Am.  Jour.  Piiarm 
May,  1881 
I     Minutes  of  the  Pharmaeeutieal  Meeting.  257 
MINUTES  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING. 
Philadelphia,  April  19,  1881. 
In  the  absence  of  the  President,  Mr.  Alonzo  Robbins  was  called  to  the 
chair.    The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  apjoroved. 
The  Registrar  presented,  on  behalf  of  Dr.  Robert  Bridges,  a  copy  of  H. 
C.  McCook's  treatise  on  the  Natural  History  of  the  Agricultural  Ant  of 
Texas,  and  from  the  Smithsonian  Institution  a  copy  of  the  report  of  that 
institution  for  the  year  1879.  Both  gifts  were  received  with  the  thanks  of 
the  College. 
Prof.  Maisch  presented  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  of  the  American  Phar- 
maceutical Association  for  1880,  and  also  treatises  entitled,  "  Lehrbuch  der 
Gahrungschemie,"  and  "  Beitrage  zur  Lehre  iiber  den  Sauerstofl'bedarf 
und  die  gahrungserregende  Fahigkeit  der  Hefepilze,"  by  Dr.  Adolph 
Mayer. 
Mr.  Gustavus  Pile  read  a  paper  on  an  instrument  for  noting  the  dilata- 
tion of  liquids  for  any  given  temperature.  The  intrument  was  presented 
to  the  College  and  the  paper  referred  to  the  Publishing  Committee  (see 
page  225). 
Prof.  Maisch  read  a  paper  upon  Gum  acaroides  and  other  allied  resins 
(see  last  month's  minutes).  The  paper  was  referred  to  the  Publishing 
Committee  (see  page  217).  A  sample  of  the  acaroid  resin  was  again  exhib- 
ited and  extracts  were  read  from  the  reports  of  Bedford  and  Simmonds, 
referring  to  the  uses  for  which  this  product  had  been  recommended. 
Prof.  F.  B.  Power  read  a  paper  upon  resorcin,  which  was  referred  to  the 
Publishing  Committee  (see  page  221).  In  connection  with  the  subject 
before  the  meeting,  Prof.  Power  exhibited  a  specimen  of  white  crystallized 
resorcin,  and  Prof.  Maisch  a  specimen  of  the  same  substance  not  quite 
pure  but  being  of  a  fawn  color.  The  latter  referred  to  a  discussion  recently 
had  before  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain  (see  this  volume, 
page  36),  on  which  occasion  resorcin  of  a  mahogany  color  was  also  exhib- 
ited, and  expressed  his  concurrence  in  the  expression  of  Mr.  Greenish  that 
the  dose  of  a  substance  containing  an  unknown  amount  of  impurity,  as 
resorcin  of  different  shades  of  brown  necessarily  must  contain,  could 
scarcely  be  defined. 
Prof.  Sadtler  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  at  a  previous  pharmaceuti- 
cal meeting  (see  "  Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1879,  p.  276)  he  had  exj^lained  the 
formulas  of  resorcin,  resorcin-phthalein  (fluorescein),  phenol-phthalein,  of 
tetrabromfluorescein  (eosin)  and  of  uranin ;  also  that  the  antiseptic  char- 
acters of  resorcin  alluded  to  by  Dr.  Power  might  have  its  explanation  in 
the  character  of  it  as  a  diatomic  phenol ;  that,  taking  the  monatomic  phe- 
nols carbolic  acid,  cresol,  thymol  and  carvacrol,  the  derived  phenols  con- 
tained in  creasote,  the  diatomic  phenol  resorcin,  tlie  triatomic  phenol  pyro- 
gallol  or  pyrogallic  acid  and  the  half-phenol  salicylic  acid,  we  had  a  series 
of  bodies  all  possessing  the  antisej^tic  properties  in  a  more  or  less  marked 
degree.  Three  of  these  were  thoroughly  recognized  in  this  connection, 
viz.,  carbolic  acid,  salicylic  acid  and  thymol,  and  it  seemed  probable,  as 
17 
