A™cSbUeraK£m'}  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  499 
prescriptions  and  that  all  dealings  with  such  houses  by  members  be  discount- 
enanced. 
The  Committee  on  President's  Address  recommended  the  adoption  of  the  ob- 
servation sheet  proposed  by  Prof.  E.  L.  Patch,  and  that  the  chairman  of  the  sec- 
tion on  scientific  papers  be  instructed  to  have  5,000  forms  printed  for  distribution 
and  a  report  thereupon  to  be  read  at  the  next  annual  meeting.  Regarding  the 
question  of  a  "  Pharmaceutical  Fellowship  "  to  be  established  by  the  Associa- 
tion, while  recognizing  the  value  thereof,  yet  the  Association  was  considered  not 
to  be  in  a  financial  position  to  take  action  thereupon  at  this  time.  Report  of 
Committee  on  Centennial  Fund,  the  chairman  announced  that  $50  had  been 
appropriated  during  the  past  year  for  the  use  of  Prof.  E  Kremers,  Madison, 
Wis.,  for  prosecution  of  his  work  on  Menthol. 
SECTION  ON  SCIENTIFIC  PAPERS. 
Chairman  L.  E.  Sayre  called  the  meeting  to  order  on  Wednesday  evening, 
September  5th,  at  9  o'clock.  He  presented  a  large  (two  feet  long)  specimen  of 
the  root  of  Cucurbita  perennis  (man-in-the-earth),  which  was  obtained  in 
Western  Kansas,  and  said  to  contain  a  bitter  principle.  A  chemical  analysis 
would  be  made  during  the  forthcoming  year.  Paper  on  Rhus  toxicodendron  was 
read  by  H.  M.  Whelpley.  The  question  was,  whether  the  poisonous  constituent 
was  destroyed  by  drying.  It  is  not  wholly  destroyed.  Out  of  36,000  recipes 
examined  by  A.  E.  Ebert,  but  five  called  for  Rhus  toxicodendron.  Thirty- 
four  remedies  for  Rhus  poisoning  are  to  be  found  in  medical  works. 
Discussion  :  Dr.  Bartley  stated  that  he  had  been  poisoned  by  the  dried  plant 
in  winter.  J.  U.  Lloyd  stated  that  different  people  were  differently  affected, 
and  told  of  a  lady  who  was  poisoned  by  simply  being  in  the  room  when  bottles 
were  being  filled  with  the  tincture.  She  was  never  poisoned  by  the  dried  Rhus 
toxicod  en  droti. 
A  further  discussion  upon  the  paper  revealed  but  little  that  was  new.  Prof. 
Patch  said  that  a  preparation  of  Resorcin,  Glycerin  and  Gelatin  applied  locally 
every  six  hours,  proved  to  be  exceedingly  efficacious  in  thirty-six  hours,  in  the 
case  of  a  man  severely  laid  up  for  several  days.  Constitutional  treatment, 
however,  seems  to  be  necessary  after  the  poison  enters  the  circulation. 
Examination  of  Kola. — C.  O.  Topping.  Six  samples  of  kola  were  examined 
for  total  alkaloids,  for  separate  alkaloids  (caffeine  and  theobromine),  also  for 
tannin.  Three  methods  for  estimating  total  alkaloids  were  employed,  viz.  :  (1) 
Heckel's  ;  (2)  Squibbs  ;  (3)  Modified  Prollius.  Lowenthal's  method  of  esti- 
mating tannin  was  adopted.  The  author  also  performed  experiments  to  prove 
indirectly  the  presence  of  a  ferment  in  kola  which,  acting  upon  a  glucoside 
"kolanin"  under  suitable  conditions  of  heat  and  moisture,  produces  caffeine, 
glucose  and  kola  red.  The  paper  is  accompanied  by  a  tabulated  statement  of 
the  results  obtained. 
Reduced  Iron  (the  quality  dispensed  by  pharmacists). — G.  C.Stevenson.  The 
work  confines  itself  mainly  to  the  per  cent,  of  metallic  iron  in  the  free  and 
uncombined  state,  the  per  cent,  of  insoluble  residue,  together  with  the  question 
of  impurities  within  specified  limits.  Of  ten  samples  analyzed,  only  three  were 
equal  to  or  above  the  standard  (80  per  cent.)  for  uncombined  iron  as  required 
by  the  Pharmacopoeia.  The  remainder  were  from  16  to  60  per  cent,  below 
standard,  while  two  contained  from  2  to  5  percent,  less  of  total  iron  than  that 
