AmM°ay?if99arm-}  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.  255 
tofore  not  been  recognized  in  giving  the  botanical  origin  of  certain  vegetable 
drugs. 
Professor  Ryan  did  not  wholly  accord  with  the  author's  remarks  concerning 
the  dismissal  of  Apocynum  from  the  Pharmacopoeia,  and  said  that  while  the 
drug  may  be  used  very  little  in  some  localities,  it  is  used  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent in  Ohio  and  Iudiana  and  some  other  States,  and  he,  therefore,  thought  that 
a  very  broad  view  of  the  subject  should  be  taken  when  discussing  questious 
pertaining  to  the  use  of  the  drugs  of  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
Prof.  Joseph  P.  Remington  was  the  next  speaker  and  read  a  paper  on  "  Syr- 
upus  Pruni  Virginianse  (Acetous)  "  (seepage  209).  Samples  of  the  syrup  and 
of  the  fluid  acetract  of  wild  cherry  accompanied  the  paper. 
Mr.  Haussmann  wished  to  know  the  object  in  directing  150  c.c.  of  glycerin 
in  the  official  formula  for  this  syrup,  as  he  found  it  to  keep  very  well  with  a  less 
quantity  of  glycerin.  Then,  remarking  on  the  quality  of  the  wild  cherry  bark 
of  the  market,  he  said  that  he  had  experienced  considerable  difficulty  in  obtain- 
ing the  drug  of  uniform  quality  and  believed  that  the  trouble  was  due  to  the 
bark  having  been  collected  in  the  spring  and  summer  rather  than  in  the  fall  of 
the  year. 
Prof.  Remington  in  reply  said  that  the  use  of  glycerin  had  been  two-fold — to 
hold  the  tannin  in  solution  and  to  prevent  precipitation.  He  believed  that 
many  of  the  fluid  extracts  and  syrups  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  would  be  improved 
by  placing  the  glycerin  in  the  receiving  vessel  rather  than  by  adding  it  to  the 
menstruum  as  now  directed.  The  speaker  then  referred  to  the  experiments  of 
Professor  Procter,  in  1856,  with  the  fluid  extract  of  wild  cherry  and  said  that 
this  preparation  had  always  given  more  trouble  than  any  of  the  other  prepara- 
tions of  its  class.  He,  therefore,  suggested  adding  the  glycerin  to  the  bottle 
receiving  the  percolate,  rather  than  to  the  menstruum,  as  a  means  of  improving 
the  fluid  extract. 
Prof.  F.  X.  Moerk,  having  made  assays  of  the  dilute  acetic  acid  infusion  and 
of  the  aqueous  infusion  directed  by  the  Pharmacopoeia  for  the  syrup  of  wild 
cherry,  found  that  the  percentage  of  hydrocyanic  acid  was  about  parallel  in  the 
two  cases,  or,  if  anything,  slightly  in  favor  of  the  acetic  infusion,  thus  showing 
that  the  acetic  acid  had  had  no  injurious  effect. 
F.  W.  Haussmann  read  a  paper  incorporating  an  improved  formula  for 
"Syrupus  Rhei,"  which  will  be  published  in  a  subsequent  issue  of  this 
Journal. 
Referring  to  the  formula  proposed  by  the  author  and  to  his  suggestion  to 
filter  the  mixture  of  fluid  extract  and  water  before  dissolving  the  sugar  in  it, 
Mr.  Geo.  M.  Beringer  wished  to  know  whether  he  had  experienced  any  diffi- 
culty in  filtering  the  mixture.  In  reply,  Mr.  Haussmann  said  that  he  had  had 
no  trouble  with  the  official  fluid  extract,  but  that  the  same  could  not  be  said 
of  the  non-official  product. 
Mr.  F.  W.  Fv.  Stedem  related  an  experience  of  his,  which  likewise  showed 
that  there  is  considerable  variation  in  some,  at  least,  of  the  fluid  extracts  on  the 
market. 
These  remarks  brought  up  the  question  of  making  infusions,  syrups,  etc., 
from  fluid  extracts.  Professor  Remington  did  not  favor  this  practice,  and  to 
illustrate  his  view  said  that  while  fresh  fluid  extract  of  wild  cherry  contains 
the  desired  amount  of  hydrocyanic  acid,  an  old  fluid  extract  does  not  contain 
