558  Minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.  {Xm-^Zw*rm' 
Mr.  Hans  M.  Wilder  presented,  through  Professor  Trimble,  a  specimen  of 
olive  oil  at  least  1,800  years  old  ;  also  a  specimen  of  the  white  and  yolk  of  an  egg 
about  the  same  age.  They  had  been  exhumed  from  the  ruins  of  Pompeii,  and 
there  was  every  evidence  that  the  "  finds  "  were  genuine.  A  vote  of  thanks 
was  given  to  Professor  Trimble  and  Mr.  Wilder. 
Professor  Sadtler  gave  a  very  succinct  and  clear  explanation  of  a  new  dis- 
tillatory apparatus,  patented  by  M.  Barbet,  in  France.  The  apparatus  exhibited 
was  on  a  laboratory  scale,  large  enough  to  demonstrate  the  successful  working 
of  the  apparatus  on  a  commercial  scale.  Its  great  advantage  is  that  it  can  be 
used  to  rectify  weak  spirits  from  50  percentage  to  96  percentage  at  one  opera- 
tion, and  that  while  doing  this  it  is  also  possible  to  "pasteurize  "  the  product  so 
as  to  make  it  equal  to  liquors  of  several  years  of  age. 
Professor  Trimble  exhibited  an  improved  method  of  securing  the  wooden 
handles  to  pestle  heads  ;  it  consists  of  rings  turned  on  the  wooden  handle, 
which  pass  certain  projections  in  the  opening  in  the  head  of  the  pestle  and  then 
by  turning  them  they  become  locked.  The  invention  is  one  of  a  recent  gradu- 
ate of  the  college,  Mr.  I.  J.  White. 
Mr.  Fox  stated  he  had  repaired  broken  pestle  handles  by  having  them  turned 
of  very  dry  wood  and  fitting  quite  closely.  The  moisture  to  which  they  are 
usually  subjected  swells  them  and  thus  secures  them  effectually  in  their 
place. 
Professor  Sadtler  made  a  report  on  the  Chemical  Exhibit  of  the  Columbian 
Exposition  at  Chicago.  The  first  distinction  to  be  noted  was  that  between 
the  raw  or  crude  material  and  the  manufactured  articles.  The  most  valuable 
and  noteworthy  in  many  respects  of  the  exhibits  of  raw  materials  was  in  the 
Mines  and  Mining  Building,  and  next  that  of  the  Agricultural  Building.  While 
the  exhibit  of  mining  industry  in  the  aggregate  was  of  surpassing  interest  and 
extent,  there  were  some  departments  of  it  not  nearly  so  well  represented  as 
they  were  at  the  Centennial  Exhibition.  This  was  notably  so  in  the  Lake 
Superior  copper  industry. 
The  Chilian  nitrate  industry,  consisting  of  nitrate  of  soda  or  soda  saltpetre  as 
it  is  termed — also  the  iodide  of  copper,  the  form  in  which  the  iodine  supply  is 
shipped  abroad,  was  finely  illustrated. 
The  mineral  wealth  of  the  Western  States  formed  a  most  striking  feature  of 
the  exhibit.  A  statue  of  silver  mounted  on  a  golden  pedestal  was  shown  from 
Montana,  the  great  silver  producing  State,  while  Colorado  made  the  greatest 
display  of  gold.  The  deposits  of  malachite  and  azurite  from  Arizona,  surpassed 
in  beauty  any  that  have  been  displayed.  Zinc  ores  of  very  fine  character  were 
displayed,  from  Missouri,  Wisconsin,  and  Wythe  County,  Virginia,  being  princi- 
pally blende  or  sulphide,  carbonate  and  silicate.  The  Salt  Industry  of  New 
York  State  was  well  displayed,  and  Louisiana  showed  a  statue  of  Rock  Salt, 
which  was  quite  noticeable. 
The  South  African  diamond  fields,  which  are  now  known  to  supply  by  far 
the  greatest  quantity  of  diamonds  of  commerce,  was  shown  both  here  and  in 
connection  with  Tiffany  &  Co.'s  display  in  the  Liberal  Arts  Building  ;  the  blue 
clay  deposits,  washing  and  polishing,  all  formed  a  very  instructive  display. 
G.  F.  Kunz's  (the  miueralogical  expert  of  Tiffany)  display  of  precious  stones 
of  various  kinds  was  a  most  remarkable  showing  of  almost  every  kind  of 
stone  used  for  jewelers'  use. 
