this evening is one that formed the basis of some instructive remarks by
Dr. Redwood in November, 1855, and also of a paper by Dr. Hassall, read
before the Society in London in January, 1856, which latter gave rise to
an animated discussion. The work detailed below was well in hand when
Mr. MacEwan drew my attention to these and kindly supplied me with the
volume containing reports of them. Unfortunately, they deal principally
with the adulterations, while I was more particularly desirous to learn
the composition in a general way, and especially the percentage of
coloring resin, the important constituent in commercial annatto. Within
the last few years it was one of the articles in considerable demand in
this part of the country; now it is seldom inquired for. This,
certainly, is not because butter coloring has ceased to be employed, and
hence the reason for regretting that the percentage of resin was not
dealt with in the articles referred to, so that a comparison could have
been made between the commercial annatto of that period and that which
exists now. In case some may not be in possession of literature bearing
on it--which, by the way, is very meager--it may not be out of place to
quote some short details as to its source, the processes for obtaining
it, the composition of the raw material, and then the method followed in
the present inquiry will be given, together with the results of the
examination of ten samples; and though the subject doubtless has more
interest for the country than for the town druggist, still, I trust it
will have points of interest for both.

Annatto is the coloring matter derived from the seeds of an evergreen
plant, _Bixa Orellana_, which grows in the East and West Indian Islands
and South America, in the latter of which it is principally prepared.
Two kinds are imported, Spanish annatto, made in Brazil, and flag or
French, made mostly in Cayenne. These differ considerably in characters
and properties, the latter having a disagreeable putrescent odor, while