WHAT THE TEST SHOWED.
(The results) Dr. Wesener showed the following:
| 23 prescriptions | No trace of aristol |
| 66 prescriptions | 80 per cent impurity |
| 10 prescriptions | 20 per cent impurity |
| 9 prescriptions | 10 per cent impurity |
| 31 prescriptions | pure |
"Druggists have been misled into purchasing this substitute for aristol by unscrupulous salesmen, who have palmed off on them a substance which in many cases is nothing more than 'fuller's earth,' said Dr. Wesener. This stuff was sold to them cheap.
"The druggist can have no excuse for selling this stuff, which is injurious, because it is an easy matter for him to test it to find out whether it is aristol or not. Aristol is soluble in either, and makes a dark brown solution. Some of the powder which we have obtained on these prescriptions is not soluble at all. We have not completed the chemical analysis of all the precipitates, but those which we have tried consist of chalk mixed with an iron oxide to give it the color, or some other mineral substance."
The two leading imitations are as follows: Spurious preparation of aristol, and an imitation of triethylate which is a substitute for trional.
Aristol sells at $1.85 an ounce and triethylate retails at $1.50 an ounce. The cost of manufacturing the two imitations is about 2 cents an ounce.