AmAJPCriir, "1877 rm' }  Pharmaceutical  Colleges  and  Associations.  201 
ance  to  that  prepared  by  crystallization  from  benzol.  Professor  Attfield  said  that 
during  sublimation  a  portion  of  the  acid  was  usually  decomposed,  the  amount 
depending  on  the  quantity  operated  upon  and  upon  the  length  of  time  during  which 
it  had  to  be  exposed  to  a  high  temperature.  He  did  not  think  that  there  was  any 
alteration  in  the  sublimed  portion. 
Professor  Bentley  read  a  paper  on  the  admixture  of  white  hellebore  with  valerian 
root,  and  pointed  out  the  principal  differences  which  are  readily  observed.  These 
are:  i.  The  leaves  of  the  conical  bud  of  veratrum  or  their  fibrous  remains  form 
concentric  sheaths  arranged  one  within  the  other,  while  the  leaves  found  at  the  end 
•of  the  creeping  shoots  of  valerian  are  opposite  and  overlap  at  the  base  ;  but  such 
stolons  are  rarely  if  ever  present  in  commercial  valerian.  2.  The  white  hellebore 
rhizomes  are  much  larger,  of  a  darker  color  and  marked  below  with  the  pits  and 
scars  of  old  roots.  3.  A  transverse  section  of  white  hellebore  rhizome  presents  a 
large  central  woody  or  spongy  portion,  of  a  whitish  or  pale-buff  color,  which  is 
separated  by  a  fine  wavy-crenate  ring  from  an  outer  broad  white  part,  which  is 
coated  by  a  thin  dark-brown  or  blackish  bark-like  portion.  Commercial  valerian 
shows  a  dark-brown  firm  and  horny  central  portion,  separated  by  a  dark  interrupted 
cambial  zone  from  the  brown  cortical  part.  A  vertical  section  of  veratrum  rhizome 
presents  a  fine  dark  wavy  conically  arranged  line  running  nearly  throughout  its 
entire  length.  4.  The  roots  of  veratrum  arise  from  the  upper  part  of  the  rhizome 
only,  are  larger,  more  shrivelled  and  of  a  paler  color  than  those  of  the  valerian 
rhizome.  5.  The  taste  of  veratrum  rhizome  and  roots  is  at  first  sweet,  then  bitter, 
acrid  and  somewhat  numbing.  Valerian  has  no  acridity,  but  is  aromatic  and  some- 
what bitter.  6.  After  admixture  with  valerian,  veratrum  acquires  a  feeble  odor  of 
the  former;  when  cut  or  bruised,  it  excites  sneezing.  7.  Strong  sulphuric  acid, 
applied  to  a  transverse  or  vertical  section  of  the  two  rhizomes,  produces  with  veratrum 
a  deep  orange- yellowish-red  color,  soon  changing  to  dark  blood-red,  while  the 
natural  color  of  valerian  is  simply  heightened. 
From  42  ounces  of  the  article  the  author  picked  out  8  ounces  of  white  veratrum. 
The  admixture  was  afterwards  stated  to  have  occurred  at  the  docks  by  the  breaking 
of  two  bales  and  the  careless  gathering  of  the  scattered  contents.  But  the  author 
rather  inclines  to  attribute  it  to  carelessness  in  collection,  and  urges  the  necessity  of 
an  examination  by  a  competent  person,  appointed  for  that  purpose,  of  imported 
drugs,  more  especially  when  these  are  plants  or  parts  of  plants ;  also  the  necessity 
of  carefully  examining  the  drugs  in  our  home  stores  and  pharmacies. 
In  the  discussion  which  followed  the  reading  of  the  paper,  it  was  stated  that  drugs 
which  came  from  the  continent,  especially  from  Germany,  contained  a  larger  pro- 
portion of  admixture  than  any  others  ;  also  that  at  the  present  day  American 
valerian  root  fetched  a  higher  price  than  any  other.  The  importance  of  micro- 
scopical examination  was  likewise  dwelt  upon. 
Mr.  H.  Senier  read  a  paper  on  the  coloring  matter  of  the  petals  of  Rosa  Gallica. 
Quercitrin  and  fat  was  first  removed  by  ether,  the  coloring  matter  exhausted  by  alco- 
hol, precipitated  in  a  green,  amorphous  state  by  acetate  of  lead,  and  the  precipitate 
decomposed  either  by  sulphuretted  hydrogen  or  an  insufficiency  of  sulphuric  acid. 
Well-defined  microscopic  crystals  were  obtained  on  combining  the  coloring  matter 
wtith  alkalies,  the  ammonio-potassium  salt  crystallizing  in  octahedra.  Alkalie> 
