636 
EditoriaL 
(  Am.  Jour. Pharm. 
{      Dec,  1881. 
that  meeting  had  not  been  correctly  reported  (p.  539),  and  has  sent  the 
following,  which  gives  the  statements  made  by  him  in  full : 
"  Mr.  Wellcome  said  that  it  had  been  clearly  shown  that  the  percentages 
of  alkaloid  in  Cinchona  siiccirubra  would  differ  very  greatly  according  to 
the  conditions  under  which  it  was  grown.  This  was  also  true  of  other 
valuable  varieties  of  the  cinchonas,  for  when  grown  at  low  altitudes,  or 
under  other  unfavorable  conditions,  the  j^ercentage  of  quinia  was  smaller 
and  the  proportion  of  low^r  alkaloids  was  likewise  liable  to  variation.  He 
did  not  tiiink  any  one  variety  of  bark  could  be  justly  adopted  as  an  offici- 
nal standard.  The  quills  which  had  been  referred  to  last  should  certainly 
not,  because  there  w^as  no  one  variety  which  was  more  frequently  intermixed 
with  inferior  grades,  which  were  very  ditficult  to  distinguish  except  hy 
assay.  It  would  seem  that  the  best  officinal  standard  that  could  be 
adopted  would  l^e  any  bark  yielding  upon  assay  a  certain  fixed  percentage 
of  total  alkaloids,  of  which  a  certain  fixed  percentage  should  be  quinia. 
The  value  of  the  lower  alkaloids— particularly  cinchonidia — had  been  more 
fully  ai^preciated  in  India  and  America  than  in  England.  In  reference  to 
the  new  bark.  Cinchona  cuprea,  mentioned  at  the  Conference  last  year, 
some  light  had  been  thrown  upon  it  by  the  reports  of  Dr.  Bobbins,  of  New 
York,  who  had  recently  returned  from  a  visit  to  the  Columbian  forests. 
Tills  Cinchona  cuprea  seems  to  be  an  excei^tion  to  the  general  rule,  not 
onlj^  in  its  appearance  and  structure,  but  also  in  the  fact  that,  although  it 
is  grown  at  low  altitudes,  it  is  a  valuable  quinia  bark,  yielding  about  2  per 
cent,  of  quinia.  It  is  reported  that  this  bark  yields  little  or  none  of  the 
lower  alkaloids.  With  reference  to  the  fiuid  extract  of  cinchona  of  the 
United  States  Pharmacoi^oeia,  he  might  say  that  in  the  experience  of  Ame- 
rican 2:»harniacists  it  had  proved  very  unsatisfactory.  It  precipitated  very 
freely  and  was  not  generally  in  favor— the  compound  tincture  being  the 
])reparatioii  niore  generally  used.  With  regard  to  the  process  suggested 
by  Dr.  de  Vrij  last  year,  he  did  not  know  how  far  it  had  been  successful, 
but  it  would  be  interesting  to  have  some  information  upon  the  subject 
fro]u  those  who  had  given  it  a  practical  test." 
Female  Students  in  Pharmacy. — The  application  of  several  ladies 
for  admission  to  the  lectures  has  recently  brought  this  subject  before  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  St.  Louis  College  of  Pharmacy,  and  Avas  very 
properly  decided  in  favor  of  the  ai^plicants.  At  each  course,  for  the  i^ast 
six  or  seven  years,  one  or  more  ladies  have  been  regular  attendants  and 
attentive  students  at  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  and  at  pres- 
ent three  ladies  are  attending.  Twenty  years  ago  the  New  York  College 
of  Pharmacy  had  a  female  student,  perhaps  the  first  one  that  ever  attended 
a  college  of  j^harmacy  in  this  country,  the  lady  graduating  in  1863. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  lectures  as  delivered,  with  the  special 
object  in  view  of  instructing  students  in  pharmacy,  are  calculated  to 
impart  much  useful  information  to  others  who  do  not  j^ropose  following 
pharmacy  as  a  business  j)ursuit ;  more  particularly  would  this  be  the  case 
with  medical  students,  male  as  well  as  female ;  and  we  believe  that  the 
attendance  of  such  special  students  should  be  encouraged.  Thus  far  we 
have  found  nearly  every  one  of  the  lady  students  to  show  commendable 
zeal  and  attention  ;  and,  while  we  do  not  feel  inclined  to  urge  either  male 
or  female  to  embrace  pharmacy  as  a  life  pursuit,  we  believe  that  those  who 
have  made  the  choice  are,  vrithout  regard  to  sex  or  other  conditions,  enti- 
tled to  all  advantages  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  and  in  the  special 
training  that  are  afforded  by  our  institutions  of  pharmaceutical  learning. 
