a\oTm872RM'}  Minutes  of  Pharmaceutical  Meetings.  521 
pimtcs     %  fljaraamttital  Steeling 
A  pharmaceutical  meeting  was  held  October  15th,  1872,  Professor  Procte~ 
in  the  chair.  William  Mclntyre,  in  the  absence  of  the  Registrar,  was  appointed 
Registrar  pro  tern. 
The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read,  Prof.  Procter  stated  that  Can- 
tharis atrata  (see  page  279  of  the  June  number  Amer.  Journ.  Pharm.)  should 
read  Cantharis  adspersa,  and  as  thus  corrected  the  minutes  were  approved. 
A  letter  was  read  from  Clemmons  Parrish,  regretting  his  inability  to  attend, 
and  stating  that  he  had  returned  thanks  through  Dr.  Ruschenberger  to  Surgeon 
General  J.  M.  Foltz,  for  the  samples  of  cundurango  presented  in  May  last. 
An  election  for  Registrar  was  held  ;  Clemmons  Parrish  was  nominated  and 
Prof.  Maisch  directed  to  cast  a  ballot,  when  the  nominee  was  declared  Regis- 
trar for  another  term. 
The  Class  of  1872-73  were  welcomed  to  the  meeting. 
Prof.  Maisch  presented  a  pamphlet,  received  for  the  College  from  the  author, 
entitled  Etude  generale  et  comparative  des  pharmacopees  d'Europe  et  d'Ame- 
rique,  by  F.  A.  Werwaest.  Tt  is  stated  in  this  pamphlet  that  the  United  States 
Pharmacopoeia  had  been  first  issued  in  1850,  whereas  the  first  edition  was  pub- 
lished in  1820,  and  the  work  has  since  been  revised  every  ten  years. 
Specimens  of  pepsin,  from  Prof.  Emil  Scheffer,  of  Louisville,  were  presented, 
comprising  dried  pepsin,  of  which  one  grain  dissolves  100  grains  coagulated 
albumen  at  105°  F. ;  saccharated  pepsin,  one  grain  dissolving  12  grains;  liquid 
pepsin,  one  ounce  dissolving  1^  drs.  of  coagulated  albumen  (Am.  J.  P.,  Feb.> 
1872). 
Prof.  Procter  remarked  he  had  followed  Mr.  Scheffer's  process  with  success. 
The  stomachs  are  procured  as  fresh  as  possible  and,  without  being  soaked  in 
water,  are  washed  and  stretched  upon  a  board,  when  the  mucous  coat  is  dis- 
sected. The  pepsin  is  probably  not  chemically  pure,  and  varies  somewhat  in 
strength,  so  that  it  is  necessary  to  ascertain  its  digestive  power  by  actual 
experiment,  in  order  to  determine  the  quantity  of  milk-sugar  necessary  for 
admixture  to  reduce  it  to  the  standard  strength. 
Mr.  W.  C.  Bakes  presented  a  specimen  of  Coxe's  Hive  Syrup,  made  22  years 
ago  by  Charles  Schaffer,  of  this  city. 
Prof.  Procter  presented  an  herb-press  from  Mr.  Jos.  Harrop,  of  Leaven- 
worth, Kansas,  which  was  exhibited  at  the  late  meeting  in  Cleveland.  It  is  a 
simple  contrivance,  by  which  apothecaries  can  press  their  own  herbs,  thus 
insuring  their  good  quality. 
Prof.  Procter  exhibited  Cantharis  adspersa  from  South  America,  which  is 
the  blistering  fly  referred  to  at  the  May  meeting.  Prof.  Maisch  stated  that 
the  sample  of  Chinese  flies  which  he  had  received  from  Messrs.  McKesson  & 
Robbins,  of  New  York,  and  which  he  exhibited  last  May,  contains  fully  one 
per  cent,  of  cantharidin,  and  is  therefore  at  least  double  the  strength  of  the 
officinal  cantharides. 
Prof.  Procter  exhibited  gallic  acid  obtained  from  ink,  and  the  oleo-resin 
from  Liquidambar  styraciflua,  from  Arkansas,  collected  by  his  brother  after 
wounding  the  bark. 
