612  Chloroform  in  the  Testing  of  Drugs,  {^JSZ'gg* 
APPLICATION  of  CHLOROFORM  in  the  testing  of  DRUGS. 
By  L.  Siebold. 
In  the  "  Year-Book  of  Pharmacy"  for  1877,  there  occurs  an  abstract 
of  an  article  by  Dr.  C.  Himly  on  the  Detection  of  Mineral  Adulterants 
in  Flour  by  means  of  Chloroform.  Having  frequently  tried  this 
test,  and  finding  it  extremely  useful  both  as  a  qualitative  and  as  a. 
quantitative  process,  it  appeared  to  me  desirable  to  ascertain  to  what 
extent  it  might  be  advantageously  employed  in  the  testing  of  powdered 
vegetable  drugs.  As  many  of  the  latter  are  lighter  than  chloroform, 
and  the  iisual  mineral  adulterants  sink  in  that  liquid,  it  was  but  reason- 
able to  infer  that  this  mode  of  separation  might  prove  of  value  to  the 
pharmacist. 
I  will  not  trouble  the  meeting  with  the  details  of  my  experiments, 
but  confine  myself  to  a  brief  summary  of  the  results.  In  each  experi- 
ment a  small  quantity  of  the  dry  powder  was  well  shaken  with  about 
half  a  test-tubeful  of  chloroform,  and  the  mixture  allowed  to  stand  at 
rest  for  twelve  hours.  The  following  drugs  were  found  to  rise  so  com- 
pletely to  the  surface  of  the  chloroform  that  the  observation  and  esti- 
mation of  any  mineral  adulterant  became  a  very  simple  and  easy  task  r. 
Acacia,  tragacanth,  starches,  myrrh,  Barbadoes  aloes,  jalap,  saffron,, 
cinchonas,  nux  vomica,  mustard,  white  pepper,  capsicum  and  guarana. 
Known  quantities  of  selenite  and  of  chalk  were  added  to  these  drugs,, 
and  subsequently  determined  by  running  the  lower  stratum  of  the 
chloroform  with  the  sediment  into  a  small  dish,  carefully  pouring  off" 
the  chloroform,  drying  the  sediment  at  a  gentle  heat  and  weighing  it. 
The  result  in  each  case  was  very  satisfactory.  No  such  accuracy  could 
be  attained  by  incineration,  as  in  the  presence  of  chalk  there  was 
always  a  loss  of  carbonic  acid,  and  in  that  of  selenite  a  loss  of  water 
and  of  oxygen,  the  sulphate  being  partly  reduced  to  sulphide.  An  esti- 
mation of  these  adulterants  by  the  usual  analytical  processes  would,  of 
course,  give  exact  results,  but  prove  much  more  tedious. 
Both  for  qualitative  and  for  quantitative  purposes,  the  chloroform 
test  therefore  answers  extremely  well  with  the  drugs  named.  In  the 
case  of  the  following  substances  no  complete  rise  to  the  surface  of  the 
chloroform  took  place,  but  a  portion  was  found  to  float  and  another 
portion  to  sink,  though  the  absence  of  mineral  adulterants  was  proved 
by  analysis  :  Gamboge,  scammony,  opium,  soccotrine  aloes,  liquorice 
root,  ginger,  colocynth,  cousso,  ipecacuanha,  cinnamon  and  cardamoms. 
