494  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.    { Arocfober,^907!m 
fied,  the  starch  paste  being  best  made  in  a  beaker  and  cooled  and 
used  at  once. 
Dr.  John  M.  Francis,  of  Detroit,  said  that  he  had  previously 
stated  that  any  pancreatin  could  be  made  to  appear  good  or  vice 
versa  by  the  U.S. P.  method.  He  said  that  milk  is  a  very  variable 
article,  and  that  the  peptonizing  test  should  be  dropped.  He 
claimed  that  for  the  assay  process  potato  starch  is  to  be  preferred, 
but  care  should  be  taken  to  select  a  neutral  starch,  that  on  the  mar- 
ket being  frequently  acid  in  character. 
Dr.  Kebler  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  only  satisfactory  dias- 
tasic  method  is  one  which  will  take  into  consideration  the  products 
formed. 
The  U.S.P.,  Eighth  Revision,  and  Its  Relation  to  Some  Drugs 
and  Chemicals. 
By  A.  R.  L.  Dohme  and  H.  Engelhardt. 
Some  reasons  were  given  why  corrections  in  the  U.S. P.  were  neces- 
sary. Experiences  in  the  application  of  the  U.S. P.  to  acetphene- 
tidin,  aloin,  amyl  nitrite,  asafetida,  benzoic  and  boric  acids,  bella- 
donna leaves  and  root,  cerium  oxalate,  cinchona  and  its  fluidextract, 
coca  leaf,  colchicine,  copaiba,  ether,  hyoscine  hydrobromide,  jalap, 
quinine  salts,  santal  oil,  resin  scammony  and  spirit  of  nitroglycerin, 
were  described. 
A  Review  of  the  Literature  on  the  Estimation  of  Alkaloids 
for  the  Year  of  1906. 
By  W.  A.  Puckner. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  facilitate  the  work  of  those  interested,  and 
to  present  the  advances  made  in  this  important  field.  Important 
contributions  to  the  estimation  of  alkaloids  which  have  appeared  in 
foreign  journals  were  given  in  considerable  detail.  American  pub- 
lications, being  more  easily  accessible,  are  referred  to  rather  briefly. 
Reference  was  made  to  publications  dealing  with  the  estimation  of 
alkaloids  in  general,  followed  by  an  account  of  the  work  done  in  the 
valuation  of  aconite,  the  mydriatic  drugs,  cinchona,  coca,  caffeine- 
bearing  drugs,  colchicum,  ergot,  gelsemium,  hydrastis,  nux  vomica, 
opium,  physostigma,  pilocarpus  and  veratrum.  This  was  followed 
by  a  discussion  on  the  assay  processes  of  the  U.S.P. 
