AFebrXyP?895m'}  Pharmaceutical  Notes.  89 
As  the  syrup  is  a  frequently  sold  article,  the  altered  taste  and 
color  is  at  times  regarded  with  suspicion  by  the  consumer. 
Having  occasion  to  examine  a  number  of  samples  of  the  vinegar, 
the  writer  noticed  in  several  the  odor  of  acetic  ether.  Further 
examination  revealed  also  the  presence  of  alcohol.  Such  vinegars 
mostly  had  a  cloudy  appearance,  and  a  sample,  prepared  by  the 
writer  from  the  fluid  extract,  according  to  the  formula  of  a  certain 
manufacturing  firm,  possessed  the  identical  properties  after  standing, 
both  in  odor  and  appearance. 
Fluid  extract  of  squill,  a  preparation- largely  alcoholic,  appears 
to  have  been  used  in  the  preparation  of  these  vinegars,  and  conse- 
quently the  alcohol  and  acetic  acid  entered  into  combination  to 
form  acetic  ether. 
On  heating  the  vinegar,  the  latter  is  dissipated,  together  with  the 
excess  of  alcohol,  hence  the  odor  of  the  ether  is  not  so  prominently 
noticeable  in  the  syrup  made  by  heat. 
The  practice  of  "  easy  preparation  "  of  this  official  vinegar  should 
be  discouraged. 
It  is  not  only  a  flagrant  disregard  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  but  a 
preparation  of  this  kind  will,  by  its  odor,  reveal  the  professional 
principle  of  its  maker. 
ULTRAMARINE  IN  SYRUPS. 
The  addition  of  this  pigment  to  sugar  by  the  refiner,  for  the  pur- 
pose of "  whiting,"  the  same,  is  to  the  pharmacist  at  times  the  source  of 
not  a  little  trouble,  not  alone  in  the  preparation  of  medicinal  syrups, 
elixirs  and  allied  saccharine  preparations,  but  also  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  soda  water  flavors. 
The  altered  appearance  of  the  finished  syrup,  differing  from  the 
expected  colorless  preparation,  showing  the  same  to  possess  a 
brownish  tint,  is  a  frequent  source  of  chagrin,  although  liable  to 
happen  when  made  from  the  best  variety  of  granulated  sugar. 
The  Pharmacopoeia  recognizes  this  fact,  and  requires  large  vol- 
umes of  syrup  not  to  deposit  any  sediment  on  standing. 
From  a  chemical  standpoint  another  factor  may  be  noticed, 
equally  important  as  the  mentioned  physical  change,  namely,  the 
occasional  evolution  of  hydrogen  sulphide  from  certain  syrups. 
This  has  probably  been  noticed  by  many  pharmacists,  but  the 
odor  has  been  erroneously  attributed  to  the  "  souring  "  of  the  syrup; 
in  other  words,  to  fermentation. 
