Am.  jour.  Pharm.l 
February,  1913.  J 
What  is  Terra  Alba? 
5i 
connection  with  the  classification  of  chemical  substances  for  the 
tariff,  a  letter  was  addressed  to  the  U.  S.  Treasury  Department 
asking  for  a  definition  of  terra  alba.  In  reply,  the  Bulletin  of 
the  Treasury  Department,  issued  in  1909,  was  received,  attention 
being  directed  to  the  following  paragraph,  No.  693,  "  Terra  alba 
not  made  from  gypsum  or  plaster  rock." 
In  Bulletin  No.  13,  issued  by  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture in  1892,  upon  the  subject  of  confectionery,  the  only  mention  of 
the  substance  is  in  the  following  sentence,  referring  to  insoluble 
substances  looked  for  in  the  250  samples  examined  (but  not  found)  : 
"  Terra  alba,  kaolin  or  other  mineral  substances." 
By  this  time  I  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  terra  alba  is  a 
substance  differing  in  its  identity  according  to  the  particular  in- 
dustry in  or  purpose  for  which  it  is  used  and  a  search  was  com- 
menced for  some  one  authority  who  would  recognize  and  record 
this  fact.  I  was  astonished  to  find  the  large  number  of  books  on 
chemistry,  etc.,  and  works  of  reference  in  which  no  mention  what- 
ever is  made  of  terra  alba  in  the  indexes.  These  books  included 
the  following: 
British  Pharm.  Codex,  1907. 
U.  S.  Dispensatory,  19th  ed.,  1907. 
King's  American  Dispensatory,  1859. 
Amy's  Principles  of  Pharmacy,  1909. 
Remington's  Practice  of  Pharmacy,  4th  ed.,  1906. 
Hager's  Pharmaceutical  Praxis,  1907. 
Parrish's  Practice  of  Pharmacy,  1874. 
Sadtler  and  Coblentz,  Text  Book  of  Chemistry,  1907. 
Attfield's  Chemistry,  1890. 
Alex.  Smith's  General  Inorganic  Chemistry,  1906. 
Wagner's  Chemical  Technology,  1904. 
Thorpe's  Dictionary  of  Chemistry. 
Watts'  Dictionary  of  Chemistry. 
Sadtler's  Industrial  Organic  Chemistry,  1912. 
Molinari's  Industrial  Inorganic  Chemistry,  1912. 
Encyclopedia  Britannica,  191 1. 
Johnson's  Dictionary,  1877. 
Worcester's  Dictionary,  1894. 
Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Manufactures,  etc.,  i860. 
Spon's  Encyclopedia  of  Industries,  Arts  and  Manufactures,  1879. 
Food  Inspection  and  Analysis,  Leach,  1904. 
Koenig's  Nahrung  und  Genussmittel,  1889. 
