52 
What  is  Terra  Alba? 
I  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t    February,  1913. 
This  list  of  authorities  and  works  of  reference  is  by  no  means 
complete,  but  it  illustrates  the  range  of  the  search,  which  included 
every  book  that  might  possibly  contain  a  reference  to  the  subject. 
At  last  two  references  were  found  in  support  of  the  view 
previously  mentioned,  that  terra  alba  is  not  one  but  a  number  of 
substances.  In  the  21st  annual  report  of  the  Connecticut  Agricul- 
tural Experiment  Station  for  1897,  page  34,  was  found  the  follow- 
ing statement  in  connection  with  the  examination  of  some  samples 
of  confectionery  (where  again,  no  evidence  of  its  presence  was 
found  in  a  number  of  samples  examined)  :  "  Terra  alba,  literally 
signifying  white  earth,  is  a  trade  name  for  some  cheap,  tasteless 
and  flavorless  white  substance  in  powder,  which  can  be  used  as  a 
make-weight  adulterant.  Pipe  clay  and  gypsum  are  commonly  sold 
under  this  name."  The  foregoing  reference  is  not  nearly  so  avail- 
able nor  so  complete,  however,  as  the  following  from  Webster's 
International  Dictionary,  1900: 
"Terra  alba  (L.  white  earth)  (Com.),  a  white,  amorphous, 
earthy  substance  consisting  of  burnt  gypsum,  aluminum  silicate 
(kaolin),  or  some  similar  ingredient,  as  magnesia.  It  is  some- 
times used  to  adulterate  certain  foods,  spices,  candies,  paints,  etc." 
The  later  edition  of  the  same  authority  (1910)  gives  prac- 
tically the  same  information  in  a  slightly  different  form,  as  follows: 
"Any  one  of  several  white  amorphous  substances;  as  (a) 
gypsum,  ground  for  pigment,  (b)  kaolin,  used  especially  as  an 
adulterant  of  paints,  etc.,  (c)  burnt  alum,  (d)  magnesia." 
The  foregoing  facts  will  probably  be  of  interest  to  many  who 
have  already  met  or  will  at  some  time  in  the  future  meet  this 
query.  The  variations  and  inconsistencies  recorded  in  connection 
with  the  search  illustrate  the  carelessness  or  incompleteness,  or 
both,  with  which  many  works  of  reference  are  compiled. 
The  possibilities  are  almost  infinite  for  a  shrewd  lawyer  to  take 
advantage  of  these  differences  and  interpose  technicalities  as  to 
the  identity  of  the  substance  terra  alba  in  a  case  where  its  presence 
is  made  the  basis  of  a  prosecution  for  adulteration.  It  would  seem 
to  be  preferable  to  follow  the  example  of  the  Pennsylvania  State 
law  in  which  the  prohibition  is  made  equally  emphatic  by  the  use 
of  the  general  term  "  mineral  substances." 
