C. U. C. p. ALUMNI JOURNAL 



might serve as a pattern. City and 

 county organizations and the state 

 boards could become divisions of their 

 respective state associations and these 

 of the A. Ph. A. as the large central na- 

 tional body. Other national bodies such 

 as the Committee of Revision, the Na- 

 tional Association of Retail Druggists, 

 the National Association of Boards of 

 Pharmacy, the American Conference of 

 Pharmaceutical Faculties, the National 

 Wholesale Druggists Association, etc., 

 could become departments of the A. Ph. 

 A. corresponding to the various depart- 

 ments of our national government. This 

 I have often advocated. It would re- 

 quire some determination, work and ex- 

 pense to bring about such a federation, 

 but it surely would be worth while and 

 would be the best investment pharmacy 

 could make. Under a sufficient consti- 

 tution based upon proper professional 

 and ethical principles such a federation 

 could accomplish things for pharmacy 

 that are now simply impossible. While 

 some may be skeptical about the practi- 

 cability of the proposed federation, the 

 fact is that it is already in the process 

 of crystallization . For some years now 

 the A. Ph. A., the A. C. P. F. and the 

 N. A. B. P. have affiliated very closely 

 and have held their meetings concur- 

 rently and at the same places and often 

 have held joint meetings and frequently 

 state associations have met with them. 

 In quite a number of states the several 

 county organizations are either intimate- 

 ly affiliated with the state associations 

 or are divisions of them. So a fairly 



large number of pharmaceutical travel- 

 ing men's organizations are auxiliary to 

 or closely connected with state associa- 

 tions, and the several state associations 

 are already, though as yet only feebly, 

 linked to the A. Ph. A. through the 

 House of Delegates. Many state asso- 

 ciations work with the N. A. R. D., 

 either through membership or annual 

 money contributions. Lately a congress 

 of all national pharmaceutical bodies 

 was suggested and committees are now 

 in existence to report upon the advisa- 

 bility of such a congress. These are all 

 indications that point to the consum- 

 mation of a federation in the not remote 

 future. A pharmaceutical organization 

 is not a complete thing in itself ; it needs 

 every other related organization to com- 

 plete itself as a division of the body 

 pharmaceutic, a division best fitted to 

 carry out specific purposes of the body 

 of which it is a part. 



^ 



DETECTION OF STRYCHNINE. 



For this purpose, G. Guerin employs 

 manganese carbonate, and claims that 

 this reagent is more sensitive than the 

 bichromate-sulphuric acid reaction, or 

 the ammonium vanadate-sulphuric acid 

 reaction of Mandelin and Wenzell, or the 

 cerium oxide-sulphuric acid reaction of 

 Sonnenchein. According to Guerin the 

 suspected substance is treated with 2 to 

 3 drops of sulphuric acid, and from 2 to 

 3 milligrammes of manganese carbonate 

 added. With str>'chnine a blue color, 

 changing to violet and finally red is 

 obtained. 



