558 
Analysis  of  Tea. 
/Am.  Jour  Pharm. 
\      Dec  ,  1876. 
Mr.  Keller  also  made  an  analysis  of  the  ash,  to  obtain  which  about 
100  grms.  of  the  substance  was  incinerated  at  a  very  low  temperature 
in  porcelain  crucibles  placed  each  within  another  of  sheet  iron  serving 
as  a  hot  air  bath.  The  ash  was  tolerably  free  from  remaining  char- 
coal. Chlorine,  carbon  dioxide  and  silica  were  determined  from  the 
whole  amount  used  ;  and  after  dividing  the  solution  into  two  portions, 
sulphuric  oxide  and  the  alkalies  were  obtained  from  the  one,  and  phos- 
phoric oxide,  ferric  oxide,  lime  and  magnesia  from  the  other.  The 
analysis  afforded  : 
Crude  Ash. 
Pure  Ash. 
K20     .       .       .       .  . 
2*062 
^j-vcuuciiiig  oana,  i^narcoai 
and  Carbon 
Na20  .... 
0-967 
Dioxide.) 
CaO  
2-280 
K20  .... 
4*675 
MgO  .... 
5-017 
Na20  .... 
2-192 
Fe9(X  . 
5-208 
CaO  .... 
.  5-169 
PA  .... 
.  8-725 
MgO 
11-375 
so3  
0-700 
Fe2Os      .       .       .  . 
.  11-808 
CI  . 
.  0-724 
P205           .       .  . 
19.781 
SiO,  . 
18*424 
S03  .... 
•  1-587 
co2"  . 
2-813 
CI  ... 
1-642 
Charcoal  .... 
2-209 
Si02 
.  41*771 
Sand       .  . 
.  50-546 
IOO'OOO 
99-675 
Deduct  0  equiv.  to  CI 
0-370 
Deduct  0  equiv.  to  CI 
0-163 
99-512 
99-630 
The  large  amount  of  sand  is  not  caused  by  want  of  care  in  remov- 
ing the  exterior  portions  of  the  mass.  With  a  lens  sparkling  little 
siliceous  grains  can  be  detected  on  a  perfectly  clean  cut  surface  of  the 
interior.  This  again  accords  with  the  idea  of  a  fungoid  growth  push- 
ing its  way  in  a  sandy  soil  into  disintegrating  woody  tissue,  and  cannot 
at  all  be  conceived  of  as  a  result  of  simple  independent  vegetable 
growth.  Part  of  the  large  percentage  of  silica  found  to  be  soluble, 
and  perhaps  of  the  iron  also,  may  very  likely  be  also  mechanically 
derived  from  the  soil,  but  how  much  we  have  no  means  of  deter- 
mining.—  Chem.  News,  Oct.  20,  1876. 
ANALYSIS  of  FIFTEEN  SAMPLES  of  TEA.    ALSO,  an  INVESTIGA- 
TION of  METHODS  of  DETERMINING  the  TANNIN  of  TEA. 
BY  J.  T.  CLARK,  PH.C. 
In  estimation  of  the  portion  soluble  in  water,  one  gram  of  the  tea  was 
boiled  briskly1  for  fifteen  minutes  with  50  cc.  of  water  and  the  clear 
1  Wanklyn :  "  Tea,  Coffee  and  Cocoa  Analysis,"  p.  15. 
