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danger of unsound fruit, which is one reason of inferior oil. In Southern France, the Nice district along the slopes of the Mediterranean, where the trees grow exceedingly tall, the gathering is chiefly done by beating the branches of the trees with long sticks in order to bring the fruit to the ground, which has previously been covered with large sheets stretched over short poles to prevent the bruising of the fruit and the soiling of the olives by the earth. This operation is called "Gaulage."

Wind and rain storms, during which great quantities of olives are thrown to the ground resulting in bruised and moldy fruit; frosts, and an insect known as the "olive fly" are the principal causes of an unadulterated yet inferior olive oil. Also if the fruit is unripe, the oil produced will have a greenish tinge and a sharp flavor; if overripe, the color will be very pale and the flavor insipid, often slightly rancid. It is estimated that the yield of oil for the best variety of olives is about eighteen per cent of their weight, or about one and one-half gallons per tree, in a favorable season.

Practically no modern machinery is used in extracting the oil, which is a very simple process, being almost the same as that employed for many centuries past. The more important olive growers have their own mills, to which the smaller growers bring the fruit for pressing, carrying away their oil. There are no large mills or factories for this purpose in Italy. To avoid bruising the fruit, and thus deteriorating the quality of the oil, the former should be handled as little as possible before it is pressed.

Manufacture of Olive Oil.

The olives are taken to the mill immediately after being gathered and are pressed within twenty-four hours. The mills, which are worked by water power or oxen, consist of a mill trough of cut stone cemented externally and the millstones, both of which must be nonabsorbent lest a rancid flavor be imparted to the oil. About ten bushels of olives may be pressed at once, the time occupied for this being about one hour. The fruit is crushed entire (both pulp and stone) until reduced to the consistency of paste. This substance is then placed in flat, circular receptacles, a sort of bag or basket made from rushes. Several such bags are placed one on top of the other and this pyramid of baskets placed under the press. Cold water is then poured over them to facilitate the flow of the oil, which passes into a receiving vessel and is gradually skimmed off the water into a second receptacle, where it is allowed to setttle before being transferred to the oil store or terra-cotta jar in which the oil is preserved in the country districts. The oil resulting from the first pressing is known as "virgin oil” and is of course the finest in quality.

The second pressing, which must be performed immediately to avoid fermentation, is carried out in practically the same manner, hot water being used for pouring over the paste before pressing. Oil thus extracted, though lacking body, may still be of fair

quality. The residue after these two pressings will still contain a certain amount of oil, which is fit, however only for industrial uses. After all the oil possible has been extracted the residue is formed into cakes and used for fuel with satisfactory results.

The oil, after being extracted, is sold to the merchant, who undertakes the process of filtering, which process through the courtesy of a Leghorn merchant, I was permitted to observe. Pure olive oil is not refined, as many are led to believe, but filtered. Even the finest quality (the oil yielded by the first pressing) contains small particles of fruit and a certain amount

of water.

Preparation of Olive Oil for the Market.

The process of filtering is as follows: the oil having first been pumped from the casks, in which it is sent by the grower to the merchant, into a large receptacle with double bottom, through which steam circulates, thus being heated and made fluid (in winter the oil hardens almost to the consistency of butter,) is then pumped into a filtering tank, where the actual process of filtering takes place by passing the oil through several layers of carded cotton wool, which removes any impurities or sediment. The oil being now perfectly clear, is pumped from the filters through pipes to the covered storage tanks. These tanks are constructed of cement and lined with slate or hard marble and hold about 10,000 gallons each. Here the oil remains at an equable temperature until wanted for shipment. At time of shipment the oil, having been pumped from the storage tanks to tanks in the shipping room, is drawn off and put into barrels, cans or bottles and packed.

The Consumption of Olive Oil.

The consumption of olive oil in this country is increasing at a tremendous rate, the late statement of imports by the department of Commerce and Labor showing an increase of 3,062,323 gallons over the preceding year. In Europe and Asia, olive oil has for centuries been considered a necessity in every household and the housekeeper there would as soon be without flour or sugar as without a supply of olive oil. In this country, the people are gradually awakening to the value of pure olive oil in the domestic economy. It's food value is unquestioned and there are numerous ways in which it can be employed to advantage not known to the average layman, not alone, but even to many intelligent cooks and caterers.

