Amjune,r"i?8?rm'}    Minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.  311 
fire  weed  if  lsevogyre  should  not  polarize  farther  than  —  4,  and  if  dex- 
trogyre  farther  than  -f  4. 
2.  Specific  gravity.  Pare  natural  oil  of  fireweed  unless  resinous 
(which  may  be  noted  by  leaving  a  stain  upon  paper  when  evaporated) 
should  not  possess  asp.  gr.  above  *855,  nor  below  *845;  and  erigeron 
under  like  circumstances  not  above  '865,  nor  below  "855.  The  dif- 
ference in  sp.  gr.  being  about  *010. 
3.  Boiling  point.  The  temperature  of  the  vapor  being  taken,  fire- 
weed should  not  vaporize  to  any  marked  extent  below  355°  ;  nor 
should  this  temperature  be  increased  more  than  10°  F.,  until  five  per 
cent,  of  the  oil  has  been  evaporated.  Erigeron  should  not  boil  vigor- 
ously below  342°  nor  above  347°  F.,  until  five  per  cent,  has  been 
volatilized. 
4.  Resinoid.  When  distilled  with  water  or  steam,  the  resinous  pro- 
duct of  erigeron  is  a  deep  reddish-brown  •  that  of  fireweed  a  light 
straw  color.  The  effect  of  rectification  by  steam  with  both  is  to  pro- 
duce a  brilliant  and  colorless  oil.  Both  oils  possess  characteristic 
odors.  As  these  cannot  be  well  described,  I  may  find  occasion  to 
comply  with  the  requests  made  that  samples  of  both  shall  be  furnished 
the  different  pharmaceutical  colleges  and  associations  of  the  country, 
where  those  interested  may  have  an  opportunity  of  comparing  for 
themselves  both  oils  in  a  state  of  purity. 
The  investigations,  recorded  are,  by  no  means,  considered  complete 
or  sufficient,  and  it  is  hoped  that  farther  research  will  develop  some 
tests  which  may  be  both  efficient  and  easy  of  application.  The  need 
is  evident  from  that  fact  that  the  writer  has  not  been  able  to  find  in 
the  hands  of  a  pharmacist,  except  in  the  rarest  instances,  a  sample  of 
the  oil  of  true  fireweed,  which  showed  by  its  odor  even  a  trace  of  the  oil. 
MINUTES  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING. 
Philadelphia,  May  17th,  1887. 
At  the  last  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  session   1886-87,  Vice-president 
Wm.  J.  Jenks  presided.    The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and 
approved. 
The  registrar  reported  that  the  following  books  had  been  received  for  the 
library :  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  for  1884-1885 ;  Epi- 
tome of  the  Newer  Materia  Medica,  issued  by  Messrs.  Parke,  Davis  &  Co., 
of  Detroit ;  and  the  fourth  volume  of  the  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnol- 
ogy? by  J.  W.  Powell,  issued  under  the  auspices  of  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution. 
