^"aLs":  is^s""' }  Editorial.  3  8 1 
more,  published  in  the  "  Virginia  Medical  Monthly"  for  May.  Dr.  Caldwell  also 
reports  some  cases  in  which  great  benefit  was  derived  from  the  tonic  and  aphrodisiac 
properties  of  this  new  remedy,  and  calls  the  attention  of  the  medical  profession  to 
the  virtues  of  this  "pretty  little  plant,"  which,  from  the  above  vague  description' of 
the  consul,  however,  appears  to  be  a  tree  or  shrub. 
Dr.  Chas.  McQuestin,  of  San  Francisco,  in  a  paper  published  in  the  Pacific 
Medical  and  Surgical  Journal  "  for  July,  endorses  the  above  statements  as  to  the 
aphrodisiac  powers  of  damiana,  and  states  that  an  infusion  of  one  ounce  of  the 
dried  leaves  to  a  pint  of  water  is  the  daily  dose  ;  it  has  an  agreeable  aromatic  and 
slightly  bitter  taste.  Dr.  Caldwell  has  been  using  it  in  the  form  of  tincture  and 
fluid  extract. 
It  is  not  our  province  to  discuss  the  therapeutical  value  of  a  drug  5  but  we  must 
say  that  we  miss  in  the  above  a  description  of  this  new  claimant  for  medical  favor, 
giving  such  characteristics  as  would  enable  the  pharmacist  to  distinguish  it  from  all 
other  leaves  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  complete  botanical  specimens  may  soon  reach  this 
country,  so  that  the  true  source  of  damiana  may  be  established.  Whether  it  will 
share  the  fate  of  anacahuite  or  cundurango,  must,  of  course,  be  left  undecided  until 
more  extensive  experiments  have  been  made  with  the  drug  known  to  be  genuine. 
"Doctored"  Sugar. — The  note  which  we  copy  below  will  explain  to  our 
readers  how  an  inferior  sugar  is  by  some  parties  made  to  resemble  good  refined 
sugar.  In  explanation,  we  may  state  that  a  druggist  of  Philadelphia,  on  using  gran- 
ulated sugar,  obtained  from  a  New  York  house,  in  the  preparation  of  syrup,  noticed 
a  blue-purple  scum  rising  to  the  surface,  which  was  skimmed  off,  when  the  syrup 
was  observed  to  be  of  a  pale  straw  color.  On  writing  to  the  refiner  for  an  explana- 
tion, the  following  answer  was  received  : 
"New  York,  June  23,  1875. 
"  We  have  to  apologize  for  apparent  neglect  in  not  answering  sooner  to  your  letter  sent  to  us  a  few 
days  ago.  It  was  mislaid  by  our  Chemist,  to  whom  we  had  handed  it,  and  hence  the  delay.  In  reply, 
we  beg  to  state,  in  regard  to  the  coloring  of  our  sugar,  that  we  use  'blue  '  (ultramarine,  an  insoluble  and 
perfectly  harmless  substance)  as  a  complementary  color  to  the  '  yellow.'  When  sugar  containing  '  blue  ' 
is  dissolved  in  a  small  quantity  of  water,  the  '  blue '  gradually  rises  to  the  surface,  and  the  'yellow  '  color 
appears  in  the  solution.  As  to  the  '  scum,'  there  can  be  none,  provided  the  sugar  has  been  dissolved  in 
pure  water  and  not  over-heated." 
This  is  not  a  new  dodge,  and  is  practiced  in  Europe  as  well  as  in  this  country, 
indigo  and  probably  other  coloring  matters  being  used  by  some  in  place  of  ultramarine. 
The  practice  is  the  more  reprehensible  if  such  a  doctored  sugar  is  represented  as  first 
quality  refined  sugar,  as  which  it  is  probably  sold  by  some  grocers  without  being 
noticed  by  the  consumers.  The  presence  of  such  colors  is  easily  determined  by 
removing  a  portion  from  the  surface  of  boiling  syrup,  and  passing  it  through  white 
filtering-paper,  which  will  retain  the  coloring-  matter.  We  are  not  aware  that  blue 
colors  soluble  in  water  have  been  used  for  the  same  purpose. 
Fraudax. — This  very  appropriate  mm  de  plume  has  been  adopted  by  a  writer  to 
the  Tennessee  "  Pharmacal  Gazette,"  who,  in  the  issue  of  that  paper  of  June  23d, 
displays  such  a  pitiful  amount  of  ignorance  of  chemical  literature,  that  we  would 
honor  this  production,  like  other  effusions  of  a  similar  nature  which  have  appeared 
in  the  "  Gazette,"  with  profound  silence,  if  it  was  not  for  his  direct  charge  of  mis- 