The publicity given to the value of olive oil as a dietary article by the daily press and the many periodicals tend to disseminate more and more the knowledge of its practical value in the preparation of many dishes in which olive oil up to the present day was not known to be employed, and even now a great number of intelligent housekeepers seem to think that usefulness of olive oil in the kitchen is limited to the production of a mayonnaise sauce or a French dressing, which is a fallacy, for in the frying of fish, oysters, steaks, chops, etc., there is nothing equal to olive oil. It puts butter out of commission and lard is simply not in it.

Olive oil is in every way the best frying medium that can be used, not only from the perfection of result that can be obtained but also from its digestibility and economy. Many who cannot assimilate foods cooked in animal fats find no discomfort where olive oil is used, and while animal fats are largely absorbed by the foods cooked in them, olive oil suffers but little diminution in quantity and can be strained and used over and over again.

Olive oil does not require heating to the same temperature as lard or other animal fats because there is no water in it, and in consequence the cook's test of "smoking hot" fat does not hold good, but if a crust of bread dropped into the heated oil will brown while one counts twenty it is ready for almost all kinds of frying.

The famous cooking of Provence owes its reputation to the use of olive oil in all frying and sautéing. Fish fried in oil is at its best, and the Jewish fashion of cooking it is admirable. For sautéing a very small quantity of oil will suffice; just enough to grease the pan. For the deep frying use enough to completely immerse the article to be cooked. The oil should be hot enough to allow the article to be instantly seared at every point. The bread test will tell you whether the temperature is right. If the little cube of bread dropped in colors immediately a bright gold tint the heat is right. If the bread remains pale it is not hot enough, and if it browns immediately it is too hot. The oil left over, after the frying, can be poured off in a dish and kept for the next cooking. And here is where the matter of economy comes in. While pound for pound, pure olive oil may cost more than lard and the average cooking butter, the fact that on account of it being a vegetable and not animal fat, it is not absorbed by the meat or fish when frying, as is the case with butter and lard, but that after the operation the remaining oil can be strained and used over and over again makes the employment of olive oil equally as economical, if not more so, than the use of butter or lard, while the result is tenfold in the favor of olive oil.

In order to obtain the proper results, however, only the highest quality "Virgin Oil" should be employed and here is where I desire to say a few words in behalf of the "Maltese Cross" brand of olive oil, which is not alone pure, but it is a high quality of oil. It is truly a virgin oil, the first pressing of selected ripe olives, and nothing else.

In sweetness and palatability it cannot be excelled. It is an oil in which Purity is blended with Quality. These two qualifications are not by any means synonymous. An article may be pure, unadulterated and unsophisticated and still not possess that high quality, that delicious, agreeable taste, that delicate flavor, which appeals to our senses. There are a number of brands of olive oil on the market which are pure, unmixed, and unadulterated and comply with the requirements of the Pure Food Law, but many of them are of inferior quality as to taste and flavor, and some

of them are positively unfit to be used as a condiment, table delicacy, or for medicinal purposes.

Effect of the Pure Food and Drugs Law.

Since the enactment of the Pure Food Law in this country, there is not so much danger of adulteration with cotton seed, sesame and other cheaper oils, as all imported olive oil must be submitted for analysis to the department of agriculture and if found adulterated the oil must be shipped back to the country of origin, but the danger lies in the misbranding and mislabeling of the oils put up abroad as to quality, and which is done with the knowledge and cognizance of the foreign governments and against which there is at present no redress.

Even though many brands of olive oil may be pure in construction there is as much difference in their

quality as there is between a Virginia stogie and the fragrance of a real fine Havana cigar. Purity alone will not fill the bill; it is quality that should be considered and insisted on.

