52 
Minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Jan.,  1884. 
mine  and  quebrachine  act  with  positive  effect  in  reducing  the  action  of  the 
heart  and  relieving  many  cases  of  dyspnoea.  Mariani  considers  it  the  only 
agent  known  which  exerts  a  specifically  anti-dyspnoeic  action  by  itself.  He 
finds  its  exhibition  very  beneficial  both  in  asthmatic  and  nervous  dyspnoea 
and  that  which  accompanies  inflammatory  pulmonic  affections.  Its  action 
on  the  heart  is  decided  enough  to  reduce  its  pulsations  twenty  in  the  min- 
ute.— Med.  and  Surg.  Reporter,  Dec^S,  1883. 
MINUTES  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING. 
Philadelphia,  December  18,  1883. 
In  the  absence  of  the  president,  D.  Parrish,  Dr.  A.  W.  Miller  was  called 
to  the  chair. 
The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read,  and  there  being  no  corrections, 
were  declared  approved. 
The  chairman  asked  attention  to  a  very  beautiful  set  of  chemical  speci- 
mens presented  by  the  Mallinckrodt  Chemical  Works,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
This  presentation  was  made  at  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Miller  to  one  of  the 
firm,  who  was  visiting  the  Eastern  part  of  our  country  with  a  view  of 
introducing  their  goods  to  the  notice  of  the  trade  of  this  section. 
The  specimens  were  received,  and  ordered  to  be  placed  in  the  Cabinet, 
and  the  secretary  directed  to  acknowledge  their  receipt,  and  to  return  the 
thanks  of  the  College  for  the  same. 
The  manufacturers  express  the  hope  that  they  may  be  made  use  of  in 
illustrating  the  lectures  before  our  classes.  Two  other  sets  of  specimens 
were  sent  with  these,  one  of  which  was  donated  to  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, the  other  to  the  Women's  Medical  College. 
The  report  of  the  Commissioners  of  Public  Education  was  acknowledged, 
and  the  librarian  was  instructed  to  preserve  it  in  the  Library. 
A  paper  pure  Chloride  of  Barium  was  read  by  Mr.  A.  E.  Brown,  a 
member  of  the  present  class.  He  states  that  there  was  found  about  2*1  per 
cent,  of  alumsnia  present. 
Mr.  Trimble  said  this  did  not  prevent  its  use  in  precipitating  sulphuric 
acid,  but  when  barium  determinations  were  to  be  made  it  was  then  a  source 
of  trouble.    The  paper  was  referred  to  the  Publication  Committee. 
A  paper  upon  Glycerite  of  Tar  was  read  by  the  secretary,  and  also  a  short 
one  upon  Choleate  or  Cholenate  of  Sodium.  The  paper  was  referred  to 
the  Publication  Committee. 
Professor  Trimble  exhibited  a  specimen  of  Paraldehyd,  which  has  been 
lately  introduced  for  the  same  purpose  as  chloral  hydrate.  It  is  said  to  be 
less  objectionable  than  Chloral  as  its  use  was  not  so  likely  to  grow  into 
a  habit  as  was  the  case  with  other  hypnotics.  This  statement,  he  said, 
must  be  taken  with  great  allowance,  as  almost  all  the  newly  introduced 
preparations  were  generally  much  lauded,  and  subsequent  use  only  gave 
them  their  true  place. 
Prof.  Trimble  stated  that  the  Paraldehyd  was  made  by  treating  aldehyd 
with  strong  sulphuric  acid,  refrigerating  it,  which  caused  it  to  crystallize ; 
the  crystals  are  to  be  separated,  and  as  the  temperature  is  raised  the  crys- 
