346 
Editorial. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I       July,  1899. 
a  piece  of  filter-paper,  on  which  is  placed  a  particle  of  the  substance 
to  be  examined.  The  rod,  with  its  appendages,  and  a  delicate  ther- 
mometer, are  then  fixed  in  a  test-tube  by  means  of  a  cork,  as  shown 
in  accompanying  cut.  The  whole  is  then  placed  into  a  beaker,  V, 
containing  water,  glycerine  or  paraffin,  in  which  is  a  stirrer,  R,  pro- 
vided with  a  brush  to  remove  adhering  bubbles.  The  whole  is  then 
carefully  heated,  and  the  melting-point  determined  by  observing 
the  reflection  by  the  mirror  of  the  stain  produced  on  the  paper  by 
the  substance,  on  melting.  A  dull  glass  disk  is  to  replace  the  paper, 
if  a  substance  produces  a  stain  at  the  ordinary  temperatures.  For 
material  having  high  melting-points,  the  glass  mirror  can  be  replaced 
by  a  metallic  one.  L.  F.  K. 
EDITORIAL. 
PENNSYLVANIA  PHARMACEUTICAL  ASSOCIATION. 
It  has  been  customary  in  the  July  issue  of  this  Journal  to  devote  consider- 
able space  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association. 
Inasmuch  as  the  meeting  this  year  was  held  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  which 
has  been  referred  to  as  "the  Birthplace  of  Liberty, "  and  in  the  Philadelphia 
College  of  Pharmacy,  which  has  been  considered  to  be  "  the  cradle  of  Ameri- 
can pharmacy,"  we  gladly  devote  a  little  more  than  usual  attention  in  these 
pages  to  the  transactions  of  this  meeting.  There  were  many  commendable 
features  of  this  meeting,  as  will  be  seen  on  reading  the  report  of  the  proceedings 
in  another  part  of  this  Journal.  The  President's  address,  like  that  of  his 
predecessor,  may  be  said  to  have  been  devoted  to  a  sound  and  judicious  con- 
sideration of  the  problems  concerning  the  practical  and  commercial  side  of 
pharmacy  to-day. 
The  reports  of  the  various  committees,  particularly  that  of  the  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Legislation,  indicated  that  strong  efforts  are  being  made  to 
ameliorate  the  existing  conditions  in  regard  to  product  patents.  The  N.  A.  R.  D. 
received  much  encouragement  on  every  hand.  The  officers  of  this  organization 
must  realize  their  great  responsibilities,  and  that  they  received  much  en- 
couragement from  the  various  organizations,  pharmaceutical  press  and  other 
avenues  of  influence.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  all  their  future  actions  will  be,  as 
the  President  suggested,  as  wise  and  conservative  as  they  have  been  in  the  past. 
There  were  an  unusually  large  number  of  good  papers  presented,  quite  a 
number  of  which  are  printed  in  this  issue  of  this  Journal.  The  Entertain- 
ment Committee,  while  it  did  not  contribute  any  papers  or  reports,  did  a  most 
important  work,  which  required  a  great  amount  of  time  and  special  ability,  in 
providing  for  the  comfost  of  the  members,  and  it  may  be  said,  to  a  certain 
extent,  the  fuel  which  enabled  so  much  work  to  be  done  so  easily.  The  work 
of  the  Association  and  its  pleasures  were  admirably  divided,  and  the  adage  that 
"There  is  a  time  to  play  and  a  time  to  work  "  was  well  adhered  to,  so  that  the 
amount  of  business  transacted  in  two  days  was  unusually  great,  and  the  amount 
of  pleasure  realized  during  the  remaining  time  was  more  than  usual. 
