Dr. John gives the following as the composition of the pulp surrounding the seeds: Coloring resinous matter, 28; vegetable gluten, 26.5; ligneous fiber, 20; coloring, 20; extractive matter, 4; and a trace of spicy and acid matter. It must be understood, however, that commercial annatto, having undergone processes necessary to fit it for its various uses, as well as to preserve it, differs considerably from this; and though it may not be true, as some hint, that manufacturing in this industry is simply a term synonymous with adulterating, yet results will afterward be given tending to show that there are articles in the market which have little real claim to the title. I tried, but failed, to procure a sample of raw material on which to work, with a view to learn something of its characters and properties in this state, and thus be able to contrast it with the manufactured or commercial article. The best thing to do in the circumstances, I thought, was to operate on the highest priced sample at disposal, and this was done in all the different ways that suggested themselves. The extraction of the resin by means of alcohol--the usual way, I believe--was a more troublesome operation than it appeared to be, as the following experiment will show: One hundred grains of No. 8 were taken, dried thoroughly, reduced to fine powder, and introduced into a flask containing 4 ounces of alcohol in the form of methylated spirit, boiled for an hour--the flask during the operation being attached to an inverted condenser--filtered off, and the residue treated with a smaller amount of the spirit and boiled for ten minutes. This was repeated with diminishing quantities until in all 14 ounces had been used before the alcoholic solution ceased to turn blue on the addition to it of strong sulphuric acid, or failed to give a brownish precipitate with stannous chloride. As the sample contained a considerable quantity of potassium carbonate, in which the resin is soluble, it was thought that by neutralizing this it might render the resin more easy of extraction. This was found to be so, but it was accompanied by such a mass of extractive as made it in the long run more troublesome, and hence it was abandoned. Thinking the spirit employed might be too weak, an experiment with commercial absolute alcohol was carried out as follows: One hundred grains of a red sample, No. 4, were thoroughly dried, powdered finely, and boiled in 2 ounces of the alcohol, filtered, and the residue treated with half an ounce more. This required to be repeated with fresh half ounces of the alcohol until in all 7½ were used; the time occupied from first to last being almost three hours. This was considered unsatisfactory, besides being very expensive, and so it, also, was set aside, and a series of experiments with methylated spirit alone was set in hand. The results showed that the easiest and most satisfactory way was to take 100 grains (this amount being preferred, as it reduces error