Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1902. 
PJiarmacentical  Meeting. 
203 
a  persistent  cough  and  is  losing  weight  it  indicates  consumption. 
Mr.  Hancock  asked  why  bakers  and  cooks,  as  stated  in  Dr.  Boston's 
paper,  were  more  subject  to  tuberculosis  than  others.  Mr.  England 
gave  as  the  probable  cause  the  handling  of  materials  containing  fine 
particles.  He  also  alluded  to  the  fact  that  the  Government  was 
instituting  measures  to  prevent  immigrants  with  tuberculosis  from 
coming  to  this  country.  Mr.  Hancock  stated  that  in  the  work  of 
the  lapidary  and  others,  who  came  constantly  in  contact  with  fine 
particles  of  metal  or  stone,  that  the  fine  particles  might  set  up  an 
irritation  in  the  lungs  and  thus  predispose  the  worker  to  consump- 
tion. Dr.  Boston  answered  a  number  of  the  questions  proposed  by 
Mr.  Beringer  and  others,  stating  some  of  the  rules  in  medicine 
regarding  tuberculous  patients,  and  showed  that  the  spread  of 
tuberculosis  was  influenced  by  race  considerations,  the  occupation  of 
the  individual  and  the  age  of  the  person.  He  referred  to  the  admira- 
ble work  by  Doctors  Flick  and  Anders  on  the  contagiousness  of 
tuberculosis,  anal  of  Dr.  Ravenal,  who  is  of  the  opinion  that  tubercu- 
losis can  be  transmitted  from  animals  to  man. 
The  next  paper  was  :  "  On  the  Manufacture  of  Deodorized 
Opium  and  Tincture"  (see  page  157),  by  Mr.  Albert  E.  Ebert,  of 
Chicago,  which  was  read  on  behalf  of  the  author  by  Mr.  Thomas  S. 
Wiegand. 
Mr.  Beringer  said  that  the  subject  was  one  of  great  moment  to 
physicians  and  pharmacists,  and  he  thought  that  the  paper  of  Mr. 
Ebert  would  revolutionize  our  ideas  concerning  the  properties  of 
the  constituents  of  opium.  In  commenting  upon  Battley's  sedative, 
Mr.  Beringer  stated  that  in  this  preparation  there  was  no  treatment 
for  the  removal  of  obnoxious  principles  other  than  repeated  evapor- 
ation and  solution,  during  which  the'  resinous  matters  carrying 
such  principles  were  removed.  Mr.  Beringer  further  said,  that  while 
he  agreed  with  Mr.  Ebert  that  granulated  opium  should  be  made 
official,  still  he  did  not  favor  the  use  of  gasoline  in  its  preparation. 
He  said  that  it  was  unfortunate  that  the  U.S.P.  did  not  introduce  a 
commercial  benzin,  and  also  a  purified  benzin,  giving  a  method  for 
its  preparation.  He  had  for  some  years  been  making  a  purified  ben- 
zin for  his  own  uses,  and  said  that  he  had  found  in  some  cases  the 
use  of  a  little  benzin  with  ether  in  the  extraction  of  certain  drugs, 
as  well  as  in  the  preparation  of  deodorized  opium,  prevented  an 
emulsion  that  was  so  difficult  otherwise  to  handle.   Some  years  ago 
