598 
Iris  Test  Paper. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec.,  1888. 
ing  most  (15*225  per  cent.),  while  No.  3  contained  least  (10-907  per 
cent.).  The  last  two  samples  were  not  dried,  but  just  the  amount  of 
ash  ascertained. 
On  agitating  5  grms.  of  the  starch  with  100  cc.  of  distilled  water, 
filtering  and  evaporating  the  filtrate  to  dryness,  the  amount  of  soluble 
matter  was  found  to  vary  from  0'200  per  cent,  to  0*560  per  cent. 
Oq  redissolving  this  in  distilled  water,  no  reaction  was  given  with 
Fehling's  solution,  nor  was  any  change  noticed  after  boiling  with  HCl, 
neutralizing  with  NH^  OH,  and  adding  Fehling\s  solution.  How- 
ever, when  treated  with  iodine,  all  gave  the  blue  color,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  No.  4.  No  ammonia  odor  was  evolved  on  heating  with 
strong  NaOH  solution,  indicating  absence  of  nitrogenous  matter. 
Distilled  water  agitated  with  the  starch,  then  filtered,  gave  a  neutral 
reaction  to  test  paper,  except  Nos.  4  and  5,  which  were  very  slightly 
alkaline. 
On  boiling  with  water  the  order  of  transparency  of  the  jelly  was  1, 
2,  4,  3,  5,  No.  1  being  perfectly  clear,  the  others  following  in  the 
order  given,  Nos.  3  and  5  having  a  faint  blue  tint. 
On  examination  under  the  microscope.  No.  5  was  found  to  be  wheat 
starch,  the  rest  being  corn  starch,  with,  of  course,  the  exception  of  No. 
1,  which  was  known  to  be  from  the  potato. 
ON  IRIS  TEST  PAPER. 
By  Wm.  G.  Greenawalt,  Ph.  G. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  November  20th. 
Last  spring,  while  arranging  some  of  our  common  blue  flags  for  a 
floral  display,  I  was  attracted  by  their  deep  purplish  blue  color  and 
conceived  the  idea  that  the  coloring  matter  might  be  utilized  for  some 
good  purpose.  After  a  little  thought  upon  the  subject,  I  decided  to 
try  the  eflect  of  acids  and  alkalies  upon  it,  when,  as  I  had  anticipated, 
the  former  produced  a  magenta  red  color,  but  to  my  surprise  the  latter 
gave  a  green  color.  I  then  prepared  a  strong  infusion  of  the  petals 
in  hot  water,  filtered  it,  and  evaporated  to  concentrate  the  solution. 
In  this  I  dipped  pieces  of  unsized  white  paper  which  were  colored 
blue,  the  purplish  hue  being  overcome  presumably  by  the  strength  of 
the  solution,  and  I  found  by  experimenting  that  I  had  a  very  good 
test  paper  for  acids  and  alkalies. 
