A ocfcXm^ RM' }  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  455 
The  Association  then  adjourned  into  the  exhibition  hall,  where,  in 
oharge  of  the  Committee  on  Specimens,  the  various  articles  of  prepa- 
rations, drugs,  plants,  apparatus,  &c,  were  thoroughly  examined  and 
their  merits  discussed  in  an  informal  manner  ;  after  which  an  adjourn- 
ment was  had  until  3  o'clock  P.  M. 
Third  Session — Wednesday  Afternoon. 
This  session  was  mainly  devoted  to  the  reading  and  discussion  of 
essays  in  answer  to  the  queries  propounded  at  the  Richmond  meeting. 
The  essays,  of  which  we  propose  to  give  short  abstracts  in  a  future 
number,  were  on  the  following  subjects  :  On  hypodermic  solutions  of 
quinia,  by  A.  P.  Sharp,  of  Baltimore  ;  On  the  medicinal  value  of 
rhubarb  after  exhaustion  with  water,  by  C.  A.  Heinitsh,  of  Lancas- 
ter, Pa. ;  On  the  active  constituents  of  bitter  orange-peel,  by  Prof. 
R.  H.  Stabler,  of  Alexandria,  Va. ;  On  cosmolin,  by  Jos.  L.  Lem- 
berger,  of  Lebanon,  Pa. ;  On  dilute  phosphoric  acid,  prepared  from 
the  glacial  acid,  by  Louis  Dohme,  of  Baltimore  ;  On  the  preference 
shown  to  graduates  in  pharmacy,  as  compared  with  non-graduates,  by 
P.  BallufF,  of  New  York ;  On  the  salaries  of  drug  clerks,  by  H.  N. 
Rittenhouse,  of  Philadelphia ;  On  statistics  of  the  drug  trade,  by  B. 
F.  Stacey,  of  Charlestown,  Mass. ;  On  commercial  iron  by  hydrogen, 
by  J.  L.  A.  Creuse,  of  New  York  ;  On  the  purity  of  commercial  san- 
tonin, by  Dr.  Fr.  Hoffmann,  of  New  York. 
The  discussion  was  somewhat  animated  on  the  subject  of  cosmolin 
while  its  value  as  a  therapeutical  agent  for  external  use,  and  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  fats  in  ointments,  was  acknowledged,  it  was  stated  that  it 
must  be  regarded  as  a  mixture  of  paraffins  of  low  fusing  point,  and 
that  it  may  be  produced  from  the  so-called  paraffin  oils,  the  residue 
of  petroleum  distillations,  by  the  process,  or  a  modification  of  it,  as 
suggested  by  Dr.  A.  W.  Miller  (see  Amer.  Journ.  Pharm.^  1874,  Jan., 
p.  3,  4),  in  which  case  it  can  be  cheaply  obtained  by  the  pharmacist. 
Santonin,  though  usually  pure,  was  stated  to  have  been  met  with 
in  the  Western  markets  adulterated  with  a  considerable  portion  of 
boric  acid. 
For  the  conversion  of  glacial  into  the  dilute  tribasic  phosphoric 
acid,  the  employment  of  nitric  acid  does  not  appear  to  be  essential, 
a  certain  degree  of  heat  affecting  the  change.  Mr.  Dohme  will  con- 
tinue his  researches  on  this  subject. 
The  Committee  on  the  President's  Address  and  the  Secretary's 
