35o 
Pharmaceutical  Meeting. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharrn. 
June,  1896. 
The  chairman  held  a  similar  view  of  the  matter,  and  said  that  the  main  diffi- 
culty lay  in  the  prosecution  of  ideas,  rather  than  the  consideration  of  principles 
of  equity. 
"  The  Tannins  of  Some  Ericaceae  "  was  the  subject  of  a  paper  presented  by 
Miss  Bertha  Iv.  DeGraffe.  (See  page  313.)  In  her  work  the  author  investigated 
the  following  drugs  of  the  natural  order  Ericaceae:  Uva  ursi,  gaultheria,  chima- 
phila,  manzanita,  mountain  laurel  and  trailing  artmtus.  The  tannins  were  ex- 
tracted from  the  drugs  with  acetone,  and,  after  a  series  of  preliminary  manipu- 
lations to  purify  them,  qualitative  tests  were  made  with  the  customary  reagents, 
to  determine  to  which  tannin  group  (the  gall  tannin  or  oak  bark  tannin  group) 
the  principles  so  obtained  belong,  but  with  not  wholly  satisfactory  results. 
Decompositions  were  then  attempted  for  the  same  purpose,  but  with  like 
results.  As  a  final  means  of  classification,  ultimate  analyses  of  the  principles 
were  made.  The  results  showed  the  tannins  of  uva  ursi  and  manzanita  to  have 
the  same  percentage  composition  as  gallotannic  acid,  and  those  of  gaultheria, 
trailing  arbutus  and  mountain  laurel  to  belong  to  the  oak  bark  group.  The 
tannin  of  chimaphila  was  found  difficult  to  purify,  but  the  author  was  of  the 
opinion  that  it  belongs  to  the  oak  bark  group.  Samples  of  the  purified  tan- 
nins from  the  drugs  previously  mentioned  were  exhibited. 
Prof.  Henry  Trimble  contributed  the  last  paper,  which  was  entitled  "Recent 
Literature  on  the  Soja  Bean."  (Seepage  309.)  The  author  stated  that  soja 
bean  and  its  products  constitute  an  important  proportion  of  the  food  of  the 
inhabitants  of  India,  China  and  Japan,  its  richness  in  proteids  supplying  the 
deficiency  of  these  bodies  in  the  principal  food,  which  is  rice.  Recent  analyses 
show  it  to  contain  as  high  as  42*05  per  cent,  of  crude  protein  and  20  46  of  fat. 
It  also  contains  an  active  diastatic  ferment,  which  is  said  to  have  a  powerful 
action  upon  starch.  The  principal  products  of  the  bean  are  miso,  which  is 
made  by  subjecting  the  steamed  beans  after  cooling  to  the  action  of  a  diastatic 
ferment  made  from  rice  or  barley  ;  natto,  which  is  made  by  submitting  boiled 
beans  to  a  warm  temperature  for  24  hours,  whereby  a  decomposition  of  the 
proteids  is  effected  ;  and  tofu,  which  is  a  form  of  vegetable  caseine.  Attention 
was  called  to  a  sample  of  the  beans  purchased  in  New  York  City,  which,  in  the 
dry  condition,  more  nearly  resemble  peas  than  beans. 
An  attractive  feature  of  the  meeting  was  an  exhibition  of  lantern  slides  of 
botanical  subjects,  and  photographic  views  along  the  line  of  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  by  Dr.  Charles  Schaffer,  of  this  city.  These  views  were  pro- 
jected on  a  screen  by  means  of  an  electric  lantern,  and  were  of  popular  interest 
as  well  as  scientific  character. 
A  unanimous  vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  Dr.  Schaffer  for  the  entertainment 
furnished  by  him,  and  to  Professor  Trimble  for  having  procured  his  services. 
On  motion,  the  meeting  adjourned.  Thos.  S.  Wiegand, 
Registrar. 
It  has  been  decided  to  offer  a  reduction  of  50  per  cent,  on  the  price  of  all 
Proceedings  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  prior  to  1891.  The 
Reports  of  1856  and  1S59  are  out  of  print  and  none  were  published  in  1861. 
Orders  should  be  addressed  to  Prof.  Charles  Caspari,Jr.,  109  Asquith  Street, 
Baltimore,  Md. 
