AmbJc°tu,ri8P77arm' }  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  517 
On  Cantharidal  Collodion — Mr.  Joseph  Roberts  suggested  to  displace  the  can- 
tharides  with  a  mixture  of  equal  parts  of  alcohol  and  ether,  in  order  to  render  the 
gun  cotton  more  freely  soluble  in  the  percolate. 
On  Oleates — Mr.  Wm.  S.  Thompson  communicated  a  number  of  formulas  for 
preparing  medicinal  oleates  and  ointments  of  oleates. 
On  Veratrum  Viride — Dr.  C.  A.  Robbins  corroborated  the  observations  of  Mr. 
Bullock  concerning  the  non-existence  in  this  rhizome  of  veratria  and  the  presence  of 
jervia.  From  the  resinous  matter  the  author  reported  having  separated  another 
alkaloid,  for  which  the  name  of  Veratridia  is  proposed,  and  the  pysiological  and 
chemical  relations  of  which  had  been  investigated.  It  was  to  be  regretted  that  a 
sample  of  this  alkaloid  was  not  exhibited,  which  would  have  completed  the  chem- 
ical history  of  the  American  veratrum  in  connection  with  the  handsome  prepara- 
tions placed  on  exhibition  by  Mr.  Chas.  Bullock,  as  the  results  of  his  long-con- 
tinued investigations. 
On  a  false  Senega-root. — Mr.  Maisch  stated  that  he  had  traced  the  so-called 
white  senega-root,  which  occasionally  appears  in  commerce,  to  Greene  county,  Mo., 
where  it  is  collected,  but  he  had  been  unable  to  procure  specimens  of  the  plant,  or 
even  of  the  root. 
The  root  of  Epilobium  Angustifolium — Mr.  C.  J.  Biddle  reported  that  it  had 
'been  used  with  success  in  the  Philadelphia  Hospital  in  the  treatment  of  aphthas.  A 
^partial  analysis  revealed  the  presence  of  large  quantities  of  tannin  and  mucilage,  also 
starch,  sugar,  resin  and  a  crystalline  calcium  salt. 
The  Compound  of  Chloral  Hydrate  and  Camphor. — Mr.  Jos.  Roberts  adopts 
the  view  of  E.  C.  Saunders  ("Am.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1876,  p.  462),  that  the  liquid  result- 
ing from  the  union  of  the  two  bodies  is  merely  a  solution  of  chloral  in  camphor. 
On  Extract  of  Aloes. — Mr  G.  W.  Kennedy  obtained  with  hot  water  36  per 
cent,  more  extract  than  with  cold  water,-  but  the  latter  was  more  aromatic,  less 
griping  and  equally  effective  in  a  much  smaller  dose,  2  grains  producing  the  same 
effect  as  3  grains  of  the  hot  water  extract. 
On  Aloin.— Mr.  A.  P.  Brown  found  that  barbaloin  possesses  about  the  same 
purgative  effect  as  an  equul  dose  of  Barbadoes  aloes,  and  that  the  extract  obtained 
by  evaporating  the  mother  liquor  from  which  aloin  has  been  deposited  was  nearly 
destitute  of  purgative  properties. 
On  Lactucarium.— Mr.  Joseph  L.  Lemberger  reported  that  a  concentrated  liquid 
preparation  may  be  made,  and  promised  to  furnish  a  formula  next  year. 
FOURTH  SESSION,  Thursday  Forenoon,  September.  6. 
The  committee  on  the  officers'  reports  presented  a  proposition  to  amend  Chap,  vi, 
Art.  iv  of  the. By-Laws,  so  as  to  require  life  members  under  the  old  constitution  to 
jpay  $3.00  annually  for  the  Proceedings     The  subject  was  ordered  to  be  referred  to 
a  special  committee. 
A  paper  on  Magnesia  by  Mr.  Geo.  Leis  was  read,  in  which  the  author  reported 
commercial  carbonate  of  magnesium  to  contain  3972  to  4075  per  cent.  MgO  $ 
Jenning's  light  calcined  magnesia  was  found  to  contain  78-01,  Husband's  90-33  and 
Powers  &  Weightman's  95-46  per  cent.  MgO;  in  two  of  the  samples  about  one 
,per  cent,  of  Na20  was  found. 
