322  Notes  on  Some  Saps  and  Secretions.     { *mjZZ™i&£*tm' 
The  following  summary  will  serve  for  a  comparative  consideration 
of  the  results  obtained  by  analysis  : 
Extrac- 
Theobro- 
Albume- 
Nos. 
Moisture. 
Ash. 
Fat. 
tive. 
mine. 
Starch. 
noids. 
770 
30-82 
7-48 
1-08 

15-22 
•  ■  4'27 
5 '54 
34*04 
7'44 
ro2 
11-26 
17-29 
4-24 
32-48 
6-52 
056 
1 7 '65 
17-27 
4  .  .  .  . 
•     3 '99 
4  '05 
38-76 
7'52 
ro6 
20-71 
6'77 
5   •  •  • 
•  4'33 
4-28 
31-16 
5'26 
1-36 
16-07 
12-78 
6  .  .  .  . 
5'23 
27-52 
6-62 
1-28 
23'34 
157+ 
8-19 
•  29-78 
9-88 
0*69 
21'26 
17-03 
8  .  .  .  . 
•  4'59 
6-69 
33  '06 
8-52 
0-88 
"'33 
11-41 
9  .  .  .  . 
.  4/64 
670 
3178 
770 
1*22 
15*99 
16-87 
.  3"84 
4-69 
33*32 
5'84 
0-82 
16-94 
1674 
470 
27-58 
648 
O-70 
21-05 
13*58 
12    ...  . 
270 
4**5 
37-68 
4-io 
o-66 
16-26 
H'I3 
Average  . 
.  4'" 
5"5i 
32*33 
6-94 
0-94 
17*43 
I4"56 
These  results  do  not  warrant  the  conclusion  that  any  of  the  above 
samples  were  adulterated,  but  rather  point  to  the  fact  that  they  were 
free  from  any  appreciable  amount  of  foreign  admixture. 
The  percentage  of  fat,  however,  was  found  to  be  more  than  some 
of  the  manufacturers'  claims  would  lead  us  to  expect. 
The  high  ash  in  Nos.  1,  7,  8  and  9,  and  the  dark  color  produced 
when  the  samples  were  heated  with  water,  naturally  led  to  the.  con- 
clusion that  they  had  been  treated  with  a  small  quantity  of 
inorganic  material,  probably  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  them 
more  soluble. 
NOTES    ON    SOME    SAPS    AND    SECRETIONS  USED 
IN  PHARMACY.^ 
By  P.  L.  Simmonds,  F.L.S. 
[Continued  from  p.  256. ] 
Narthex  asafcetida,  Falconer;  Ferula  Nar the x,  Boissier.  The  Ferula 
asafcetida,  Linne,  of  Persia,  Afghanistan  and  Turkestan  yields  the 
ordinary  medicinal  gum  resinous  exudation  locally  known  as  Anguzi, 
but  in  India  the  pure  drug  is  called  "  Hing,"  and  the  coarser  kind 
"  Hingra."  Asafcetida  contains  two  essential  oils  ;  although  the 
odors  of  oil  of  garlic,  oil  of  onions  and  asafcetida  are  similar,  asa- 
fcetida contains  no  trace  of  allyl.  An  exhaustive  paper  on  this 
essential  oil  has  been  published  by  Dr.  Semmler.  Its  density  is 
about  0-984. 
Asafcetida  is  commonly  used  by  the  Mahomedan  population  of 
