Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  i_ 
Sept.,  1879.  j 
V arieties. 
471 
VARIETIES. 
American  Chemicals. — The  increased  domestic  production  of  crude  materials 
from  which  chemicals  are  prepared  in  this  country  has  done  much  to  contribute 
towards  the  balance  of  trade  in  favor  of  the  United  States,  and  for  the  past  year  this? 
balance  has  been  remarkably  large.  Until  recently  the  supplies  of  chemicals  were 
obtained  from  Europe,  but  now  cream  of  tartar,  tartaric  acid,  citric  acid,  borax  and 
many  other  important  chemicals  are  largely  manufactured  here,  in  many  cases  from 
native  crude  materials.  The  American  borax  mines  in  Nevada  supply  the  entire 
home  department  for  crude  and  refined  borax  salt,  and  large  quantities  are  exported 
in  both  conditions,  while  much  of  the  refining  is  carried  on  in  this  city  and  vicinity.. 
Not  only  is  the  money,  amounting  to  millions  of  dollars  annually,  and  which  for- 
merly went  abroad  for  these  supplies,  saved  to  and  kept  in  this  country,  but  large 
numbers  of  men  are  given  employment  in  the  manufacture  of  the  articles  above 
named. 
Cream  of  tartar.  Six  years  ago  this  chemical  was  almost,  if  not  entirely,  imported 
from  France  to  the  extent  of  over  6,000,000  pounds  yearly,  but  so  successful  has 
the  manufacture  of  it  in  this  country  been  carried  on  that  last  year  not  a  single  pound 
is  reported  as  having  been  imported.  Notwithstanding  that  the  crude  materials 
have  at  present  to  be  imported,  the  price  of  the  manufactured  aiticles  has  been 
reduced  from  32  cents  per  pound,  the  rate  for  the  French  article  here,  to  23  and  24 
cents  per  pound  for  the  American  production.  Again,  the  importation  of  the  half 
refined  article,  under  the  denomination  of  argols,  which  for  the  previous  four  years 
had  averaged  nearly  2,000,000  pounds  annually,  has  been  so  reduced  that  the  statis- 
tics for  the  last  fiscal  year  only  show  importations  of  397,767  pounds,  proving  clearly 
that  the  American  manufacture  is  driving  out  the  foreign  production  in  all  its  grades. 
Tartaric  acid  is  another  chemical  which  has  been  so  successfully  made  here  that 
in  place  of  the  350,000  to  500,000  pounds  annually  imported  from  France  and  Eng- 
land, the  average  importation  the  four  previous  years  was  only  490  pounds,  while 
the  importation  for  the  last  fiscal  year  was  only  183  pounds.  The  price  has  also 
been  reduced  to  the  consumer  to  such  an  extent  that  it  can  be  supplied  to  the  trade 
here  at  a  cheaper  rate  than  the  foreign  article  can  be  laid  down  in  bond.  The  man- 
ufacture employs  a  large  number  of  work-people,  and  develops  a  very  valuable 
industry  which  appears  to  be  constantly  increasing  in  volume,  and  promises  to  become 
one  of  the  branches  of  American  exports  in  manufactured  articles. 
Citric  acid  formerly  came  from  England  at  the  rate  of  over  250,000  pounds  annually; 
the  statistics  for  the  last  fiscal  year,  however,  show  that  only  27,018  pounds  were 
then  imported.  When  England  held  the  monopoly  of  the  American  trade,  the 
wholesale  price  of  citric  acid  was  $1.30  per  pound  in  this  market;  now  it  is  sold 
here  as  low  as  57  cents  per  pound.  When  the  acid  was  first  manufactured  here  the 
English  attempted  to  flood  the  market,  but  a  large  amount  of  capital  was  soon 
invested  in  the  American  production,  and,  amidst  the  most  trying  difficulties,  the 
trade  in  the  American  manufacture  was  secured.  At  present  the  lime  juice,  from 
which  citric  acid  is  made,  has  to  be  imported,  but  it  could  easily  be  produced  from 
the  fruits  growing  in  Florida,  if  only  sufficient  energy  was  put  in  the  work.  Efforts 
