]68  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.  {^mS'.K41 
also  of  the  amount  of  work  required  in  preparing  such  a  paper,  in  consulting 
various  works  of  reference,  and  that  Mr.  LaWall  had  found  it  advisable  to  make 
two  papers,  and  report  at  another  time  on  the  chemistry  of  the  subject. 
Professor  Bastin  gave  as  his  opinion  that  some  of  the  varieties  are  probably 
hybrids  with  the  orange  family,  and  that  the  shaddock  proper  bears  a  resem- 
blance to  the  orange  both  in  appearance  and  taste,  and,  as  the  plants  have  been 
cultivated  from  time  immemorial,  it  is  very  difficult  to  distinguish  the  species. 
The  next  paper,  entitled "  Bitterless  Cascara  Sagrada,"  was  read  by  Professor 
Remington,  upon  whose  request  it  was  contributed  by  Mr.  Henry  B.  Gilpin,  of 
Baltimore.  (See  page  135.)  Professor  Remington  spoke  of  Mr.  Gilpin's  lib- 
erality in  thus  consenting  to  publish  a  formula  which  has  particular  significance 
when  considered  from  the  commercial  standpoint.  Samples  of  the  aromatic 
powder  and  of  the  aromatic  bitterless  fluid  extract  were  shown,  and  the  quality 
of  these  preparations  could  be  judged  from  their  fine  appearance. 
Mr.  W.  h.  Cliffe  commented  favorably  upon  the  process  of  macerating  the 
drug  with  magnesia  and  water  before  drying,  to  neutralize  the  bitter  principle, 
and  said  that  the  same  object  could  not  be  attained  with  the  use  of  dilute  alcohol. 
Professor  Trimble  wished  to  know  whether  any  of  those  present  had  tried  the 
use  of  ammonia  instead  of  magnesia.  Mr.  England  said  that  he  had  used  it  to 
advantage  in  the  preparation  of  the  syrup. 
The  last  paper  on  "The  Use  of  Oxalic  Acid  in  Preserving  the  Color  of 
Plants,"  was  presented  by  Mr.  J.  Henry  Schroeder.    (  See  page  132.) 
Mr.  Schroeder  exhibited  an  interesting  collection  of  specimens,  including 
plants,  the  colors  of  which  are  the  most  difficult  to  preserve.  These  were  col- 
lected last  summer,  and  were  preserved  by  pressing  with  a  paper  which  had 
been  saturated  with  a  3  per  cent,  solution  of  oxalic  acid  and  dried. 
Professor  Bastin  said  that  it  was  difficult  to  get  such  good  results  ordinarily, 
and  that  it  was  exceedingly  important  and  desirable  to  find  a  preservative  agent 
for  the  color  of  plants.  He  recommended  selecting  specimens  of  Baptisia  and 
Salix  for  carrying  on  experiments,  as  the  leaves  of  these  plants  very  readily 
blacken,  and  suggested  that  two  sets  of  specimens  be  prepared,  one  with  the 
use  of  acid  paper  and  the  other  without  it,  in  order  to  demonstrate  the  utility 
of  the  method.  He  also  advised  exposing  the  specimens  to  the  influence  of 
light  to  determine  the  stability  of  the  colors. 
Mr.  Schroeder,  in  replying  to  a  query  from  Mr.  Wallace  Procter,  said  that 
the  blue  color  of  flowers  is  not  affected  by  the  presence  of  oxalic  acid. 
Mr.  Procter  showed  samples  of  lard,  beef  and  mutton  suet  and  goose-grease, 
which  were  presented  by  Mr.  Snyder,  of  the  Snyder  Pharmacal  Company,  of 
New  York.  These  fats  are  said  to  be  anhydrous  and  quite  pure.  The  lard  is 
made  from  leaf  fat  only,  which  is  brought  from  the  West  during  cold  weather, 
and  is  obtained  from  hogs  of  medium  size  and  corn-fed.  The  membranes  are 
removed  from  the  fat  and  it  is  put  into  a  Miles  cutter,  which  reduces  it  to  the 
appearance  of  lard.  Then  it  is  washed  and  rendered  with  steam  at  a  tempera- 
ture not  exceeding  21 20  F. ;  filtered  through  paper  in  a  filter-press,  heated  in 
vacuo,  to  remove  water,  and  agitated  while  cooling,  with  access  of  as  little  air 
as  possible. 
Mr.  Kebler  made  a  statement  in  reference  to  the  tests  for  gurjun  balsam. 
(See  page  143.) 
On  motion,  the  meeting  adjourned. 
Thos.  S.  Wiegand,  Registrar. 
