582  Minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.  {  ^f^wf*' 
in  the  oil-bath,  without  allowing  the  temperature  to  rise  to  the  boiling-point 
lest  an  explosion  should  ensue.  The  object  of  the  heating  is  to  remove  any 
air  bubbles  which  may  adhere  to  the  side  of  the  glass,  or  may  remain  between 
the  turpentine  and  the  water.  When  the  water  has  been  thus  exposed  for  a 
considerable  time  to  a  temperature  very  near  to  the  boiling-point,  the  tube  is 
^aken  out  of  the  oil-bath,  cooled  in  cold  water,  and  then  placed  in  a  freezing 
mixture  (water  and  nitrate  of  ammonia).  After  a  few  minutes  the  water  is 
cold,  and  in  most  cases  a  portion  of  it  freezes  at  once  if  a  thermometer  is 
inserted,  and  moved  up  and  down.  If  this  does  not  take  place,  the  tube  must 
be  returned  to  the  freezing  mixture,  and  cooled  more  strongly.  The  thermo- 
meter may  be  previously  placed  in  an  empty  test-tube,  which  is  then  plunged  in 
the  freezing  mixture.  It  is  very  important  that  the  thermometer  should  be 
cooled  down  close  to  the  freezing-point  before  being  introduced  into  the  water. 
The  best  thermometers  when  tested  in  this  manner  show  a  freezing-point  too 
high  by  about  0-1°  0. — Repertorium  f  'tir  Experimental  Physik,  Band  x,from 
Chem.  News,  October  16,  1874. 
Impermeable  Paper. — By  plunging  a  sheet  of  paper  into  an  ammoniacla 
solution  of  copper  for  an  instant,  then  passing  it  between  the  cylinders  and 
drying  it,  it  is  rendered  entirely  impermeable  to  water,  and  may  even  be 
boiled  without  disintegrating.  Two,  three,  or  any  number  of  sheets  thus 
rolled  together  become  permanently  adherent,  and  form  a  material  having  the 
strength  of  wood.  By  the  interposition  of  cloth  or  of  any  kind  of  fibre  between 
the  layers,  the  strength  is  vastly  increased. — Journ.  Frank.  Inst.,  Aug.,  1874. 
Cod-Liver  Oil. — In  a  recent  letter  describing  the  fisheries  about  Newfound- 
land, it  is  estimated  that  the  total  catch  of  cod  along  the  coast  is  not  less  than 
1,650,000  quintals,  and  the  quantity  of  oil  extracted  from  their  livers  one  and 
a  quarter  million  gallons,  valued  at  about  £200,000.  Nearly  all  of  this  oil,  it 
is  added,  is  shipped  to  England,  the  duty  in  the  United  States  being  so  high  at 
present  as  to  almost  prohibit  its  importation,  otherwise  much  more  of  it,  if  not 
all,  would  go  to  that  market. — Lond.  Pharm.  Jour.,  Nov.  7.,  p.  368. 
Pharmacies  in  Paris. — The  Lancet  states  that,  according  to  the  census  re- 
cently published  by  the  Prefecture  of  the  Seine,  there  are  in  the  city  of  Paris 
618  pharmaceutical  establishments,  and  298  in  the  suburbs. — Ibid. 
The  second  meeting  of  the  session  was  held  November  17th,  1874,  Prof. 
Remington  in  the  chair.  Number  in  attendance,  thirty-one.  The  minutes  of 
the  previous  meeting  were  read  and  approved. 
Prof.  Maisch  presented,  for  the  cabinet,  from  W.  F.  Simes  &  Co.,  an  empty 
tub,  with  its  original  covering,  in  which  Japanese  tub-camphor  is  imported. 
Mr.  Simes  exhibited  compressed  camphor  at  the  Franklin  Institute  Exhi- 
bition. It  is  prepared  from  Japanese  crude  camphor,  the  color  of  which  is 
grey  to  pinkish-white,  layers  of  various  degrees  of  purity  being  often  found  in 
the  same  tub.    It  contains  some  water  and  volatile  oil,  but  is  not  as  impure  as 
