5o  Examination  of  Commercial  Dextrin.  {  A^anJu°au;ry)  ^j}*™* 
act  reorganizing  this  branch  of  the  army  service  the  principles  for 
which  we  have  been  contending  must  be  incorporated.  Our  efforts 
are  now  being  concentrated  to  secure  in  these  reorganization  laws 
a  fair  recognition  of  pharmacy  and  the  establishment  of  a  pharma- 
ceutical corps,  even  though  in  the  Army  in  peace  times  it  be  but  a 
cadre  that  may  be  readily  extended  in  times  of  need  to  the  necessities 
of  the  nation. 
This  organization  must  be  kept  intact  and  actively  continue  the 
work  that  has  been  mapped  out  for  it.  It  must  maintain  its  ener- 
getic efforts  and  propaganda  until  the  objects  for  which  it  was 
organized  are  achieved.  To  lose  heart  at  this  time,  would  mean  the 
sacrifice  of  all  of  the  progress  that  has  already  been  made  and 
destroy  the  hope  of  accomplishing  the  worthy  objects  and  aims  for 
which  pharmacists  have  been  contending  for  so  many  years  and  for 
the  attaining  of  which  the  National  Pharmaceutical  Service  Associa- 
tion was  organized.  To  carry  on  this  work  to  a  successful  con- 
clusion this  association  must  have  the  loyal  support  of  the  body 
pharmaceutic  and  its  membership  and  its  treasury  should  indicate  no 
lack  of  interest  on  the  part  of  the  druggists  of  the  United  States. 
THE  EXAMINATION  OF  COMMERCIAL  DEXTRIN  AND 
RELATED  STARCH  PRODUCTS.1 
By  F.  W.  Babington,  Alfred  Tingle,  and  C.  E.  Watson. 
The  materials  to  be  considered  come  under  two  heads,  viz.,  (i) 
starches  that  have  been  so  treated  as  partly  to  hydrolyze  a  portion 
of  the  material,  and  (2)  mixtures  of  untreated  starches  with  starch 
that  has  been  submitted  to  hydrolysis.  Both  classes  of  material  may 
be  treated  analytically  in  the  same  way. 
Starch  furnishes  many  and  ill-defined  products  when  hydrolyzed, 
but  for  commercial  purposes  it  often  suffices  to  distinguish  between, 
and  determine,  "  starch  "  and  "  dextrin  gum." 
Our  increasing  but  still  incomplete  knowledge  of  this  branch  of 
carbohydrate  chemistry  has  caused  the  name  starch  to  have  a  wider 
and  more  vague  meaning  than  formerly,  so  that  it  is  necessary  to 
define  the  sense  in  which  it  is  here  used.    Analytically  we  consider 
1  Reprinted  from  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  August 
15,  1918. 