I will quote from an official report of Consul D. I. Murphy of Bordeaux, France, in which he lays special stress on the fact that many exporters dispose of their finest quality of oil at home and then export second and third quality oils under fictitious labels and trade marks as first class oils to this and other countries and that this is done not alone with the knowledge and consent of the government but in many instances by the direction of American importers. The consul writes:

"The use of fictitious names, or 'contremarques,' is common throughout France. The law of June 23, 1857, protects the French manufacturer in their use and authorizes him to employ such trade marks as he pleases, provided he has them duly registered at the Tribunal of Commerce in the district where his business is carried on. It is a common thing for manufacturers and exporters to label olive oil of secondary or inferior quality with fictitious names or trade marks, reserving their own proper names for their highest grade of goods. Many large American concerns order oil from the packers here with directions for special labels bearing some particular names or trade marks of their own. Some of the fictitious names bear a somewhat suspicious resemblance to the names of well-known houses, and their use may be intended to mislead. I have the assurance of the packers, however, that these misleading names are insisted upon by customers in the United States (the importers)."

Hence, you see it is a very difficult matter to discern, and a rather dangerous proposition to stock a lot of olive oil from this, that or the other importer, bearing either no name at all or perhaps a fictitious one, for while the catchy phraseology, bottled in Bordeaux or bottled in Marseille, indicates that it is an imported oil, it is not by any means indicative of quality. There is just as much poor olive oil bottled abroad as there is mean whiskey distilled in Kentucky, but the foreigner has the wisdom of keeping the best of his product at home and dispose of it at good prices and send his inferior quality abroad to be disposed of at still better prices, relying on the fact that the masses of American consumers are not, or only little, familiar with the requirements of what should constitute not alone a pure but a real fine quality of olive oil.

Taste For Olive Oil.

In buying olive oil, the color, taste and flavor are a good index of quality. It should be of a pale yellow slightly opalescent green color, of a sweet, bland taste, leaving no sharp acrid aftertaste. If it is of a thick, sluggish consistency, of a rather deep green color and leaves a pungent aftertaste, it is an oil of inferior quality. A simple home test fairly reliable whether the oil has been adulterated to a considerable degree with cheaper oils, is to immerse a bottle of the suspected oil in a pan of chipped ice. If pure, it will break up in little whitish grains held in suspense and floating in a clear fluid, while if adulterated to any degree the oil will either come out of the chilling test as fluid as when it was put in, or if the temperature was low enough, in a floculent semi-solidity without the granular appearance as in pure olive oil.

A simple and absolutely reliable test is given in the United States Pharmacopoeia as follows:

If 2 Cc. of olive oil be shaken vigorously with an equal volume of Nitric Acid (Sp. gr. 1.37) the oil should retain a light yellow color, not becoming orange or reddish brown, and after standing

for six hours should change into a yellowish-white solid mass and an almost colorless liquid.

This shows the absence of appreciable quantities of cotton seed and most other seed oils.

There are other still more sensitive tests showing adulterations as low as one per cent, but as stated before, by the enactment and enforcement of the Pure Food Law the danger of receiving cotton seed oil or other oil mixtures in the place of olive oil has been reduced to a minimum, the only danger the steward, caterer and housekeeper should safeguard against is of having an inferior quality of olive oil palmed off on them as an article of quality and merit. Physical characteristics, such as color, fluidity, odor and taste, and the reputation of the party from whom you make your purchases, must be your guides.

Very Seldom does productiveness continue into old age. The youthful fiery mind is gradually cooled and tempered down to become mature, careful and critical.

We are all servants one unto the other; the master of one situation is the apprentice in another.-[ELSIE TRAUT.

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Santa Cruz Pharmacy, Plaza Goiti, Manila, P. I. Established in 1865 by Mr. August Westernagen, it was purchased in 1903 by Messrs. Santos and Jaehrling; it is both wholesale and retail, the view showing the interior of the retail store, with Dr. Jaehrling leaning on the prescription counter. It is one of the biggest houses in the Phillipine Island, and by many is held to be the largest drug firm in the Phillipine Island, doing a very large wholesale as well as retail trade. Dr. Jaehrling being a graduate of Munich, Germany, assures scientific and modern methods, the laboratories using up-to-date, modern machinery.

DRUG ADULTERATIONS.

Reported by Secretary M. I. Wilbert.

Adulterations and Their Detection was the subject discussed at the March meeting of the Philadelphia Branch of the American Pharmaceutical Association.

The contributors covered quite a varied number of drugs and preparations and the reported results again emphasize the need for constant watchfulness on the

part of the pharmacist to guard against deterioration,

adulteration and sophistication.

