POISONOUS CAYENNE PEPPER. 305

The principle on which its pungency de-pends, is soluble in water and in alcohol.

It is sometimes adulterated with red lead,to prevent it becoming bleached on exposureto light. This fraud may be readily detectedby shaking up part of it in a stopped vialcontaining water impregnated with sulphu-retted hydrogen gas, which will cause itspeedily to assume a dark muddy black co-lour. Or the vegetable matter of the peppermay be destroyed, by throwing a mixtureof one part of the suspected pepper andthree of nitrate of potash (or two of chlorateof potash) into a red-hot crucible, in smallquantities at a time. The mass left behindmay then be digested in weak nitric acid,and the solution assayed for lead by waterimpregnated with sulphuretted hyhrogen.