THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
NOVEMBER,  1903. 
THE  DETECTION  OF  FORMALDEHYDE  IN  WITCH 
HAZEL. 
By  W.  A.  Puckner,  Chicago. 
"  Witch-hazel  extract,"  long  used  as  a  household  remedy,  has 
been  admitted  to  the  eighth  decennial  revision  of  the  United  States 
Pharmacopoeia  under  the  title  Aqua  Hamamelidis  or  Hamamelis 
Water.  For  the  detection  of  formaldehyde  in  this  preparation  the 
following  test  is  prescribed  :  If  I  c.c.  of  hamamelis  water  be  added 
to  5  c.c.  sulphuric  acid  containing  a  little  salicylic  acid  in  solution, 
no  red  color  should  appear  (absence  of  formaldehyde). 
While  the  reliability  and  sensitiveness  of  the  many  formaldehyde 
tests  have  been  critically  reviewed,1  the  above  test  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  considered.  Since  witch  hazel  promises  to  be  a  favored 
subject  for  investigation  by  dairy  commissioners  and  similar  bodies 
entrusted  with  the  enforcement  of  pure  food  and  drug  laws,  the  fol- 
lowing experiments  are  of  interest : 
Dilutions  of  formaldehyde  were  prepared  (a)  containing  1  gramme  of  abso- 
lute formaldehyde  in  1,000  c.c.  of  water;  (b)  containing  1  gramme  formalde- 
hyde in  1,000  c.c.  of  a  liquid  obtained  by  mixing  15  volumes  of  official  alcohol 
and  85  volumes  of  water;  (c)  containing  1  gramme  formaldehyde  in  10,000  c.c. 
water;  (d)  containing  1  gramme  formaldehyde  in  io.oco  c.c.  of  15  per  cent, 
alcohol ;  (e)  1  gramme  in  100,000  c.c.  water  ;  {/)  1  gramme  formaldehyde  in 
100,000  c.c.  15  per  cent,  alcohol. 
(1)  One  gramme  salicylic  acid  was  dissolved  in  100  c.c.  sulphuric  acid,  sp.  gr. 
1  '83411^0.  Portions  of  5  c.c.  of  the  reagent  were  measured  into  dry  tubes  and 
1  c.c.  each  of  the  formaldehyde  dilutions  just  described  added,  mixed  with  the 
1  B.  M.  Pilhashy,  Jour.  Am.  Chem.  Soc,  1890,  22,  132.  C.  H.  La  Wall,  Am. 
Drug.,  1905,  47,  33.  U.  S.  Dept.  Agriculture,  Division  of  Chemistry,  Bull. 
90,  45- 
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