594  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  { A%Tec.%878arm' 
the  patient  5  hence,  no  repetition  can  be  made  without  the  return  of  the  original  pre- 
scription, which  is,  no  doubt,  pleasant  to  the  physician.  The  scales  used  are  on  the 
principle  of  the  old  fashioned  steelyard.  The  pan  is  usually  about  four  inches  in 
diameter,  and  the  weighing  is  performed  with  great  rapidity.  Nearly  all  the  ingre- 
dients of  the  prescriptions  are  chipped  drugs  or  herbs,  though  occasionally  some 
chemicals  may  be  used,  iron  rust  for  instance.  These  are  all  bruised  in  the  mortar 
together,  and  then  a  tea  is  made,  either  by  the  druggist  or  the  patient,  generally  the 
latter. 
The  great  tonic  is  ginseng.  This  is  very  highly  prized,  and  besides  being  worn 
as  an  amulet  is  of  daily  use  among  them.  Its  chief  office  seems  to  be  that  it  "  makes 
strong,"  which  is  about  all  they  can  or  will  "  savey  "  on  the  subject. 
Opium  is  largely  sold,  but  always,  we  believe,  in  the  state  of  aqueous  extract. 
This  is,  of  course,  almost  entirely  used  for  smoking  purposes,  and  is  prepared 
exclusively,  we  believe,  in  China  and  imported  in  the  state  of  an  extract  of  about 
the  consistence  of  honey.  It  comes  of  two  grades,  the  finest  called  "  first  chop," 
and  is  retailed  for  its  weight  of  silver,  the  "  two  bit  "  or  "four  bit"  (fifty  cents) 
pieces  being  placed  in  a  basket  upon  one  end  of  the  steelyard  and  being  balanced 
upon  the  pan  by  the  requisite  weight  of  the  extract  placed  in  a  horn  cup.  The 
second  grade  is  sold  at  various  prices.  The  smoker  knows  whether  he  is  being 
cheated  or  not  by  the  color  it  gives  on  the  earthen  bowl  of  the  opium  pipe.  If  it 
burns  to  a  light,  rich  brown  color  and  gives  the  peculiar  odor  so  grateful  to  the 
olfactory  nerves  of  the  Mongolian,  it  is  satisfactory.  Good  smokers  will  smoke  of 
an  evening  the  weight  of  a  trade  dollar,  perhaps  more,  of  the  u  first  chop"  extract, 
but  of  this  we  may  speak  in  a  future  paper. 
In  closing  this  paper,  a  circumstance  occurring  Sixth  mo.  9th,  1878,  is  brought 
forcibly  to  mind.  Mr.  Wong  Ah  Get,  dying  at  the  hospital  of  the  Ning  Yung  Cal 
stated  that  he  died  of  taking  Mar  Tin,  which,  upon  investigation  was  found  to  be 
the  bean  of  Strychnos  Nux  Vomica  ;  the  Chinese  obtain  the  poison  from  the  floss 
of  the  bean,  as  they  use  the  meat  in  the  preparation  of  a  cathartic.  The  eminent 
Chinese  physician,  Dr.  Li  Po  Tai,  said,  in  his  opinion  strychnia  was  a  mineral 
poison  obtained  from  the  ground,  and  that  there  was  no  antidote  for  it.  This  seems 
to  be  illustrative  of  the  amount  of  pharmaceutical  and  medical  knowledge  on  the 
subject. 
Philadelphia. 
AMERICAN  PHARMACEUTICAL  ASSOCIATION. 
First  Session.— The  twenty-sixth  annual  meeting  assembled  in  Concordia  Hall, 
in  the  city  of  Atlanta,  on  Tuesday,  November  26,  at  3  o'clock  P.M.  President 
Saunders  occupied  the  chair,  J.  M.  Maisch  acted  as  secretary.  Hon.  Mr.  Angier, 
Mayor  of  Atlanta,  was  present  and  delivered  an  address  of  welcome,  to  which  Mr. 
Saunders  replied,  on  behalf  of  the  Association.  Messrs.  G.  J.  Luhn,  of  South 
Carolina,  F.  T.  Whiting,  of  Massachusetts,  and  G.  S.  Russell,  of  New  Hampshire, 
were  appointed  a  Committee  to  Examine  Credentials,  and  subsequently  reported  that 
such  had  been  received  from  the  Colleges  of  Pharmacy  of  Ontario,  Massachusetts, 
