456  Correspondence— Minutes.  { tptSS™' 
CORRESPONDENCE.1 
Cucuta,  Colombia,  January  9,  1899. 
Mr.  William  P.  Wilson,  Philadelphia. 
Dear  Sir  : — We  send  you  samples  of  the  fluid  extract  and  of  the  chopped 
root  of  Jatropha  gossypifolia,  that  you  may  have  an  opportunity  to  experimeut 
with  it  and  make  the  results  to  be  widely  known. 
We  have  been  induced  to  do  so  through  the  use  that  we  made  lately  of  the 
juice  of  the  plant  as  a  powerful  therapeutic  agent  in  a  case  of  Greek  leprosy  or 
elephantiasis.  Nevertheless,  its  action  is  simply  purgative  and  emetic.  It  can 
be  placed  among  the  strong  purgatives,  with  a  much  surer  action  than  jalap, 
scammony,  gum-gutta,  turpeth  root,  etc.  Its  emetic  action  is  weaker  than  that 
of  ipecacuanha.  As  it  is  found  in  great  abundance,  it  could  take  the  place  of 
all  other  plants  of  its  class,  and  on  that  account  we  hasten  to  inform  you. 
We  have  calculated  the  maximal  dose  of  the  fluid  extract  at  3  grammes  for 
an  adult,  although  we  think  that  not  more  than  0*50  gramme  should  be  used 
at  once.  This  preparation  offers  great  advantages  in  therapeutics,  which  should 
not  be  despised,  especially  when  its  growth  is  abundant,  the  cultivation  easy 
and  not  at  all  costly. 
Will  you  please  inform  us  in  regard  to  the  price  at  which  it  could  be  sold  in 
that  country  as  a  trial  export  article  ?  We  believe  that  it  is  more  or  less  our 
duty  to  help  matters  along  toward  progress  and  industry. 
Remaining  entirely  at  your  orders,  we  subscribe  ourselves, 
Your  attentive  servants  and  friends, 
MANTILLA  Y  CIA. 
MINUTES  OF  COLLEGE  MEETING. 
A  quarterly  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Phar- 
macy was  held  at  the  College,  June  26th,  at  4  p.m.,  President  Charles  Bullock 
in  the  chair.  Eighteen  members  were  present.  A  letter  was  read  from  the 
Secretary,  W.  Nelson  Stem,  regretting  inability  to  be  present  on  account  of 
sickness  in  his  family.    J.  W.  England  was  elected  eecretary  pro  tern. 
The  minutes  of  the  March  meeting  (Wm.  B.  Thompson,  Secretary)  were 
read.    The  minutes  were  then  adopted  as  amended. 
The  minutes  of  the  April,  May  and  June  meetings  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
were  read  and  approved. 
The  amendment  to  Chapter  IV,  Article  IV,  of  the  by-laws,  proposed  at  the 
March  meeting  of  the  College,  was  adopted. 
Prof.  J.  P.  Remington  gave  an  interesting  verbal  account  of  the  recent 
meetings  of  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association  held  at  the  Col- 
lege. The  meetings  were  very  well  attended,  the  papers  were  good,  the 
business  of  the  Association  was  satisfactorily  and  expeditiously  done,  the  so- 
cial features  evoked  general  praise,  and,  altogether,  the  meeting  was  one  of  the 
most  successful  of  years.  A  pleasing  feature  of  the  meeting  was  the  election  of  a 
1  The  above  letter  sent  to  Dr.  W.  P.  Wilson,  Director  of  the  Philadelphia  Commercial 
Museums,  is  a  translation  of  a  communication  received  by  the  Philadelphia  Museums  from  a 
correspondent  in  the  United  States  of  Colombia.  The  samples  referred  to  are  in  the  Museums' 
collection  and  may  be  seen  by  any  one  interested. 
