A novel technique serves to monitor instantaneous rates of loss of a volatile solute from a suspended drop during drying. A highly sensitive electron capture detector is used to monitor concentrations of SF6 released into a flowing gas stream from a suspended, drying drop. Simultaneously, the appearance and morphological development of the drop are monitored with a video camera. This provides the wherewithal of relating instantaneous rates of loss of the volatile solute to particular events during the development of particle morphology.