Am.  Jour.  Pbarm. 
May,  1900. 
Pharmaceutical  Meeting. 
253 
(4)  Committee. — Adeps  Lanae  Hydrosus,  Glycerinum,  Spiritus  iEtheris 
Compositus,  Tinctura  Ferri  Chloridi,  Acidum  Boricum,  Alumen,  Potassii  Ferro- 
cyanidum,  Acouitum,  Rhamnus  Purshiana,  Conium. 
MINUTES  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING, 
The  stated  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  was  held  Tuesday,  April  17th. 
J.  H.  Redsecker,  Ph.M.,  of  Lebanon,  Pa.,  a  member  of  the  College  and  a 
well-known  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association,  presided. 
The  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were  allowed  to  stand  as  published. 
Frederick  L.  Lewton,  of  the  Philadelphia  Museums,  was  the  first  speaker 
and  gave  a  very  interesting  talk  on  "The  Cultivation  and  Economics  of 
Agave,"  which  was  illustrated  with  lantern  views  and  specimens  of  the  various 
products  obtained  from  the  plant.  The  paper  will  be  published  in  full  in  a 
later  issue  of  this  Journal. 
M.  I.  Wilbert,  Ph.G.,  read  a  paper  having  special  value  for  working  phar- 
macists, which  was  entitled  "  A  Few  Remarks  on,  and  Working  Formulas  for, 
the  Official  and  Other  Preparations  of  Soap"  (see  page  212).  In  addition  to 
the  specimens  of  the  preparations  the  formulas  for  which  were  given,  the 
author  exhibited  a  sample  of  a  50  per  cent,  emulsion  of  crude  carbolic  acid, 
which  on  account  of  its  miscibility  has  been  found  useful  for  making  weaker 
solutions  of  the  acid  ;  and  also  a  sample  of  a  soap  liniment  in  which  methyl 
alcohol  was  substituted  for  ethyl  alcohol.  The  latter  preparation  has  not,  how 
ever,  been  sufficiently  tested  to  determine  its  freedom  from  objectionable  prop- 
erties. 
A  paper  on  "An  Examination  of  Acacia,"  by  Robert  G.  Shoults,  P.C.,  of 
Sonoma,  Cal.,  was  read  on  behalf  of  the  author  by  Prof.  Henry  Kraemer,  and 
will  be  published  in  full  in  a  subsequent  issue  of  this  Journal. 
Mr.  Shoults  is  of  the  opinion  that  qualitative  tests  alone  are  of  very  little 
value  for  detecting  dextrin  in  powdered  acacia,  and  from  his  experiments  it 
would  seem  that  the  polariscope  furnishes  a  more  efficient  means  for  the  pur- 
pose. The  following  took  part  in  the  discussion  of  the  paper  :  Dr.  C.  B. 
Lowe  and  Messrs.  Lewton  and  Kebler.  Prof.  Kraemer  referred  to  a  method 
which  he  has  found  readily  applicable  in  determining  the  purity  of  powdered 
acacia  (see  this  Journal,  1899,  p.  541). 
Lyman  F.  Kebler  read  a  paper  entitled  "Suggestions  for  Revising  the  Seventh 
Decennial  United  States  Pharmacopoeia"  (see  page  205). 
The  paper  elicited  an  interesting  discussion,  and  among  those  participating 
in  it  were:  Messrs.  Stedem,  Redsecker,  Boring,  Kraemer,  Wilbert  and  the 
author.  During  the  course  of  his  remarks  Mr.  Kebler  said  that,  contrary  to 
general  reports,  he  had  found  the  jalap  of  the  market  to  be  of  good  quality. 
He  had  found  some  samples  to  assay  as  high  as  15  per  cent,  and  some  as  low 
as  1  per  cent.    Seventeen  samples  which  he  assayed  averaged  over  1  r  per  cent. 
Mr.  Kebler  called  attention  to  some  spheroidal  crystals  of  ferric  chloride  and 
remarked  that  the  fact  of  this  chemical  assuming  such  a  form  was  a  very 
interesting  one.  He  also  exhibited  a  specimen  of  crystals  of  potassium  chlo- 
ride which  were  slightly  conical  in  form,  resembling  the  calyx  of  a  flower. 
Florence  Yaple, 
Secretary  pro  tern. 
