42  Chicago  College  of  Pharmacy.  {ATa^uarry,Pi9M.m" 
Mr.  Frank  E.  Fisk  reviewed  the  November  number  of  Merck's 
Report.  Considerable  discussion  was  had  on  the  extemporaneous 
preparation  of  absolute  alcohol  from  strong  alcohol.  Mr.  Thorburn 
reported  that  he  had  frequently  tried  the  method  of  using  dried 
copper  sulphate,  and  had  failed  to  get  an  alcohol  stronger  than  97 
per  cent.    He  had  found  that  lime  freshly  ignited  gave  better  results. 
Mr.  W.  D.  Brenke  reviewed  the  Western  Druggist  for  November. 
With  regard  to  the  formula  for  syrup  of  calcium  lacto-phosphate  pro- 
posed by  C.  H.  La  Wall,  Professor  Hallberg  stated  that  the  plan  of 
using  the  concentrated  solution  of  the  lacto-phosphate  was  an  excel- 
lent one,  and  would  apply  not  only  to  this  syrup,  but  to  other  similar 
syrups. 
Professor  Day  gave  an  abstract  of  the  original  papers  appearing 
in  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  for  November. 
Mr.  Sheblessy  reviewed  the  American  Druggist.  In  reply  to  a 
question  concerning  the  practice  of  druggists  in  lending  clinical 
thermometers  to  patrons,  Mr.  Sheblessy  stated  that  the  practice  was 
a  common  one  in  his  neighborhood,  and  would  be  difficult  to  do 
away  with,  except  by  the  united  action  of  the  druggists  of  each 
district. 
Mr.  A.  D.  Thorburn  commented  on  the  articles  presented  in  the 
November  number  of  the  Druggists  Circular.  In  connection  with 
the  editorial  "  The  Doctor's  Duty,"  he  stated  that  he  had  informa- 
tion, which  he  deemed  reliable,  to  the  effect  that  a  "  phenacetin 
crusade  "  would  soon  be  inaugurated  in  Chicago. 
Professor  Hallberg  reported  on  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medi- 
cal Association,  summarizing  three  papers  on  pharmacology  read 
before  the  section  on  materia  medica,  pharmacy  and  therapeutics, 
viz.:  "Is  Pharmacologic  Action  Determined  by  Chemical  Structure 
or  by  Physical  Characters  ?  "  by  A.  R.  Cushny ;  "  The  Relations 
Between  the  Pharmacologic  Actions  of  Drugs  and  Their  Therapeutic 
Indications,"  by  M.  V.  Tyrode  ;  and  "  Research  Problems  of  Pharma- 
cology," by  Torald  Sollmann.  The  papers  which  appeared  during 
the  month  of  November  were  of  unusual  interest  to  pharmacists, 
especially  the  suggestions  of  Dr.  Sollmann,  relating  to  research,  that 
a  central  laboratory  should  be  established  which  could  supervise  and 
correlate  the  work  of  independent  investigators.  In  that  way  only 
can  the  physiologic  action  of  drugs  on  animals  be  compared  with 
clinical  observations,  and  the  best  therapeutic  deductions  be  drawn. 
