212  Determination  of  Melting  Points.    { Am^i8^f.arm* 
pride  is  humbled,  and  the  boast  of  a  science  in  pharmacy  seems  but 
empty  and  idle,  when  we  view  the  companionship  which  it  is  com- 
pelled to  keep  with  commerce.  Such  result  may  be  the  inevitable 
consequence  of  the  conditions  which  environ,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
age,  and  there  may  be  no  help,  or  hope  of  extrication;  but  are  there 
not  some  strong  enough  in  influential  example  and  voice  to  change 
this  seeming  fate,  and  call  back  to  its  old  landmarks  the  science  ot 
pharmacy?  Are  there  none  courageous  enough  in  the  higher 
instincts  embraced  in  the  profession  to  draw  a  line  of  demarcation 
between  the  mere  commerce  in  drugs,  and  their  humane  and  bene- 
ficent application? 
V    THE  DETERMINATION  OF  MELTING  POINTS. 
By  George  M.  Beringer,  Ph.  G. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  April  16. 
In  a  paper  read  before  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Associa- 
tion in  1886,  Henry  C.  C.  Maisch  gives  a  review  of  most  of  the 
methods  recommended  for  taking  melting  points  (see  American 
Journal  of  Pharmacy,  1886,  page  486).  Since  then,  several  notes 
upon  methods  and  various  devices  of  apparatus  have  appeared  in 
the  pharmaceutical  and  chemical  journals.  Recently  D.  B.  Dott 
in  a  paper  before  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference  (see 
Pharmaceutical  Journal  and  Trans.,  Nov.,  29,  1890,  page  47^)  recom- 
mends taking  of  melting  points  in  a  small  air  bath,  specially  made 
for  the  purpose,  constructed  of  copper,  with  a  glass  front  and  back. 
There  is  only  one  opening,  that  in  the  top  for  the  introduction  of 
the  cork  which  holds  the  thermometer.  Two  brass  wires,  passing 
through  the  sides  of  the  bath,  support  a  piece  of  sheet  asbestos. 
The  substance  whose  melting  point  it  is  desired  to  determine 
is  placed  in  a  thin  glass  tube  attached  to  the  thermometer  bulb,  and 
the  couple  then  placed  in  position  well  above  the  asbestos.  The 
temperature  is  then  very  gradually  raised  and  the  melting  of  the 
substance  is  easily  observed  through  the  glass  front  of  the  bath. 
The  results  obtained,  are  stated  to  be  very  nearly  correct  and  the 
method  is  especially  recommended  for  substances  having  high 
melting  points. 
The  plan  adopted  by  the  writer,  while  somewhat  similar  to  the 
above,  varies  in  several  essential  features.  A  tall  plain  beaker  is 
used  as  an  air  bath.    A  crystallizing  beaker  with  ground  edge  is 
