546  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.        { Am'0Jc?uri884arm' 
A  paper  by  Mr.  Henry  Madagan  on  Mercurous  Iodide  reported  proofs 
that  this  salt  when  pure  is  yellow,  and  that  when  of  a  green  color  this  is 
due  to  the  presence  of  unconibined  metallic  mercury,  the  green  tint  being- 
deeper  in  proportion  as  the  amount  of  the  latter  increased. 
In  a  paper  sent  by  Prof.  O.  A.  Wall,  the  question  was  discussed  :  To 
what  extent,  if  at  all,  is  it  proper  for  the  physicians  to  specify  in  their  pre- 
scriptions the  particular  make  of  preparations  prescribed  by  them?  The 
author's  views  are  summarized  thus  :  The  physician  should  specify  to  the 
extent  he  may  know,  that  proper  remedies  are  dispensed,  either  by  direct- 
ing the  patient  to  go  to  a  certain  drug  store  or  by  specifying  a  particular 
preparation  with  which  he  is  familiar  and  in  which  he  has  confidence. 
Mr.  Hallberg  did  not  agree  with  this  conclusion,  but  claimed  for  the  phar- 
macist, who  understands  his  business,  the  privilege  of  using  his  own  judg- 
ment in  supplying  the  physician's  wants  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 
Mr.  Kline  read  a  portion  of  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Drug  Mar- 
ket, and  more  particularly  gave  an  interesting  account  of  the  condition  of 
the  market  and  the  causes  influencing  the  supply  and  price  of  cinchona 
bark  and  of  quinine. 
Rhubarb,  its  history,  habitat,  culture  and  preparation,  with  reference  to 
its  cultivation  in  the  United  States,  was  the  title  of  a  paper  presented  by 
Mr.  J.  W.  Colcord.  Regarding  cultivation,  the  author  says  that  "given 
the  proper  soil,  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  rhubarb  culture  in  this  country 
can  be  made  a  success  ;  whether  it  would  prove  remunerative  from  a  finan- 
cial standpoint,  would  require  repeated  and  long-continued  experiments  ; 
my  impression  is  that  it  would." 
A  paper  by  Mr.  C.  W.  Phillips,  on  Compound  Emulsion  of  Copaiba, 
details  the  manipulation  for  obtaining  a  perfect  emulsion  containing 
copaiba  3ij,  gum  arabic  3j,  saccharated  pepsin  ^j,  and  tinct.  chloride  of 
iron  ^ij  in  a  two-ounce  mixture.  An  emulsion  is  first  formed  with  the 
first  three  articles  and  about  one-third  of  the  water,  the  remaining  water 
being  used  for  diluting  the  tincture  of  iron,  and  this  mixture  is  then  added 
to  the  emulsion,  the  whole  being  well  shaken. 
Mr.  H.  Maclagan  had  sent  a  paper  entitled  Modification  of  Kernels  Test, 
the  object  being  to  obtain  reliable  results  regardless  of  variations  in  tempe- 
rature. The  modification  consists  in  keeping  an  excess  of  pure  quinine 
sulphate  under  water,  so  as  to  have  a  saturated  solution  of  it  always  at 
hand.  The  salt  to  be  tested  is  then  treated  in  a  similar  manner,  and  both 
solutions  are  then  to  be  tested  in  the  usual  manner  with  ammonia  water  at 
the  same  temperature.  In  the  same  way  a  solution  may  also  be  made  from 
pure  quinine  containing  1  or  2  per  cent,  of  cinchonidine,  so  that  the  abso- 
lute or  relative  purity  of  the  sample  may  be  readily  ascertained  by  com- 
parison. 
Dr.  A.  W.  Miller  had  made  inquiry  into  the  alleged  commercial  supply 
of  artificial  oil  of  gaultheria,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  present 
high  price  of  salicylic  acid  would  prevent  the  substitution  of  the  artificial 
for  the  natural  oil,  unless  the  price  of  the  latter  should  advance  to  $3.00  or 
more,  but  that  the  firm  controlling  Kolbe's  patent  might  possibly  with 
advantage  dispose  in  this  manner  of  an  excessive  production  of  the  acid. 
