EDITORIAL.  579 
lac,  and  then  treating  it  with  water,  constitutes  seed  lac.  I  have  on  the 
table  specimens  in  the  various  forms,  of  the  crude  stick  lac  attached  to 
branches  of  various  trees,  seed  lac,  lump  lac,  shellac,  thin  plates  of  a  yel- 
lowish and  brown  color,  known  as  button  lac,  thread  lac,  and  bleached  or 
white  lac  of  the  shops. 
The  range  of  production  of  this  resin  is  very  extended,  reaching  from 
Bombay  to  the  Eastern  Archipelago,  Ganjam,  Nepaul,  Burmah,  the  jungles 
of  the  Malay  Peninsula,  and  those  of  Southern  India.  In  the  latter  dis- 
trict it  is  not  much  collected  for  commercial  purposes,  although  always 
procurable  in  the  bazaars.  The  best  lac  is  produced  there  upon  the 
Schleichera  trijuga,  or  corumb  tree,  which  abounds  in  the  Central  Provinces, 
and  yields  the  coloring  matter  twice  a  year.  Burt  lac  is  produced  in  the 
Rajpootana  States,  on  the  Fiscus  indica  and  religiosa,  Zizyphus  jvjuba,  and 
Acacia  concinna. 
The  resin  in  stick  lac  constitutes  about  68  per  cent. ;  in  seed  lac  88  per 
cent.;  and  in  shellac  91  per  cent.  The  wax,  which  forms  about  5  or  6 
per  cent.,  is  analogous  to  myrtle  wax. 
(SMtorial  Department. 
Meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association. — The  attention 
of  our  readers  is  directed  to  the  call  of  the  President  of  the  Association,  at 
page  370,  which  explains  the  object  of  the  Institution,  and  the  conditions  of 
membership.  Like  the  Medical  Association,  it  has  been  instituted  to  pro- 
mote the  professional  interests  of  the  body  by  elevating  the  individual,  in- 
viting each  well  disposed  pharmaceutist  and  druggist  to  partake  in  its 
advantages  and  usefulness.  Now  by  this  we  do  not  mean  that  an  apothe- 
cary, by  being  a  member,  will  add  a  certain  number  of  dollars  to  his  income, 
— possibly  it  may  not  increase  it  a  dime.  But  we  do  mean  that  it  will  open 
a  field  wherein  he  can  glean  much  that  may  be  improving  to  himself,  and  at 
the  same  time,  without  loss,  enable  him  to  extend  a  useful  influence  to  others 
less  enlightened  and  successful  than  himself.  The  tendency  of  the  Associ- 
ation is  opposed  to  concentrating  business  and  knowledge  in  the  hands  of 
a  few — its  aim  is  to  aid  all  earnest  members  of  our  profession  to  raise  their 
standard  of  practice  by  personal  exertions,  to  disseminate  information, 
and  to  encourage  correct  practice  among  all.  Freed  as  it  thus  is  of 
all  exclusive  pretensions,  it  merits  general  support,  to  enable  t  to  extend 
the  full  amount  of  usefulness  it  is  capable  of  doing.  Already  its  "  Pro- 
ceedings" have  furnished  valuable  and  interesting  papers,  quoted  in  our 
own  and  European  Journals,  and  this  feature  is  but  just  budding,  having 
only  commenced  last  year.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  ensuing 
meeting  will  be  marked  with  great  interest  in  this  regard,  from  the  number 
