Am,  Jour.  Pharm.") 
March,  1885.  / 
Minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting. 
153 
MINUTES  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING. 
Philadelphia,  February  17,  1885. 
The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the  registrar,  and  upon  motion  of  Mr. 
A.  Blair,  Mr.  Robbins  was  called  to  the  chair. 
The  minutes  of  the  last  Pharmaceutical  meeting  were  read  and  no  correc- 
tions being  called  for  they  were  approved. 
Prof.  Maisch  presented  from  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference  a 
copy  of  the  Year  Book  of  Pharmacy  for  1884. 
Mr.  Jos.  W.  England,  Ph.  G.,  of  the  class  1883,  read  a  paper  upon  tmc- 
ture  of  ferric  chlo7Hde  in  which  he  reviewed  the  formulae  of  the  Pharma" 
copoeia  from  1840  to  the  present  one,  as  well  as  of  some  recent  propositions 
made  in  the  pharmaceutical  journals. 
Prof.  Maisch  wished  to  know  how  long  it  would  require  to  prepare,  say  a 
quart  of  the  solution,  by  the  formula  proposed.  In  reply  Mr.  England 
stated,  with  inferior  opportunities  it  required  about  an  hour,  and  that  under 
more  favorable  circumstances  he  thought  it  possible  to  shorten  the  process 
considerably.  The  paper  was  accompanied  by  samples  of  the  various 
grades  of  solution  and  tincture. 
Mr.  Gustavus  Pile  stated  that  in  order  to  overcome  any  trouble  that  might 
arise  from  accidental  spilling  or  from  the  use  of  acid  of  insufficient  strength, 
he  had  prepared  a  specific  gravity  table  showing  the  amount  of  ferrous 
chloride  in  the  solution  and  giving  the  requisite  weight  of  hydrochloric 
acid  to  be  added  in  the  subsequent  operation.  In  this  way  a  carboy  of 
acid  may  be  worked  up  at  a  time,  adding  the  iron  till  saturation  is  effected, 
making  no  account  of  the  actual  weights  of  the  materials  used.  After  the 
action  has  ceased,  the  liquid  is  filtered  and  the  specific  gravity  taken ;  by 
comparing  this  with  the  table,  the  weight  of  acid  to  be  added  to  each  pint 
is  at  once  ascertained,  and  the  operation  proceded  with  in  the  usual  manner. 
On  motion  the  paper  was  referred  to  the  publication  committee  (see  page 
113.) 
Prof.  Trimble  read  a  paper  upon  an  alkaloid  in  the  fruit  of  Burdock. 
The  experiments  were  made  in  the  laboratory  of  the  College  by  himself 
and  Mr.  Macfarland,  of  the  present  junior  class.  On  motion  the  paper  was 
referred  to  the  committee  on  publication  (see  page  127.). 
Mr.  E.  T.  Ellis  exhibited  and  presented  to  the  cabinet  a  sample  of  Coxe^s 
Hive  Syrup^  made  over  fifty  years  ago  by  Dr.  Coxe's  family,  and  sold  at  his 
residence  north-east  corner  of  Broad  and  Pine  streets,  in  this  city.  The 
syrup  was  subsequently  admitted  into  the  Pharmacopoeia,  and  is  still  recog" 
nized  as  syrupus  scillce  compositus. 
Prof.  Maisch  exhibited  a  specimen  of  Sumatra  Benzoin^  of  handsome 
appearance,  and  yet  the  sample  proved  to  contain  33  per  cent,  of  bark  and 
woody  matter,  which  was  left  behind  on  preparing  the  tincture  of  benzoin  ; 
he  said  that  in  many  cases  it  was  impossible  to  form  any  opinion  of  the 
quality  of  resins  and  gum  resins  by  mere  appearance. 
Prof.  Trimble  stated  that  one  of  the  students  had  examined  scammony 
resin  in  connection  with  matter  for  his  thesis,  and  had  found  that  nearly 
all  the  scammony  of  commerce  contained  starch,  and  that  the  sample  in  the 
College  cabinet  was  fully  up  to  the  standard  required  by  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
On  motion  adjourned.  T.  S.  Wiegand,  Registrar. 
