Am'  oJc°turi884 arm' }        American  Pharmaceutical  Association .  539 
ally  decided  to  meet  in  Pittsburgh  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  September, 
1885. 
A  resolution  was  again  adopted  ordering  the  exhibition  room  to  be  closed, 
and  a  resolution  was  offered  by  Mr.  Sloan,  aiming  at  devoting  nearly  all 
the  time  of  the  sessions  to  the  reading  and  discussing  of  papers,  and,  in 
accordance  with  the  by-laws,  referring  all  business  matters  to  the  Council, 
upon  whose  report  they  are  to  be  decided,  or  at  an  hour  specially  assigned 
by  the  Association.  This  resolution  was  referred  to  the  Council  to  report  a 
by-law  defining  the  manner  in  which  business  may  be  brought  forward. 
Eight  candidates  for  membership  were  proposed. 
The  first  paper  was  now  read  by  Mr.  W.  W.  Bartlet,  On  Opium  Assays. 
The  processes  experimented  with  were  those  of  the  Pharmacopoeias  of  the 
United  States,  Germany,  and  Great  Britain.  Three  samples  of  powdered 
opium  were  assayed  and  yielded  respectively  of  morphine  : 
1.  12-50  per  cent.,  IT.  S. 
2.  12-48  " 
3.  13-40  " 
8-  50  per  cent.,  Ger. 
10-50 
9-  25  " 
5-12  per  cent.,  Brit. 
8'25  " 
3*42 
The  conclusion  arrived  at  by  the  author  is  that  the  present  U.  S.  Pharma- 
copoeia process  is  by  far  the  most  definite  as  to  details,  yields  by  far  the 
most  morphine,  and  hence  exhausts  the  opium  more  thoroughly  than  the 
other  processes.  In  the  discussion  which  followed,  Prof.  Good  said  that 
instead  of  powdering  commercial  sal  ammoniac  as  suggested  by  Mr.  Bartlet, 
the  salt  may  preferably  be  granulated  from  a  hot  solution.  Regarding  the 
morphine  strength  of  opium  it  was  stated  that  the  British  Pharmacopoeia 
required  at  least  six  per  cent,  from  crude  opium,  while  the  twelve  and  ten 
per  cent,  required  by  the  United  States  and  German  Pharmacopoeias  refer 
to  powdered  and  dry  opium. 
Professor  Power  next  read  a  paper,  on  "  Hydrastine,"  in  which  its  history 
and  process  of  preparation  are  described.  Prof.  Power  finds  the  alkaloid 
insoluble  in  water  and  petroleum  benzin,  but  soluble  in  dilute  acids,  in  1*75 
parts  of  chloroform,  15-7  parts  of  benzol,  83'46  parts  of  ether,  and  in  120-27 
parts  of  alcohol  at  15°  C.  The  alkaloid  in  solution  is  left  rotating,  and  its 
most  characteristic  test  appears  to  be  sulphuric  acid  and  ammonium 
molybdate,  with  which  it  produces  an  olive  green  color.  Ultimate  analysis 
gave  results  agreeing  with  Mahla's  results,  C22H23N06.  The  alkaloid  crys- 
tallizes in  four-sided  prisms,  which  probably  belong  to  the  ortho-rhombic 
system.  The  sulphate  of  hydrastine  contains  11  percent.  H2S04,  and  the 
gold  double  salt  16*78  per  cent  of  gold.  Salts  with  organic  acids  could  not 
be  obtained  ;  a  commercial  soluble  citrate  of  hydrastine  was  an  amorphous 
yellowish  powder,  and  contained  1  mol.  of  alkaloid  to  15  mol.  (or  8  parts) 
of  citric  acid.  Hydrohydrastine  and  ethylhydrastine  were  likewise  pre- 
pared ;  but  xanthopuccine  could  not  be  procured.  In  regard  to  the  latter 
alkaloid,  Prof.  Maisch  said  that  he  had  seen  Mr.  Lerchen's  results  in  1878, 
and  while  in  its  behavior  it  resembled  berberine  to  some  extent,  yet  in  some 
reactions  it  was  quite  distinct,  and  it  was  free  from  hydrastine.  Attention 
was  directed  by  Mr.  Ebert  to  various  salts  of  berberine  which  certain  manu- 
facturers persist  in  calling  hydrastine,  causing  confusion  since  the  latter 
