132  Examination  of  Vegetable  Products.    { Ar%f™h  ma* 
responding  to  approximately  4.4  per  cent,  of  oleic  acid.  The  specific 
gravity  of  hydrated  oil  varies  from  0.9252  to  0.9268  at  150  C. 
The  melting  point  varies  from  44. 50  to  46. 5 0  and  the  fat  is  readily 
saponified  on  boiling  with  alkalies. 
Sulphuric  Acid  Caustic  Pastes. — Pussey,  W.  A.  (/.  Am.  M. 
Assoc.,  1913,  v.  60,  pp.  434-435),  discusses  the  use  and  the  formulas 
of  sulphuric  acid  caustic  pastes  and  notes  that  while  a  sulphuric 
acid  paste  may  be  effectively  used  for  destroying  lesions  -in  the 
skin  it  is  not  a  desirable  agent  when  one  needs  to  consider  cosmetic 
effects.    See  also  p.  462. 
Thyroid  Gland  Preparations. — An  editorial  (/.  Am.  M.  Assoc., 
1912,  v.  59,  p.  1980)  notes  that  the  products  available  in  the  form 
of  desiccated  thyroid  are  derived  from  several  of  the  slaughter 
house  animals,  notably  sheep,  and  the  commercial  preparations  are 
frequently  standardized  in  terms  of  their  content  of  iodine.  The 
glands  of  hogs  are  usually  richest  in  iodine  and  their  selection  for 
therapeutic  purposes  appears  decidedly  rational,  at  least,  so  far  as 
known,  there  is  no  occasion  to  reject  the  hog  products. 
Vanadium  PreparoJions. — The  Council  on  Pharmacy  and  Chem- 
istry (/.  Am.  M.  Assoc.,  191 3,  v.  60,  p.  225)  reports  on  a  number 
of  proprietary  preparations  containing  vanadium  and  concludes  that 
the  manufacturer  of  these  preparations  has  not  submitted  reliable 
evidence  to  substantiate  the  therapeutic  claims  that  are  being  made 
for  them.  While  vanadium  itself  may  possibly  have  uses  in 
medicine  such  uses,  up  to  the  present  time  at  least,  have  not  been 
firmly  established. 
THE  MICROSCOPICAL  EXAMINATION  OF  VEGETABLE 
PRODUCTS  AS  AN  ADIUNCT  TO  THEIR 
CHEMICAL  ANALYSIS.1 
By  A.  L.  Winton. 
U.  S.  Food  and  Drug  Inspection  Laboratory,  Chicago,  111. 
In  solving  the  problems  of  man  and  nature  the  analytical  chemist 
too  often  limits  himself  to  chemical  or  physico-chemical  methods. 
He  is  an  analytical  chemist  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word  and  not 
an  analyst,  which  implies  a  man  of  broader  training  and  experience, 
1  Reprinted  from  original  communications,  Eighth  International  Congress 
of  Applied  Chemistry.    Vol.  xviii,  pp.  361-366. 
> 
