Am.  Jour.  Pliarm. 
^'ov.,  1885. 
Editorial. 
591 
Mr.  Wallace  Procter  exhibited  a  specimen  of  cinnamon  water  which  was 
nearly  two  years  old,  and  was  made  by  the  use  of  kaolin,  instead  of  ma;^- 
nesium  carbonate  or  precipitated  phosphate  of  calcium  ;  it  was  made  from 
oil  of  cassia,  and  not  with  the  oil  of  Ceylon  cinnamon  ;  the  water  prepared 
from  the  true  cinnamon  oil  is  very  liable  to  change  in  appearance,  and 
hence  oil  of  cassia  is  most  generally  preferred. 
Mr.  Procter  stated  that  he  had  recently  made  gun  cotton  by  the  process 
published  by  Mr.  Pile  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceu- 
tical Association  for  1884.  The  peculiarity  of  the  ])rocess  is  in  the  use  of 
equal  volumes  of  sulphuric  acid,  spec.  grav.  1-885,  and  of  nitric  acid,  spec, 
grav.  1*45,  the  latter  of  which  is  not  easily  obtained,  but  it  is  quite  satisfac- 
tory in  working;  when  the  temperature  has  fallen  to  95°  or  100°F.  the  cot- 
ton is  immersed  for  ten  hours. 
Mr.  Pile  stated  that  the  strength  of  the  nitric  acid  seemed  quite  impor- 
tant, as  the  sulphuric  acid  in  uniting  with  a  weak  acid  gave  a  much  higher 
temperature,  and  he  thought  it  owing  to  the  amount  of  water  uniting  with 
the  sulphuric; acid  ;  at  a  higher  temperature  pyroxylin  is  formed  in  a  much 
shorter  time,  but  more  or  less  of  the  cotton  is  likely  to  be  dissolved. 
Prof.  Runyon,  of  the  California  College  of  Pharmacy,  was  introduced  to 
the  meeting,  and  made  a  few  remarks,  stating  that  pharmaceutical  meet- 
ings, besides  the  interest  attached  to  the  subjects  brought  forth,  had  a  ben- 
eficial influence,  and  stimulated  like  meetings  in  other  localities,  and  that 
their  own  meetings  were  often  quite  interesting  and  instructive. 
There  being  no  further  business,  on  motion,  adjourned. 
Thos.  S.  Wiegand,  Registrar. 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
Collections  as  a  means  of  instruction.— The  intelligent  examina- 
tion of  an  object  makes  a  deeper  and  more  lasting  impression  on  the  mind 
than  can  be  expected  from  mere  descriptions,  whether  they  be  conveyed 
by  lectures  or  by  the  reading  of  textbooks.  In  pharmacy  a  multitude  of 
objects  are  in  use,  and  the  apprentice  gradually  becomes  familiar  with  a 
larger  or  smaller  number  of  the  same  in  an  empirical  manner.  The  em- 
ployer who  takes  an  active  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  apprentice,  endea- 
vors to  prepare  the  ground  for  his  future  usefulness,  by  teaching  him  the 
handling  of  the  different  implements  and  the^various  manipulations,  com- 
mencing with  the  simplest,  and  gradually  proceeding  to  the  more  difficult 
ones.  In  the  meantime  the  apprentice  has  made  the  practical  acquaintance 
of  a  number  of  chemicals,  drugs  and  pharmaceutical  preparations  through 
his  natural  faculty  of  discrimination  as  regards  shape,  color,  odor,  taste, 
etc.  But  a  systematic  training  in  this  direction  is  rarely  possible  while  the 
actual  demands  of  business  tax  body  and  mind  almost  incessantly  during 
business  hours  ;  it  is  usually  left  to  the  opportunities  afforded  by  a  course 
in  a  pharmaceutical  college. 
Since  pharmacy  has  to  deal  not  with  abstract  things,  but  with  a  vast 
number  of  objects,  it  is  evident  that  attentive  listening  to  lectures  and 
reading  of  suitable  books  will  not  by  themselves  thoroughly  familiarize  the 
student  with  the  physical  properties  of  these  objects,  nor  with  their  inhe- 
rent chemical  and  medical  qualities.  Lecture  experiments  and  practical 
demonstrations  supply  the  want  in  a  measure,  but  not  entirely.  Practical 
instruction  in  laboratories  goes  a  step  farther  ;  the  student  is  lead  to  see  and 
discriminate  while  operating  with  the  test-tube  or  the  percolator,  and 
exact  observations  impress  the  mind  with  facts,  precautions  and  with  the 
