394  Balsam  Copaiba  vs.  Gurjun  Balsam.  {^kl^i^l™' 
all  the  barks  in  order  to  compare  them ;  but  as  this  part  of  the 
examination  did  not  yield  results  which  appear  of  special  signifi- 
cance now,  they  need  not  be  here  recorded.  The  examination  of 
the  chloroformic  extract  proves  the  most  interesting,  and  is  worthy 
of  mention  at  this  time. 
TABULATION  OF  RESULTS. 
V.  opulus.  V.  prun. 
Per  cent.  Per  cent. 
Chloroformic  extract  5*98  9*46 
V.  op.  V.  prun. 
Per  cent.         Per  cent. 
(a)  Soluble  in  water  -0918  *ioo 
ib)  Soluble  in  petroleum  spirit   i*66  7-83 
(c)  Resinous  matter  2^44  75 
{d)  Residue  ........  17882  78 
For  this  comparison  of  constituents  I  am  indebted  to  the  assist- 
ance of  Mr.  E.  E.  Cowman,  who  performed  the  work  under  my 
direction.  The  figures  are  his.  Work  on  the  proximate  analysis  of 
the  different  specimens  is  still  in  progress,  and  what  is  here  pre- 
ented  must  be  regarded  as  preliminary. 
These  preliminary  results  seem  to  justify  the  hope  that  a  means 
may  soon  be  discovered  by  which  the  different  barks  may  be  dis- 
tinguished even  in  the  state  of  powder.  The  practical  details  for 
this  discrimination  are  not  yet  worked  out.  It  is  hoped  this  pre- 
liminary report  will  be  a  help  to  those  who  may  desire  to  offer 
assistance  in  perfecting  these  details. 
BALSAM  COPAIBA  vs.  GURJUN  BALSAM.  ^ 
By  Lyman  F.  Kebi/er. 
For  some  time  considerable  unrest  has  been  displayed  by  several 
dealers  concerning  the  questionable  purity  of  some  of  the  balsam 
copaiba  in  our  markets.  On  comparing  the  statistics1  of  importa- 
tions for  the  past  few  years,  this  anxiety  is  not  without  foundation. 
The  arrivals  from  direct  sources  of  this  commodity  during  1 891 
amounted  to  205,480  pounds;  during  1892,  amounted  to  185,280 
pounds;  during  1893,  amounted  to  80,000  pounds;  during  1894, 
amounted  to  82,000  pounds  ;  while  the  annual  sales  for  consumption 
are  estimated  at  1 22,000  pounds.  During  the  latter  part  of  1 894  about 
30,000  pounds  of  gurjun  balsam  arrived.    At  the  request  of  Mr. 
1  From  Messrs.  Stallman  and  Fulton. 
