8o 
Adulterations  in  Drttps. 
o 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I    February,  1901. 
a  sample  of  so-called  stony  asafoetida,  was  found  to  consist  almost 
entirely  of  solid  stone,  with  a  small  quantity  of  gum  adhering  to  it. 
The  required  technique  is  simplicity  itself.  Having  the  necessary 
apparatus,  all  that  is  required  is  to  look  at  the  interference 
offered  by  the  earthy  materials  as  indicated  on  a  fluorescent  screen, 
or,  if  we  should  desire  a  permanent  record  of  the  examination,  we 
simply  replace  the  fluorescent  screen  with  a  photographic  plate 
and  give  an  exposure  of  from  ten  to  twenty  seconds.  Subsequent 
development  will  show  us  at  once  whether  or  not  any  appreciable 
amount  of  foreign  matter  is  present.  By  making  a  comparative  ex- 
posure of  a  drug  of  known  quality,  we  can  estimate,  roughly  of 
course,  the  amount  of  adulteration,  and  at  least  say  definitely 
whether  or  not  it  is  better  or  worse  than  the  sample,  the  com- 
position of  which  is  known.  Among  the  drugs  that  have  been 
examined  for  foreign  matter  we  have  found  that  gum-arabic,  gum- 
senegal  and  manna  are  comparatively  free  from  admixtures  of 
inorganic  materials.  Asafoetida,  as  mentioned  above,  is  constantly 
and  grossly  adulterated.  Myrrh  is  another  drug  that  has  a  more 
or  less  constant  admixture  of  adulterating  materials,  not  necessarily 
clay  or  sand,  however,  as  one  sample  of  Turkey  myrrh,  from  the 
College  collection,  was  found  to  be  a  piece  of  bark  coated  on  the 
outside  with  myrrh.  Of  the  three  specimens  of  guaiac  that  were 
examined,  one  was  a  specimen  of  purified  guaiac  from  the  College 
collection.  This  seems  to  be  free  from  inorganic  matter.  The 
other  two  specimens  have  a  slight  amount  of  foreign  material  mixed 
with  the  resin. 
Several  specimens  of  benzoin  were  examined  ;  of  these,  one  had 
small  masses  of  yellow  clay  mixed  with  the  drug,  and  another  con- 
sisted largely  of  bark  and  chips  of  wood. 
The  commercial  samples  of  aloes  that  were  examined  were  all 
free  lrom  sand  and  dirt.  Several  old  specimens,  obtained  from  Pro- 
fessor Kraemer,  were  grossly  adulterated.  One  specimen  labelled 
Socotrine  aloes  was  a  flat  cake  and  consisted  largely  of  sand  or  clay 
that  had  been  mixed  with  the  melted  gum.  Another  sample 
labelled  caballine  aloes  also  contained  a  large  amount  of  inorganic 
material. 
Scammony,  galbanum  and  gamboge  all  seem  to  contain  a  small 
amount  of  foreign  material  mixed  with  the  natural  exudation  of  the 
respective  plants. 
