254 
Pharmaceutical  Meeting. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1869. 
G — Give  an  outline  of  the  official  method  of  assaying  opium,  telling  the  uses 
of  the  materials,  the  substance  weighed  at  the  end  of  the  process  and  showing 
the  calculation  of  the  result  into  percentage  of  the  drug. 
H — Describe  the  official  method  of  estimating  nitrites.  (2)  Explain  the 
reactions  involved  in  the  estimation  of  spirit  of  nitrous  ether.  (3)  Outline  the 
calculations  used  in  finding  the  percentage  amount  of  the  important  constitu- 
ent of  this  substance. 
MINUTES  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING. 
Philadelphia,  April  n,  1899. 
The  regular  monthly  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  was  held  in  the  Museum  of 
the  College,  with  David  H.  Ross  in  the  chair. 
There  being  no  corrections,  the  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were 
allowed  to  stand  as  published. 
The  presentation  of  papers  next  occupied  the  attention  of  the  meeting,  the 
first  one  being  a  short  communication  on  "  Syrup  of  Hydriodic  Acid,"  by 
Edwin  H.  Wells,  of  Boston,  which  was  read  by  Prof.  F.  G.  Ryan.  It  was  as 
follows : 
"Much  trouble  with  syrup  of  hydriodic  acid  has  been  experienced  from  the 
fact  that,  as  ordinarily  prepared,  it  is  quite  liable  to  become  colored. 
"This  color  has  sometimes,  doubtless,  been  due  to  liberation  of  iodine,  but 
in  the  writer's  experience,  this  is  not  always  true,  by  any  means. 
"  In  most  cases  it  seems  to  result  from  the  action  of  the  acid  on  impurities 
(coloring  matter  and  ultramarine)  contained  in  the  sugar  or  on  the  sugar  itself; 
the  same  difficulty  being  met  with  in  other  acid  syrups,  such  as  syrup  calcium 
lactophosphate. 
"Syrup  hydriodic  acid  prepared  from  pure  materials  by  the  U.S. P.  process, 
but  using  a  light  syrup  (650  grammes  to  make  1  litre)  made  from  pure  white 
rock  candy  crystals,  has  been  kept  without  change  for  months  in  partly  filled 
bottles  exposed  to  light  and  with  occasional  opening. 
' '  Heat,  however,  causes  the  syrup  to  acquire  color,  and  it  should  not,  there- 
fore, be  kept  in  a  warm  place. 
1 '  When  heavy  syrup  is  employed,  a  white  crystalline  deposit  sometimes 
occurs  which  does  not  appear  when  a  thin  syrup  is  used,  but  allowance  must 
be  made  for  the  difference  in  percentage  of  acid  by  weight  in  the  latter  case. 
"  It  seems  to  be  mostly  a  question  of  purity  of  ingredients  and  syrup  hydrio- 
dic acid  carefully  prepared  from  pure  materials  is  perfectly  colorless  and 
limpid,  and  a  permanent  and  satisfactory  preparation." 
In  discussing  this  subject,  Prof.  Ryan  thought  that  the  most  important  state- 
ments of  the  author  had  been  covered  by  Mr.  F.  W.  Haussmann  in  a  paper 
which  appeared  in  the  March  issue  of  this  Journal,  although  he  thought  that 
every  one  would  admit  that  the  author's  views  were  well  taken. 
Under  the  heading  "  Notes  on  Materia  Medica,"  Prof.  C.  B.  Lowe  presented 
some  criticisms  on  the  1890  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia.  The  author's  remarks  were 
confined  to  the  official  vegetable  drugs  and  included  suggestions  for  the  more 
accurate  description  of  some  of  these  drugs,  the  ^dismissal  of  others  on  the 
ground  of  their  being  little  used,  and  the  admission  of  species  which  have  here- 
