Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  "t 
Oct.,  1888.  J 
Catechu  and  Gambier. 
501 
folio wiDg  percentage  results  obtained  by  treatment  with  ether  and 
alcohol : 
Samples  No  , 
Soluble  in  ether  
Soluble  in  absolute  alcohol. 
Total  valuable  constituents 
Mucilage,  etc  
Ash  
Moisture  
Insoluble    
7. 
8. 
0-90 
8-75 
9-93 
17-50 
10.88 
26-25 
4730 
29-10 
1401 
18-20 
14-10 
7-30 
1376 
19-15 
100-00 
100-00 
Gambier  in  cubes  could  not  be  so  adulterated,  and  it  is  so  dry  as  to 
be  readily  powdered  in  a  mortar  without  previous  heating  to  expel 
moisture.  It  is  stated  that  gambier  is  adulterated  by  the  addition  of 
clay,  but  this  admixture  is  probably  not  more  common  than  it  is  with 
€utch ;  in  both  it  may  be  detected  by  the  amount  of  residue  left  on 
burning. 
Another  important  point  is  to  be  observed  in  regard  to  cutch  ;  there 
are  on  the  market  for  the  use  of  dyers,  several  preparations  under  the 
name  of  patent  cutch,"  "purified  cutch,"  etc.,  made  by  dissolving 
the  commercial  article  in  warm  water,  evaporating  this  aqueous  solu- 
tion, and  adding  some  mordant,  often  potassium  bichromate,  to  develop 
the  color  for  the  dyer. 
These  preparations  are  liable  to  creep  into  the  drug  market,  and  if 
used  in  medicine  do  much  harm.  Such  accidents  would  be  im- 
possible if  cube  gambier  alone  were  used.  British  writers  are  singu- 
larly reticent  about  their  reasons  for  preferring  gambier,  but  it  is 
probably  in  view  of  facts  similar  to  those  above  given.  The  Edin- 
burgh Pharmacopoeia,  about  1840,  was  the  first  to  give  the  option  of 
using  the  extract  of  Uncaria  Gambier,  as  well  as  that  of  Acacia  Cate- 
chu. When  in  1864,  the  three  British  Pharmacopoeias  were  incorpo- 
rated under  one  name,  both  were  retained  under  the  distinct  titles  of 
Catechu  Pallidum,"  and  Catechu  Nigrum,"  but  in  1874  the  latter 
was  abandoned.  The  only  English  criticism  I  have  been  able  to  find 
on  this  change  is  by  Mr.  Peter  Squire  (Companion  to  British  Pharma- 
copoeia, 10th  edition,  page  85),  who  states  that  the  black  is  the  one 
adopted  by  other  Pharmacopoeias,  and  is  preferred  in  the  arts  and 
manufactures.    It  is  well  known  "  to  be  by  far  superior  to  the  pale  in 
