572 
MINUTES  OF  THE  COLLEGE. 
Platinum  black  was  found  to  be  fusible  in  the  strongest  heat  of  the  fur- 
nace oven  in  the  Rojal  Porcelain  Manufactory  at  Berlin. —  Chem.  News, 
London. 
At  the  Semi-Annual  Meeting  of  the  College,  held  9th  mo.  30th,  1861. 
The  President,  Charles  Ellis,  in  the  Chair. 
The  Minutes  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  inform  of  the  Election  of  Augustus 
Neynaber  to  resident  membership  ;  also,  that  the  degree  of  Graduate  in 
Pharmacy  was  conferred  upon  Theopholis  Fischer,  after  the  semi-annual 
examination  in  July. 
The  following  Report  was  read  and  accepted.  On  motion,  a  unanimous 
Yote  of  thanks  was  tendered  the  Committee  for  their  services. 
The  Committee  on  the  Herbarium  respectfully  report :  That  they  com- 
menced their  labors  during  the  past  six  months,  by  completing  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  herbarium,  and  adding  to  it  the  plants  contained  in  several 
smaller  collections.  They  have  likewise  given  attention  to  the  mounting 
of  the  officinal  plants  of  the  herbarium,  but  have  not  been  able  to  finish 
this  work  ;  there  are  still  quite  a  number  of  specimens  to  be  mounted. 
Others  mounted  last  winter  might  be  exchanged  for  better  specimens 
collected  since. 
The  Committee  are  gratified  to  state  that  they  have  been  materially 
aided  by  the  botanical  works  added  to  the  library  by  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
viz  :  Kittel's  Flora  of  Germany,  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United 
States  and  De  Candolle's  Frodromus.  Themicroscope  has  likewise  arrived, 
and  its  use  has  been,  entirely  satisfactory  ;  it  is  intended  to  employ  it  fre- 
quently during  the  coming  winter.  A  few  interesting  botanical  objects  have 
been  mounted  by  us  during  last  summer,  and  more  may  be  mounted  the 
coming  winter.  By  gradually  increasing  these  objects,  as  time  and  oppor- 
tunity offers,  the  College  may  ultimately  become  possessed  of  a  valuable 
cabinet,  suitable  for  the  microscopic  study  of  botany  and  of  the  various 
specimens  of  materia  medica,  together  with  their  adulterations  and  im- 
purities. 
From  the  80th  of  March  to  the  14th  of  September  we  have  made  29 
botanical  excursions,  and  collected  more  than  400  different  species  and 
varieties  of  plants,  of  which  about  180  had  not  been  collected  during  the 
year  1860,  and  some  of  which  had  not  heretofore  been  in  the  College  her- 
barium. It  affords  us  pleasure  to  say  that  several  members  of  the 
College,  not  members  of  the  committee  have  occasionally  supplied  us  with 
plants  growing  at  a  distance  from  this  city,  thus  proving  an  increased 
interest  in  botany,  and  we  cannot  but  wish  that  others  may  hereafter 
show  alike  regard  for  the  herbarium,  which,  though  embracing  a  consider- 
able number  of  species,  is  yet  far  from  a  complete  collection  of  even  the 
plants  growing  in  our  own  State.  Among  the  contributions  we  have  to 
notice  that  from  Professor  Procter,  being  a  collection  of  Cuban  plants, 
among  which  are  several  officinal  in  our  own  Pharmacopoeia,  and  others 
employed  in  their  native  country  for  the  cure  of  disease. 
We  have  found  spontaneous  and  fully  naturalized  in  our  immediate 
neighborhood  the  following  plants,  which  are  natives  of  the  Southern 
States,  or  of  foreign  countries,  and  have,  we  believe,  heretofore,  not  been 
