130 
Pharmaceutical  College*,  tic 
j  Am.  Jock.  Phau*. 
i  March  l,  ma. 
in  April.  The  committee  consists  of  James  T.  Shinn,  Chairman,  3 .  M.  Maisch, 
Charles  Bullock,  Dr.  W.  H.  File.  Kdward  Parrish,  M.  L.  Rosengarten  and 
•Joseph  P.  Remington 
The  New  York  College  of  Pharmacy  will  have  its  commencement  in  As- 
sociation Hall,  corner  of  Fourth  avenue  and  23d  street,  on  Tuesday,  March  19. 
Professor  Chandler  will  deliver  the  valedictory  address. 
The  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain  held  a  pharmaceutical  meet- 
ing on  February  7th.  Among  the  donations  to  the  Museum  was  a  specimen  of 
chloral  hydrate,  a  few  ounces  of  which  had  been  kept  in  a  half  gallon  jar  ;  from 
this  small  quantify  there  had  grown  out  about  twenty  or  thirty  spear-like 
crystals,  five  or  six  inches  in  length,  a  phenomenon  which  has  not  been  satis- 
factorily explained.* 
Mr.  Greenish  read  a  k£  Note  on  Tincture  of  Cinnamon."  which  elicited  the 
following  interesting  discussion,  which  we  take  from  the  Pharmaceutical  Jour- 
nal and  Transactions.  February  10th  : 
The  President  inquired,  in  reference  to  Mr.  Greenish's  statement  that  with 
a  strong  spirituous  preparation  the  decomposition  of  tincture  of  cinnamon  would 
not  be  likely  to  occur,  how  long  it  was  since  the  author  made  the  preparation  of 
tincture  of  cinnamon  upon  which  he  based  his  observations  ? 
Mr.  Greenish  :  I  think  quite  two  years. 
The  President  said  that  was  a  considerable  time  ;  and  if  the  preparation 
would  keep  two  years,  that  was  perhaps  as  long  as  could  be  expected.  Not 
only  did  he  agree  with  Mr.  Greenish  and  Mr.  Giles  that  the  different  strengths 
of  spirit  might  be  used  with  advantage  for  different  tinctures,  but  he  also 
thought  that  sometimes  a  different  mode  of  applying  the  spirit  and  preparing 
the  ingredients  might  be  used  with  advantage.  He  might  mention  especially 
the  tincture  of  calumba.  Calumba  was  one  of  those  roots  which  was  with  great 
difficulty  exhausted,  and  it  was  also  one  that  absorbed  a  large  amount  of  the 
menstruum,  of  which  there  was  a  considerable  loss  in  making  the  tincture.  He 
had  found  (and  he  believed  this  method  was  approved  by  Professor  Redwood) 
that  it  was  better  to  slice  the  calumba  than  to  powder  it.  But  still  he  found 
that  there  was  a  difficulty  in  slicing  it  equally,  and  that  with  an  ordinary  root 
cutter  the  substance  would  break  off,  and  some  pieces  would  be  lump  and 
thicker  than  they  ought  to  be.  Hence  he  had  taken  a  portion  of  the  distilled 
water  which  he  should  have  used  in  making  the  proof  spirit,  and  placed  some 
of  it  over  the  calumba — the  whole  uncut  root — and  allowed  it  to  remain  for 
twelve  hours.  There  was  just  sufficient  water  to  cover  the  calumba,  and  the 
next  morning  he  found  that  the  substance  was  in  a  nice  condition  for  slicing 
with  the  cutter, — neither  too  soft  nor  too  hard.  He  found,  also,  that  when  the 
calumba  was  in  that  condition,  the  loss  was  considerably  less  upon  the  gallon 
of  tincture  than  it  was  when  either  powdered  or  ordinary  sliced  calumba  was 
employed.  He  believed  that  some  process  of  that  kind  might  be  applied  to 
other  tinctures.  Tincture  of  orange-peel  was  one  upon  which  there  was  a  great 
loss  of  menstruum  ;  and  he  believed  an  improvement  might  be  made  in  its  prep- 
aration. He  was  not  prepared  at  present  to  state  exactly  what  the  improve- 
ment should  be,  but  he  believed  that  the  liquid  might  be  applied  to  the  orange- 
peel  in  a  better  way.    He  should  be  glad  to  hear  remarks  on  the  subject. 
Professor  Redwood  said  that  he  was  sure  the  members  were  much  indebted 
to  Mr.  Greenish  for  bringing  forward  this  subject,  and  he  (Prof.  Redwood) 
should  be  glad  if  gentlemen,  who,  like  the  President  and  Mr.  Greenish,  were 
*  In  the  alow  crystallization  of  chloral  hydrate  from  bisulphide  of  carbon  prismatic  needles  of? 
such  a  length  are  readily  obtained.    Editor  Amur  Town,  Pharm. 
\ 
