288 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1904. 
chusetts  College  of  Pharmacy  is  one  of  the  oldest  pharmaceutical 
associations  in  the  United  States,  being  organized  in  1823,  or  about 
two  years  after  the  founding  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Phar- 
macy. As  a  teaching  institution,  however,  or  as  an  incorporated 
society  it  only  dates  to  1852,  the  regular  courses  of  lectures  were 
not  commenced  until  1866,  while  the  date  of  the  first  graduation  is 
given  as  1869. 
The  Affiliation  of  the  College  of  Pharmacy  of  the  City  of  New  York 
with  Columbia  University  (A.  J.  P.,  1904,  page  191),  has  been  most 
liberally  commented  on  in  a  number  of  pharmaceutical  as  well  as 
medical  journals.  With  but  few  exceptions,  the  consensus  of  opinion 
appears  to  be  that  it  has  been  a  step  in  the  right  direction  and  that 
it  bodes  well  to  place  pharmacy  in  this  country  on  a  much  higher 
plane  than  that  occupied  by  it  at  the  present  time.  That  this  par- 
ticular move  was  quite  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the  times  is 
evident  from  the  proposed  scheme  to  merge  the  Massachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology  with  Harvard  University,  with  a  view  of 
increasing  the  efficiency  of  the  two  institutions. 
This  evident  tendency  to  bring  technical  teaching  more  closely 
in  contact  with,  or  to  make  it  a  part  of  the  curriculum  in  the  larger 
universities,  will  and  must  increase  the  demands  made  on  the  various 
schools  for  a  more  thorough  education  and  training,  and  this  in  turn 
will  of  itself  insure  a  marked  improvement  in  the  social  condition 
of  the  persons  engaged  in  these  particular  lines. 
The  Physiological  Standardization  of  Drugs ,  particularly  of  digi- 
talis, has  been  criticised  by  several  German  investigators  recently. 
Among  others  C.  Focke,  of  Diisseldorf  [Arch.  d.  Phar.t  1904,  page 
699),  asserts  that  frogs  caught  at  different  seasons  of  the  year  will 
give  variable  results.  To  get  correlating  or  absolutely  reliable 
results  it  would  be  necessary  to  confine  experiments  to  the  summer 
season,  as  it  has  been  found  that  frogs  caught  at  this  time  of  the 
year  show  the  least  variability. 
Adulterated  Powdered  Gentian. — H.  S.  Collins  (Chem.  and  Drug., 
1904,  page  404)  reports  meeting  with  several  samples  of  powdered 
gentian  which  he  found  to  be  grossly  adulterated.  The  general 
appearance,  aroma  and  residual  ash  gave  no  ground  for  suspicion. 
In  three  samples  examined  the  adulterant  was  powdered  almond 
shells,  and  in  two  others  pine  wood  and  woody  tissue,  in  addition  to 
the  almond  shells.    In  this  connection  Collins  calls  attention  to  the 
