Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
July,  1875.  i 
Laboratory  Notes. 
vation  of  Mr.  Horner,  *  who  finds  that  fluorescence  is  wonderfully  de- 
veloped by  castor  oil,  may  be  made  use  of  with  great  advantage.  A 
drop  of  castor  oil  that  has  been  passed  through  adulterated  mustard, 
upon  a  filter,  appears  green  when  dropped  upon  a  black  plate  in  ordinary 
daylight.  If  the  mustard  is  pure,  no  coloration  will  be  perceived.  I 
have  met  with  some  specimens  of  "  Saffron,"  (the  stigma  and  style  of 
Crocus  sativus)^  which  give  a  fluorescence.  They  were  evidently  adul- 
terated because  the  flowers  of  saffron  give  no  fluorescence.  This 
saffron  is  a  most  expensive  drug,  and  is  therefore  very  liable  to  adul- 
teration. 
LABORATORY  NOTES. 
BY  A.  B.  LYONS,  M.  D. 
Solution  of  lodo-Bromide  of  Calcium  Compound. — The  following  are  the 
results  of  a  chemical  analysis  we  have  recently  made  of  this  prep- 
aration : 
One  hundred  parts  contain  : 
Calcium,  .....  872 
Magnesium,  ....  i'35 
Sodium,  .....  I  "20 
Potassium,  .  .  .  .a  trace. 
Aluminum,         ...       a  trace. 
Chlorine,  .....  20-35 
Bromine,  ....  0*95 
Iodine,  .....  0*20 
Silicic  acid,  .  .  not  estimated. 
Organic  matter,  ,       .     not  estimated. 
One  fluidounce  therefore  contains,  approximately  : 
Chloride  of  calcium  (anhydrous),       .  .  .  .142  grains. 
Chloride  of  magnesium,  .  .  .  .  30  " 
Chloride  of  sodium,    .  .  .  .  .  .      18  " 
Bromide  of  magnesium,   ,      .     .  .  .  .  6  " 
Iodide  of  potassium,  .  .  .  .  .  .  " 
Total  mineral  constituents,  ....         200  " 
Iron,  which  is  mentioned  on  the  label  as  one  of  the  constituents,  was 
not  detected  in  the  sample  examined. 
The  quantities  of  iodine  and  bromine  were  not  determined  with  rig- 
orous exactness,  but  the  figures  given  are  above  rather  than  below  those 
which  exact  analysis  would  yield. 
The  bromine  is  assumed,  on  theoretical  grounds,  to  be  in  combina- 
tion, in  the  solution,  with  magnesium.  Of  course,  the  efficacy  of  the 
preparation  would  not  be  affected  by  substituting  bromide  of  sodium 
for  the  bromide  of  magnesium  in  making  up  an  artificial  iodo-bromide, 
and  the  physician  would  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  exactly  what 
Philosophical  Magazine,"  September,  1874. 
