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ANTISEPTICS  187

lowing  statement  (1908),  made  by  a  prominent  distiller  in  the
United  States,  helps  to  verify  this  fact  in  regard  to  at  least  one
oil:

''The  actual  production  of  true  wintergreen  leaf  oil  amounts  to
only  an  infinitesimal  fraction  of  the  enormously  increased  demand
for  the  article  (or  for  an  oil  so  labeled)  under  the  Food  and  Drug
Act.  We  are  unable  to  procure  enough  of  it  to  fill  one  per  cent
of  the  ordens  that  come  to  us,  and  of  even  that  one  per  cent  the
authenticity  could  not  be  absolutely  established.  We  have  there-
fore preferred  not  to  attempt  to  handle  the  article  at  all;  and  we
make  this  statement  merely  to  inform  hundreds  of  correspondents,
to  whom  the  facts  stated  have  been  privately  communicated  be-
fore, that  our  position  remains,  and  is  likely  to  continue  indefinite-
ly to  remain,  unchanged."

The  methods  for  the  detection  of  these  adulterations  have  been
much  improved  within  the  last  decade.^  Volatile  oils  should  be
kept  in  well-stoppered  amber-colored  bottles  in  a  dark,  cool,  and
dry  place,  as  the  effect  of  heat  and  sunlight  may  spoil  the  best  oils
within  a  few  weeks.