In an interesting communication on "The adulteration of volatile oils" Dr. George R. Bancoast and Mr. W. A. Pearson called attention to the difficulty of controling volatile oils by chemical means alone and pointed out that for many of these substances an odor test, or a dilution odor test, offers the possibility of

now sufficiently advanced to promise an early publication of their results.

Mr. L. Henry Bernegau, through Mr. Chas. E. Vanderkleed, presented a communication entitled "Some remarks on the adulterations of drugs and chemicals as found in practice."

This communication was essentially a report of laboratory experiences, and particularly interesting in that it illustrates the wide variations that may be found in both drugs and chemicals.

Washington, D. C., presented a communication on Dr. Lyman F. Kebler, of the Bureau of Chemistry, "The Drug Laboratory of the Bureau of Chemistry as a factor in the detection of adulterations."

In the course of his remarks Dr. Kebler called attention to some of the varied activities of the drug laboratory and the attempts that are being made to solve some of the many problems that present themselves. Dr. Kebler also exhibited a number of interesting

more systematic control than the chemical and physi- specimens of drugs that had been found to be adulcal test prescribed in the Pharmacopoeia.

Prof. Jos. P. Remington, in discussing this communcation said that he was inclined to agree with the writers of this paper on the value of the odor test and the difficulty of controlling products of this kind by chemical means. He also called attention to the fact that many of the large users of volatile oils, like confectioners, depend almost entirely on a practical application of an odor test.

Chemical tests, he believes, are useful largely to determine the nature of the adulterant rather than to discover the purity or value of the article itself.

Dr. Kebler called attention to the difficulty of distinguishing between natural and artificial products. Oil of wintergreen, he cited as offering a number of particularly interesting problems, and he for one could never understand how it was possible for the small amount of this oil that is actually produced to go so

far.

Mr. Turner was inclined to differ from the opinion expressed by Prof. Remington in that he believed that chemical tests are of great value in determining the identity, nature and purity of volatile oils that are used in medicine. Many if not all of the official volatile oils that are used for their medicinal properties are used in comparatively large quantities and their chemical properties have been fairly well determined.

Mr. Pearson announced that he and Dr. Pancoast were now making a comparative study of natural and artificial methyl salicylate and that their work was

terated or misbranded and called attention to some of the difficulties that constantly arise in connection with the need for determining accurately the identity of the several drugs.

The several communications were further discussed by a number of the members and visitors present, and a vote of thanks was extended to the contributors.

Method by Which Sponges May be Artificially Reared.-Science, XXV. (1907) pp. 912-15. H. V. Wilson gives the following method: Into a tub about 60x30 cm., and covered with glass, a half dozen sponges, freed from live oysters and crabs, are put. They are raised from the bottom on bricks. The tub is emptied, filled, and flushed for some minutes, thrice daily. Direct rays of the sun should be avoided. In the course of some weeks the sponges regenerate, giving rise to small masses of undifferentiated tissue. When in this condition, if these masses be attached to wire gauze and suspended in a live-box floating at the surface of the open water of a harbor, the masses will in a few days grow and re-develop spores and oscula, flagellated chambers, and skeletal arrangement of the normal sponge.

An Hour Lost is gone forever; but an hour ill applied is worse than gone forever, for it requires the labor of many hours to make good again what has been done wrong.

The Poet Druggist, of Ft. Worth, Tex., is J. P. Brashear. He makes good use of his talent when writing up copy for the advertisements to appear in local papers. The following is an example:

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EDITOR'S TABLE.

The Pharmacopoeia and the Physician.-A series of articles which originally appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, discussing the chief substances in the United States Pharmacopoeia, classifying them according to their uses and describing their methods of combination and how they may take the place of many proprietary preparations for which extravagant claims have been made, by Robert A. Hatcher, Ph. G., M. D., assistant professor of Pharmacology, Cornell University Medical School, New York and Martin I. Wilbert, Ph. M., apothecary to the German Hospital, Philadelphia. (Second, Revised Edition.) Chicago: American Medical Association Press. 1908.

