Am M»yf'i908rrm* }    American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  239 
practical  window-dressing,  consisting  of  every  species  of  merchandise 
generally  handled  by  a  retail  druggist,together  with  practical  sugges- 
tions as  to  how  to  vary  the  exhibit  to  suit  any  condition.  One  of 
the  most  difficult  problems  in  the  commercial  career  of  a  retailer  is 
how  to  properly  display  his  goods  to  advantage.  This  problem  can 
be  easily  solved  by  consulting  Mr.  Mason's  book,  and  all  retail 
druggists  who  have  any  personal  pride  in  the  attractive  appearance 
of  their  stores  should  feel  under  great  obligation  to  him  for  placing 
within  their  reach  such  an  easy  solution  of  their  difficulties. 
Thomas  H.  Potts. 
THE  PHILADELPHIA    BRANCH   OF  THE  AMERICAN 
PHARMACEUTICAL  ASSOCIATION. 
The  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  Branch  of  the  American  Phar- 
maceutical Association,  on  the  evening  of  Tuesday,  April  7,  1908, 
was  devoted  to  a  discussion  on  "  Adulterations  and  their 
Detection." 
Dr.  George  R.  Pancoast  and  Mr.  W.  A.  Pearson  discussed  "  The 
Adulteration  of  Volatile  Oils,"  and  called  attention  to  the  difficulty 
of  satisfactorily  controlling  these  products  by  chemical  means. 
They  pointed  out  that  for  volatile  oils  that  are  used  largely,  if  not 
entirely,  for  their  odor,  odor  tests  are  perhaps  the  most  satisfactory, 
particularly  when  combined  with  systematic  dilution. 
Mr.  L.  Henry  Bernegau,  in  a  communication  entitled  "  Some 
Remarks  on  the  Adulterations  of  Drugs  and  Chemicals  as  found  in 
practice,"  gave  an  interesting  resume  of  some  laboratory  experi- 
ences with  well-known  drugs  and  chemicals.  Of  a  number  of  sam- 
ples of  gold  and  sodium  chloride  that  were  examined,  not  one 
represented  fully  the  30  per  cent,  of  metallic  gold  required  by  the 
Pharmacopoeia.  The  greater  number  of  samples  varied  from  28-8 
to  24-6  per  cent,  of  metallic  gold. 
Samples  of  commercial  resin  of  podophyllin  contained  as  high  as 
10  per  cent  of  foreign  matter,  and  even  chemical  substances,  like 
sanguinarine  nitrate,  were  found  to  be  quite  variable  in  composition. 
Dr.  Lyman  F.  Kebler,  of  the  Division  of  Drugs,  Bureau  of  Chem- 
istry, presented  a  communication  on  44  The  Drug  Laboratory  of  the 
Bureau  of  Chemistry  as  a  Factor  in  the  Detection  of  Adulterations." 
