310  Minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.     { ^""iune^ssT™' 
Oriental  Colly ria. — Gayda  and  Georges  report  that  under  the  name 
of  klieul  the  Arabs  employ  circular  cakes,  about  '015  meter  in  diam- 
eter, less  than  2  mm.  thick,  and  weighing  about  1'4  gram  each.  The 
white  cakes  are  soluble  in  distilled  water,  and  consist  of  potassium 
nitrate  with  from  5  to  8  per  cent,  of  impurities,  consisting  of  salts  of 
alkalies,  calcium  and  iron.  The  greenish-blue  cakes  are  not  com- 
pletely soluble,  and  consist  of  potassium  nitrate,  to  which  from  5  to  10 
per  cent,  of  copper  sulphate  has  been  added.  These  cakes  are  evi- 
dently made  by  fusion  and  pouring  the  melted  salts  into  moulds. — - 
Jour,  de  Phar.  et  de  Chim.,  April,  1881,  329—331. 
Estimation  of  Phosphoric  Acid.— According  to  Alb.  Atterberg, 
phosphoric  acid  is  at  once  completely  precipitated  by  ammonium 
molybdate,  if  the  mixture  is  heated  to  boiling,  and  the  analytical 
results  are  not  altered  either  by  washing  the  precipitated  ammonium 
phosphomolybdate,  as  proposed  by  Eggert,  with  1  per  cent,  nitric  acid 
or  with  dilute  molybdic  acid  (1:3),  or,  as  suggested  by  Finkener,  with, 
a  20  per  cent,  solution  of  ammonium  nitrate. —  Chem.  Ztg.,  1881,  p. 
303.  
MINUTES  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING. 
Philadelphia,  May  17,  1881. 
In  the  absence  of  the  President,  Mr.  Alonzo  Robbing  was  called  to  the 
chair.    The  minutes  of  the  last  pharmaceutical  meeting  were  read  and 
approved. 
Professor  Maisch  presented  three  specimens  of  argentiferous  and  aurifer- 
ous ores  from  Mr.  L.  I.  Morris  of  the  last  graduating  class. 
Professor  Sadtler  presented  a  copy  of  "  Experiments  and  Observations  on 
Electricity,  Made  at  Philadelphia  in  America,  by  Mr.  Benjamin  Franklin,^ 
and  Communicated  in  Several  Letters  to  Mr.  P.  Collinson,"  published  at 
London  in  1751  and  1753.  Tlie  letter  numbered  10  describes  Franklin's 
famous  kite  experiment.    On  motion,  tlie  work  was  accepted  with  thanks. 
Mr.  Mclntyre  presented  a  specimen  of  the  oil  of  the  seeds  of  the  palm 
nut,  made  by  the  M.  S.  Shoemaker  Company,  limited,  by  the  benzin  pro- 
cess;  the  odor  of  tlie  benzin  is  so  marked  that  it  would  render  the  oil 
valueless  for  any  delicate  purpose;  there  is  no  commercial  use  at  present 
for  the  oil. 
Professor  Maisch  alluded  to  the  death  of  Dr.  Wilson  H.  Pile,  who  has 
been  identified  with  this  College  for  a  long  term  of  years;  this  notice  was 
thought  especially  appropriate  at  a  pharmaceutical  meeting,  as  he  had  acted 
for  some  time  as  Registrar  and  in  various  other  capacities,  and  since  it  was 
partly  through  his  efforts  that  these  meetings  were  reorganized  (in  1870)  and 
their  interest  greatly  extended.  His  kindness  of  heart,  the  high  esteem  in 
which  he  was  held  in  his  various  relations  of  life,  his  patient  and  exact 
