90  •  EDITORIAL. 
sion  that  it  does  not  admit  them  either  by  its  letter  or  spirit,  and  we  think 
very  properly.  The  interests  of  physicians  and  pharmaceutists  are  suffi- 
ciently distinct  to  make  it  good  policy  to  avoid  any  professional  amalga- 
mation. 
This  question  arose  from  the  fact  that  at  the  meeting  of  the  Association 
at  Charleston,  in  1851,  a  delegate  from  the  New  York  College  of  Pharmacy 
presented  himself,  who  being  a  graduate  of  medicine  was  admitted  by 
courtesy,  at  the  same  time  the  right  of  the  society  delegating  him  was 
denied.  The  whole  affair  arose  out  of  a  misunderstanding  of  the  proper 
mode  of  proceeding  by  the  New  York  College  of  Pharmacy,  who,  in  sending 
Dr.  Guthrie,  had  no  wish  to  interfere  with  the  right  of  the  association  or 
break  in  on  its  order,  Dr.  G.  going  there  solely  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
Association  to  the  subject  of  the  drug  inspection  law  ;  and  if  he  had  appeared 
in  that  capacity  there  is  no  doubt  that  his  mission  would  have  received  more 
attention  from  the  Association.  We  are  glad  that  Dr.  Guthrie's  claims  were 
disputed,  because  the  subject,  being  thrown  back  on  the  N.  Y.  College  of 
Pharmacy,  that  institution  issued  a  call  for  a  Pharmaceutical  Convention 
in  reference  to  the  drug  law,  out  of  which  has  grown  the  primary  organi- 
zation of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association. 
Augmentation  of  Pharmaceutists  in  Paris. — In  1776  there  existed  about 
one  hundred  shops,  in  1845  the  number  had  increased  to  three  hundred  and 
fifty-two,  and  at  this  time  their  number  is  three  hundred  and  ninety-three. 
The  herborists  of  1776  numbered  126  ;  at  present  nearly  450. 
Apothecaries  Vials  for  Prescription  Use. — Prof.  W.  E.  Horner  has 
called  our  attention  to  a  defect  in  the  construction  of  vials,  that  has  long 
been  known  and  suffered,  and  which  calls  loudly  for  a  remedy.  We  allude 
to  the  practice  of  making  vials  with  very  narrow,  thick  lips,  so  as  to  render 
it  next  to  impossible  to  drop  medicines  from  them,  when  more  than  half 
full.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  half  ounce  and  ounce  vials.  When 
one  attempts  to  use  them  the  liquid  passes  from  the  lip  to  the  neck  of  the 
vial,  and  either  runs  down  along  the  side,  or  falls  in  drops  of  too  large  a 
size.  If  druggists  and  apothecaries  would  urge  a  leform  in  this  matter 
by  the  manufacturer,  they  would  greatly  abridge  the  trouble  and  risk  of  ad- 
ministering a  very  numerous  class  of  medicines. 
Answers  to  Correspondents. — Tetramethjlmnmonmmiodid,  is  the  Ger- 
man mode  of  expressing  the  name  of  the  compound  formed  when 
iodide  of  methyle  (C2  II 3,  I)  is  added  to  trimethylamine  (C6  H9,  N).  Tri- 
methylamine  is  an  artificial  organic  base  obtained  from  herring  pickle,  in 
which  each  equivalent  of  the  hydrogen  of  ammonia  is  replaced  by  an 
equivalent  of  methyle  (  C2  H3)  according  to  the  law  of  substitutions. 
Tinctura  Ekei  Dulcis  is  made  by  the  following  formula,  viz  :  Rhubarb 
