348 
Pharmaceutical  Meeting. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharai. 
June,  1896. 
List  of  Publications  of  thk  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  from 
1841  to  June  30,  1895,  inclusive.  Government  Printing  Office.  Washington. 
1896. 
Contributions  from  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium.  Vol.  III.  No.  7. 
Issued  April  1,  1896.  By  John  M.  Coulter.  This  consists  of  a  "Preliminary 
Revision  of  the  North  American  Species  of  Echinocactus,  Cereus  and  Opuntia." 
Washington.  1896. 
Ueber  eine  eigenthumeiche  neue  Magnesium-Verbindung,  and 
Ueber  eine  neue  Bildungsart  des  Magnesium  Nitrides  (Stickstoff- 
Magnesium),  both  by  Dr.  J.  M.  V.  Sztankay,  Bath,  Hungary,  and  reprinted 
from  Pharmaceutische  Post. 
Minnesota  Botanical  Studies.  Bulletin  No.  9.  Part  VIII,  with  three 
plates.    April  30,  1896.    Conway  MacMillan,  State  Botanist. 
Souvenir  of  the  Twenty-sixth  annual  Meeting  of  the  National 
Eclectic  Medical  Association,  to  be  held  in  Portland,  Ore.,  June  16  to  19, 
1896.    Handsomely  illustrated. 
Complete  Catalogue  of  the  Products  of  the  Laboratories  of 
Parke,  Davis  &  Co.    Detroit.    Revised  February  25,  1896. 
MINUTES  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING. 
The  last  of  the  present  series  of  Pharmaceutical  Meetings  was  held  in  the 
Chemical  Lecture  Room  of  the  College,  May  19th,  at  3  o'clock,  with  Mr.  Wm. 
Mclntyre  in  the  chair. 
The  reading  of  the  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  was  omitted. 
A  number  of  interesting  specimens  were  exhibited,  which  may  be  enumer- 
ated as  follows  :  Two  samples  of  gum  products  of  the  mesquite  tree,  one  an 
exudation  of  Opuntia  fulgida  and  one  from  Larrea  tridentata,  all  of  which 
were  presented  by  Professor  James  W.  Tourney,  of  the  University  of  Arizona  ; 
a  specimen  of  asparagus,  illustrating  the  peculiar  form  of  growth  known  in 
botany  as  fasciation,  and  produced  apparently  in  this  case  by  the  lateral  union 
of  several  stems,  was  presented  by  Dr.  Charles  Schaffer  ;  two  specimens  of 
fish  sounds,  of  rather  large  size  and  somewhat  unusual  in  appearance,  were  pre- 
sented by  Messrs.  Wm.  R.  Warner  &  Co. ;  and  Mr.  Charles  Bullock  presented  a 
valuable  piece  of  apparatus  intended  for  the  purpose  of  treating  substances  with 
gas  with  the  application  of  heat.  It  consists  of  a  small  iron  retort  having  a 
detachable  lid,  which  is  closely  fitting  and  clamped  when  in  use.  Two  brass 
tubes  are  adjusted  to  the  lid,  one  for  conducting  the  gas  to  the  substance  treated 
and  the  other  for  carrying  off  the  products.  An  important  application  of  the 
apparatus  will  be  for  the  generation  of  oxygen  in  experiments  by  laboratory 
students. 
A  vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  the  donors  of  the  specimens. 
The  first  paper  on  the  programme  was  presented  by  Mr.  Wm.  B.  Thompson, 
and  was  entitled,  "A  History  of  Dover's  Powder."  (See  page  337.)  The 
author  emphasized  the  necessity  of  preserving  data,  which  may  become  of 
historical  value,  and  not  only  related  the  origin  of  this  drug,  which  has  been 
