524 
AmeriGdn  Pharmaeeutical  Association, 
/Am. Jour.  Pliarm. 
t      Oct.,  1882. 
the  addition  of  a  few  drops  of  subacetate  of  lead  at  the  time  when  the  color 
of  the  sohition  begins  to  disappear  apparently  facilitates  the  disposition  of 
the  insoluble  matter,  leaving  the  liquid  more  free  from  coloring  matter  and 
causing  the  caffeine  to  separate  in  crystals  so  white  that  recrystallization  is 
unnecessary. 
For  the  purpose  of  determining  the  most  suitable  menstruum  for  prepar- 
ing a  fluid  extract  of  guarana  the  drug  was  exhausted  with  mixtures  con- 
taining in  the  pint  four  fluidounces  of  glycerin  and  from  3  to  8  fluidounces 
of  alcohol.  The  guarana  exhausted  by  percolation — 2|  pints  of  percolate 
being  obtained  from  18  troyounces  of  the  drug — still  contained  about  one 
per  cent,  of  caffeine,  and  the  fluid  extracts  obtained  after  several  months  com- 
menced to  deposit  chocolate-colored  precipitates,  enclosing  groups  of  crys- 
tals of  caffeine ;  these  precipitates,  however,  decreased  with  the  increased 
alcoholic  strength  and  did  not  form  in  the  fluid  extract  made  with  a  men- 
struum of  one-half  alcohol  and  one-fourth  glycerin,  while  diluted  alcobol 
without  glycerin  did  not  prevent  the  deposition. 
Mr.  Cowdrey  read  a  paper  on  commerGial  extracts  of  malt  and  demon- 
strated the  rapid  liquefaction  of  warm  starch  paste  by  means  of  Trommer's 
extract  of  malt,  proving  that  it  contains  a  considerable  amount  of  diastase. 
Professors  Diehl  and  Maisch  objected  to  the  reception  of  this  paper  under 
the  belief  that  the  name  of  the  preparation  was  copyrighted  and  the  process 
a  secret  one  ;  but  assurance  was  given  that  such  was  not  the  case,  and  the 
author  was  requested  to  embody  in  his  paper  the  process  by  which  the  pre- 
paration is  made  and  which  is  based  upon  the  well-known  fact  that  dias- 
tase, while  destroyed  at  a  boiling  temperature,  is  not  altered  by  a  heat  of 
75°C.  (167°F.).  When  malt  is  boiled  with  water  or  the  infusion  of  malt  is 
evaporated  at  or  near  the  boiling  point,  the  resulting  extract  contains  no  ,^ 
diastase. 
Prof.  Prescott  directed  attention  to  the  importance  of  testing  extract  of 
malt  for  its  power  of  converting  starch  into  dextrin,  and  alluded  to  some  of 
of  the  precautions  necessary  in  the  application  of  this  test. 
In  connection  with  the  questions  raised  by  this  discussion  Mr.  Cowdrey 
inquired  in  regard  to  the  position  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Asso- 
ciation towards  copyrighted  preparations  and  secret  processes.  Dr.  Men- 
ninger  thought  that  as  yet  the  Association  had  not  expressed  itself  on  these 
points;  but  Prof.  Maisch  showed  from  the  records  that  the  Association 
from  its  very  organization  had  taken  a  decided  stand  against  such  j^ractices. 
In  1852,  when  copyrighted  pharmaceutical  and  chemical  preparations  were 
unknown,  the  Association  in  its  Code  of  Ethics,  Art.  I,  discountenanced 
quackery  and  dishonorable  competition  in  business,  and  in  Art.  VII  de- 
clared it  to  be  the  duty  of  every  apothecary  and  druggist  to  publish  the  new 
ideas  and  phenomena  that  may  occur  in  the  course  of  his  business.  In  1853  a 
resolution  was  passed  urging  the  discouraging,  by  every  honorable  means, 
of  the  use  of  nostrums,  and  the  abstaining  from  manufacturing  any  medicine 
the  composition  of  which  is  not  made  public.  In  1854  the  report  of  a  com- 
mittee on  quack  medicines  was  approved,  reaffirming  these  sentiments. 
In  1856  the  Constitution  was  altered  and  Sections  1  to  5,  of  Art.  I,  adopted 
substantially  as  they  are  at  present,  the  5th  section  declaring  one  of  the 
