Aj^uaryPi8f7m*}  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.  53 
MINUTES  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING. 
Philadelphia,  December  16,  1896. 
The  regular  pharmaceutical  meeting  of  the  series  of  1896-97  was  held  in  the 
Museum  of  the  College.  Mr.  J.  W.  England  presided.  The  minutes  of  the 
previous  meeting  were  allowed  to  stand  as  published. 
Mr.  F.  B.  Kilmer,  of  the  firm  of  Johnson  &  Johnson,  of  New  Brunswick, 
N.  J.,  was  the  first  speaker  on  the  programme,  and  addressed  the  meeting  on 
the  subject  of  "  Modern  Surgical  Dressings."  (Seepage  24. )  This  address  was 
not  only  interesting  from  the  technical  standpoint,  but  embodied  many  valua- 
ble suggestions  of  a  practical  character.  The  speaker  said  that  the  period 
marked  by  the  introduction  of  Sir  Joseph  Lister's  principles  of  antisepsis  was  a 
distinct  epoch  in  the  history  of  surgery.  The  wound  dressings  made  at  the 
beginning  of  this  epoch  were  characterized  as  crude  in  contrast  with  those 
manufactured  at  the  present  time.  Formerly  they  were  caustic,  irritating  and 
non-absorptive,  while  to-day  the  essential  requirements  are  power  to  atsorb 
wound  secretion  and  to  exclude  infection.  The  author  stated  that  observations 
of  bacteriological  life  had  determined  the  value  of  antiseptic  agents,  and  an 
interesting  feature  of  his  address  was  his  description  of  the  various  methods 
and  agents  used  for  making  sterilized  dressings  at  the  present  time.  Accompa- 
nying the  address  were  samples  of  present-day  surgical  dressings,  and,  by  way 
of  comparison,  one  of  gauze  cloth  that  was  made  in  1887.  The  speaker  said 
that  this  sample  was  the  type  of  the  first  antiseptic  dressing  ;  that  in  making  it 
•cloth  was  impregnated  with  wax,  rosin  and  carbolic  acid  ;  and  that,  in  the  light 
of  present  knowledge,  it  was  as  antiquated  as  though  it  were  a  thousand  years 
old.  Microscopic  slides  of  bacilli  and  tubes  containing  cultures  of  the  harm- 
less kinds  were  also  exhibited. 
Prof.  Joseph  P.  Remington  delivered  an  address  on  the  "  Second  Pan-Ameri- 
can Medical  Congress,"  which  was  held  in  the  city  of  Mexico  during  the  week 
beginning  November  16,  1896.  (See  page  15.)  The  speaker  defined  the  purposes 
of  the  Congress  and  gave  a  concise  statement  of  the  work  that  was  accom- 
plished at  the  recent  meeting.  The  Congress  was  held  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Mexican  Government,  and  all  of  the  entertainments  and  social  features 
connected  therewith  were  on  a  magnificent  scale.  An  invitation  to  hold  the 
next  meeting  in  Caracas,  Venezuela,  in  1899,  was  received  from  the  Venezuelan 
Government,  and  was  accepted.  The  speaker  also  related  some  other  incidents 
of  his  trip,  which  were  both  entertaining  and  instructive.  One  thing  in  par- 
ticular he  spoke  of,  and  that  was  the  harmonious  relations  existing  between 
this  country  and  Mexico.  He  believed  that  more  could  be  done  by  scientists 
in  strengthening  and  promoting  these  relations  than  by  diplomats  or  poli- 
ticians. 
"Spermaceti"  was  the  subject  of  a  paper  presented  by  Mr.  I/yman  F. 
Kebler.  About  a  year  ago  the  author  made  a  chemical  examination  of  a  large 
number  of  samples  of  spermaceti,  but  as  a  question  was  raised  as  to  their 
genuineness,  he  determined  to  procure,  if  possible,  samples  which  would  fulfil 
this  requirement.  These  were  accordingly  procured,  and  the  results  obtained 
with  them  agreed  in  every  particular,  except  that  of  specific  gravity,  with  those 
obtained  with  the  previous  samples.  In  the  former  work  but  one  method  was 
employed  for  determining  the  specific  gravity,  and  in  the  latter  several  methods 