This is a work on pharmacology written expressly for the practitioner of medicine, but at the same time, it contains much information to the pharmacist. It is constructed along the lines enunciated by Schmiedeberg who long ago recognized that pharmacology should point out the way and furnish the material for the practitioner to use in the prevention or cure of disease. The demand which has necessitated a second edition indicates that the work is filling a demand and we believe that pharmacists as well as physicians should become familiar with the contents of the volume. The Pharmacopoeia of Japan, Third Revised Edition; Official from January 1, 1907; Translated and Published by The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan; Tokyo; 1907.

The first pharmacopoeia of Japan was the result of a feeling on the part of the pharmacists and physicians of that country that the pharmacopoeia was needed in order to fix proper standards for medicines imported from other countries and to prevent the importation from different countries of medicines under an identical name but varying in character. It was found, as an example, that German preparations would be dispensed on prescriptions written by English physicians who based their doses on British preparations. The first pharmacopoeia became official July 1, 1887, and was the work of the Central Council of Health, consisting mostly of physicians and surgeons, with the professors of pharmacy at Tokyo and Hohohama. The revised edition became official January 1, 1892, and this, the third edition, has been official since January 1, 1907. We cannot take space to review the work in detail at this time. The text is arranged for the most part after the plan of the U. S. P.

The following extract from the preface signed by Prof. Dr. Wilh. Nag. Nagai, Ri.-Hak., Yak.-Hak., is interesting in this connection:

“The first and second edition of the Japanese Pharmacopoeia were each accompanied by an official Latin translation published by the Government, and were thus introduced to pharmaceutical circles abroad. But in the case of this third edition, the usual course was not followed by the Government. However, the necessity in the foreign pharmaceutical circles, especially among those engaged in the trade of medicinal substances and also in their manufacture, of knowing the contents of the newly revised Pharmacopoeia, was so great that it soon became clear that its translation

into one of the foreign languages should somehow be brought about, not only in their interest, but also for the benefit of our country. Hence from all sides, both official and private, the Pharmaceutical Society was persuaded to supply this want.

Prescription Practice and General Dispensing; An Elementary Treatise for Students of Pharmacy, by J. H. Beal, Sc. D., Pharm. D., Professor of Applied Pharmacy, The Pittsburgh College of Pharmacy, Pittsburgh, Pa., Emeritus Professor of Pharmacy, The Scio College of Pharmacy, Scio, Ohio. Published by the author. Copyrighted 1908.

The author in his characteristic modesty announces in the preface that this volume of over 200 pages is intended for the novice and not expected to be of service to the experienced pharmacist. An examination of the pages which follow this statement is sufficient to convince even the most competent pharmacist that Dr. Beal has placed in convenient form much information which will prove of service to the experienced pharmacist as well as to the student. The opening chapter ou, The Library and Laboratory of the Dispensing Pharmacist, should not only be read but the suggestions followed by the proprietors of drug stores. The description of pharmaceutical apparatus is intended particularly for the student. Chapter II., devoted to Latin prescriptions gives the information in convenient form and to an extent which answers the purpose of the average student of pharmacy.

In Chapter IV., we find much information about the filling aud filing of prescriptions, which is exceedingly practical and might be appropriately given under the title of Commercial Pharmacy. Chapter V., discusses without waste of words but in a clear and concise manner medicinal mixtures in powdered form. Chapter VI., follows in a like manner, under the title, Lozenges, Trochees, Tablets, Pastils, etc. Chapter VII., takes up the important subject of medicinal mixtures dispensed as soft solids and gives the information which is most likely to be used at the dispensing counter. "Pills," is the subject of Chapter VIII, and "Suppositories," Chapter IX., while Chapter X, takes up the subject of Emulsions.

In Chapter XI., we find practical suggestions on the dispensing of liquid mixtures containing insoluble powders in suspension. Chapter XII., takes up Incompatibilities, giving examples of combinations actually occurring in everyday practice.

The Emergency Treatment of Cases of Poisoning occupies Chapter XIV., and should be carefully studied and kept convenient for the use of both proprietor and clerk. After Chapter XV., treating of "Plasters," we come to Chapter XVI., in which is grouped Miscellaneous Dispensing Operations which the practising pharmacist will find of assistance in everyday work. An extensive and as far as we can observe carefully prepared index completes the volume.

Opportunities rarely offer themselves twice; harvest and seed time come only once a year. Improve your opportunities faithfully; sow in time, so that you may always be permitted to gather in your harvest.

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