438  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  {Amiigust,^Sm* 
that  they  shall  be  made  as  complete  and  rigid  as  it  is  practical  to  make  them, 
and  as  will  be  fair  to  the  manufacturers,  the  dispensing  pharmacists  and  the 
purchasing  public.  While  freedom  from  injurious  admixtures  should  be  insisted 
upon,  the  absence  of  an  insignificant  percentage  of  inert  and  unavoidable  con- 
tamination can  often  be  insured  only  at  a  greatly  increased  cost.  A  judicious 
decision  should  be  made  in  each  case,  and  the  co-operation  of  the  manufac- 
turers invited  so  as  to  settle  upon  a  basis  which  may  be  equitable  to  all. 
5.  This  Association  emphatically  reiterates  its  declaration  made  at  its  last 
annual  meeting  that  the  Pharmacopoeia  shall  and  will  be  the  sole  official  au- 
thority for  all  remedial  agents  treated  of  therein  ;  that  the  National  Formulary 
shall  be  authority  only  for  such  as  are  not  covered  by  the  Pharmacopoeia,  and 
that  the  authority  of  the  National  Formulary  shall  cease  whenever  the  Phar- 
macopoeia supersedes  any  of  its  processes  or  directions. 
6.  That  alcoholic  preparations  representing  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  drug  be 
adopted  so  far  as  practical  to  replace  fluid  extracts  and  tinctures. 
A  suggestion  relative  to  the  admission  into  the  pharmacopoeia  of  formu- 
las for  compound  spirits  analogous  to  compound  spirit  of  juniper  was  nega- 
tived. 
The  Section  on  Scientific  Papers  held  two  sessions  on  Wednesday  morning  and 
afternoon,  and  a  third  session  on  Thursday  forenoon  ;  Professor  Painter  in  the 
chair  and  Professor  Whelpley  secretary.  The  chairman  read  an  address, 
making  suggestions  for  regulating  the  business  and  facilitating  the  work  of  the 
Section,  which,  after  having  been  considered  by  a  committee,  were  approved 
with  some  modifications.   The  following  papers  were  read  : 
Solution  of  Magnesium  Citrate.  Professor  L.  E.  Patch  suggests  a  modification 
of  the  pharmacopoeia!  formula  with  the  view  of  preventing  crystallization  of 
the  normal  citrate,  and  converting  all  the  magnesia  into  the  salt  MgHC6Hj;07, 
by  somewhat  increasing  the  quantity  of  citric  acid.  To  prepare  six  bottles  of 
the  solution  the  following  quantities  are  recommended  :  170  gm.  citric  acid, 
78  gm.  magnesium  carbonate,  480  gm.  syrup  of  citric  acid,  and  16  gm.  potas- 
sium bicarbonate.  Mr.  Ebert  and  Mr.  Maisch  stated  that  they  had  not  met 
with  any  difficulty  in  keeping,  when  using  pharmacopceial  quantities. 
Arsenic  in  Wall  Paper  was  the  title  of  a  paper  presented  by  Professor  D.  H. 
Galloway.  About  one  hundred  samples  had  been  examined,  of  which  number 
twenty-five  were  free  from  arsenic,  while  the  remainder  contained  compounds 
of  that  metal  varying  in  quantity  from  traces  to  over  600  Mgm.  As203  per  square 
meter.  It  was  stated  that  an  attempt  had  been  made  in  Massachusetts  a  few  years 
ago  to  secure  the  enactment  of  a  law  limiting  the  arsenic  in  wall  paper  to  7 
mgm.  for  each  square  meter ;  the  bill,  however,  had  failed  to  become  a  law.  In 
the  discussion  following  the  importance  of  such  papers  was  dwelt  upon,  and  a 
resolution  was  passed  that  a  copy  of  the  paper  be  sent  to  the  secretary  of  the 
American  Public  Health  Association. 
The  effect  of  moisture  as  a  preparatory  step  in  the  extraction  of  some  drugs 
was  discussed  in  a  paper  by  Professor  J.  U.  Lloyd.  The  succulent  vegetable 
tissue  in  its  natural  condition  is  readily  permeated  by  an  appropriate  alcoholic 
menstruum.  Dried  drugs  are  more  difficult  to  extract,  even  after  having  been 
powdered  ;  but  after  they  have  been  softened  the  natural  condition  is  re-estab- 
lished. The  author  suggests  softening  before  percolation  by  spraying  enough 
water  on  the  powder ;  allow  this  to  stand  in  a  closed  vessel  for  a  considerable 
