40  Pharmaceutical  Colleges  and  Associations.  { AmjinU,rif^arm' 
Mr.  Neppach,  a  member  of  the  class,  from  Portland,  Oregon,  promised  a  paper 
for  a  future  meeting  on  the  Chinese  drug-stores  of  the  Pacific  coast,  and  showed  a 
specimen  of  Chittem  or  barberry  bark,  which  was  presented  to  the  College. 
Dr.  Miller  explained  the  terminations  of  the  five  Latin  declensions,  and  showed 
their  connection  with  pharmaceutical  names.  A  table  of  them  was  placed  upon  the 
blackboard  for  the  use  of  the  students.  The  relative  merits  of  the  different  systems 
of  pronunciation  was  discussed,  the  sentiment  generally  being  in  favor  of  the  Eng- 
lish method,  though  Dr.  Miller  stated  that  the  Roman  was  fast  being  adopted. 
The  meeting  then  adjourned  to  Thursday,  January  3,  1878. 
Wallace  Procter,  Secretary. 
Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain. — At  the  pharmaceutical  meeting  held 
December  5,  Mr.  J.  Williams  read  a  paper  on  Nitrite  of  Ethyl,  which  he  recom- 
mended to  prepare  by  slowly  passing  nitrous  acid  gas,  evolved  by  acting  with  nitric 
acid  upon  starch,  into  strong  alcohol  kept  as  cool  as  possible.  When  the  gas  ceases 
to  be  absorbed,  the  liquid  is  distilled  at  a  very  gentle  temperature,  and  the  vapors 
passed  first  through  a  small  empty  flask  and  then  through  one  containing  a  little 
water,  in  which  all  the  alcohol,  free  acid  and  most  of  the  aldehyd  are  retained;  the 
vapors  are  now  passed  over  a  strong  solution  of  potassa  contained  in  a  third  flask, 
whereby  the  remaining  aldehyd  is  absorbed,  and  the  gaseous  nitrous  ether  may  then 
be  condensed  in  a  tube  placed  in  a  freezing  mixture,  which  must  afterwards  be  her- 
metically sealed,  or,  preferably,  conducted  into  a  known  weight  of  absolute  alcohol, 
the  increase  in  weight  indicating  pure  nitrous  ether.  This  solution,  if  containing 
50  per  cent,  of  the  ether,  has  the  spec.  grav.  '850;  if  25  per  cent.,  -824,  and  if  10 
per  cent.,  -8io  spec  grav.  If  treated  with  twice  the  bulk  of  saturated  solution  of 
calcium  chloride,  they  separate  respectively  48,  23  and  5  per  cent,  of  oily  liquid  by 
measure;  a  5  per  cent,  solution  separates  only  a  very  thin  oily  film.  The  mixing 
of  the  two  liquids  must  be  effected  slowly  and  with  care,  to  avoid  loss  of  ether  in 
consequence  of  the  rise  in  temperature ;  a  stream  of  cold  water  should  be  kept  con- 
stantly running  over  the  tube,  and  even  then  some  loss  of  the  very  volatile  ether  is 
probably  incurred.  The  5  per  cent,  solution  appears  to  represent  the  best  samples 
of  sweet  spirit  of  nitre  obtainable  in  the  shops  of  London. 
The  author  called  attention  to  the  convenience  of  obtaining  solutions  of  very 
volatile  liquids  of  definite  strength  by  the  method  indicated,  viz.,  by  absorbing  the 
gases  in  a  known  weight  of  alcohol,  and  mentions  beside  nitrite  of  ethyl,  which 
boils  at  about  6i°F.,  nitrite  of  methyl  (boiling  point  1 7°F.='i 2°C.)  and  chloride  of 
ethyl  (boiling  point  i2'5°C.=54"5°F.)  He  likewise  suggested  that  the  preparation 
of  the  pure  nitrite  of  ethyl  was  the  only  correct  method  for  obtaining  spirit  of  nitre 
of  definite  strength. 
Professor  Attfield  alluded  to  the  difficulty  in  assaying  spirit  of  nitre;  in  estimat- 
ing its  value  he  had  found  it  necessary  to  isolate  the  pure  nitrite  of  ethyl,  and  often 
from  12  to  20  fractional  distillations  would  be  necessary.  The  present  official 
(British)  process  would  yield  a  spirit  of  five  per  cent,  strength  or  less;  even  if  all 
the  nitric  acid  ordered  was  converted  into  nitrite  of  ethyl,  it  would  only  be  of  7  or 
7§  per  cent,  strength     If  aldehyd  be  present  in  the  spirit,  it  would  likewise,  at  least 
