to  33  or  35  percent,  of  available  chlorine  was  found, 
and  in  a  number  of  partly  broken  packages  over  20  percent.  Some  of 
the  packages  assaying  30  and  32  per  cent,  of  chloriue  had  been  kept 
more  than  a  year. 
Potassium  bitartrate. — Ten  samples  of  cream  of  tartar  from  dif- 
ferent drug  stores  were  examined  by  Claude  H.  Arnold,  Ph.  G.,  the 
pharmacopceial  tests  being  used.  Two  did  not  contain  any  sulphate, 
and  the  remaining  samples  not  an  undue  proportion  of  it.  Chlorides 
were  absent  from  seven  and  present  to  a  limited  extent  in  three  sam- 
ples. The  same  number  showed  the  presence  of  iron,  while  seven 
samples  gave  no  reaction  with  hydrogen  sulphide  in  ammoniacal  solu- 
tion. Eight  samples  contained  less,  and  two  indicated  more  than  6 
per  cent,  of  calcium  tartrate. 
Seth  C.  Johnson,  Ph.  G.,  examined  three  samples  purchased  in 
drug  stores  and  found  them  to  be  commercially  pure,  while  of  three 
samples  purchased  in  grocery  stores  only  one  could  be  considered  pure, 
the  other  two  containing  considerable  amounts  of  calcium  salt  and 
starch. 
Creasote. — Of  fifteen  samples  of  commercial  creasote  examined  by 
Foster  B.  Eisenhart,  Ph.  G.,  seven  were  found  to  be  pure,  since  they 
did  not  coagulate  collodion,  produced  with  ferric  chloride  a  violet 
blue  <5olor  rapidly  changing  to  brown,  and  under  the  influence  of 
bromine  water  gave  a  more  or  less  deep  red  brown  color,  but  not  a' 
white  precipitate.  The  other  eight  samples  consisted  of  carbolic 
acid. 
88 
