1 56 
Pharmaceutical  Meeting. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I      March,  1902. 
sequently  divided  for  the  teaspoonful  quantities  with  little  or  no 
regard  for  the  actual  capacity  of  the  glass. 
Mr.  Wilbert  called  particular  attention  to  the  fact  that  all  of 
these  glasses  are  absolutely  unreliable,  for  one  reason  or  another, 
for  measuring  teaspoonful  quantities  of  medicine  containing  active 
or  poisonous  ingredients. 
The  variation  of  spoons  is  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  a  compara- 
tively large  quantity  of  liquid  may  be  heaped  up  on  a  full  spoon;  for 
instance,  a  teaspoon  that,  when  rilled  to  the  brim,  holds  but  5  c.c, 
will,  when  heaped  with  a  liquid  having  the  viscosity  of  water,  read- 
ily hold  8  c.c. ;  the  dessertspoon  can  be  made  to  hold  nearly  14 
c.c.  and  the  tablespoon  nearly  19  c.c. 
While  drops  are  admittedly  uncertain  quantities,  it  is  possible  to 
have  a  dropper  that  will  be  much  more  accurate  and  reliable  than 
the  proposed  standard  dropper  now  before  the  Pharmacopceial 
Revision  Committee.  In  reference  to  minim  measures,  would  it 
not  be  more  in  keeping  with  pharmaceutical  standards,  he  said, 
if  we  should  advocate  a  measure  graduated  in  the  metric  system. 
Personally,  he  thinks  that  any  factor  that  would  advance  the  intro- 
duction or  use  of  the  metric  system  would  be  of  advantage. 
Mr.  Wiegand  alluded  to  another  form  of  graduate  measure  which 
commends  itself  to  the  careful  pharmacist  when  dispensing  active 
remedies,  viz.,  the  measure  shaped  like  a  Theban  vase  and  prolonged 
at  the  upper  end  into  a  narrow  neck,  upon  which  the  capacity  is 
marked.  This  avoids  the  variation  which  a  wide  surface  renders 
almost  inevitable  in  rapid  work. 
The  following  provisional  program  has  been  arranged  for  the  next 
meeting  on  Tuesday,  March  18th  : 
Liquid  Soaps  for  Surgical  and  Toilet  Purposes.  By  M.  I.  Wilbert, 
Apothecary  at  the  German  Hospital,  Philadelphia. 
Deodorized  Opium  Preparations.    By  Albert  E.  Ebert,  Chicago. 
The  Spread  of  Tuberculosis  by  Coughing.  By  Dr.  L.  Napoleon, 
Boston. 
Ricin  Soap.    By  Frederick  T.  Gordon.  H.  K. 
