198  Minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting ■.{Am^S;Sfrm- 
MINUTES  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING. 
The  meeting  was  called  to  order  March  18,  at  3.30P.  M.,  and  Mr.  Robt.  Eng- 
land was  asked  to  preside.  The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read,  and  no 
corrections  being  called,  they  stand  approved. 
Specimens  of  white  turpentine  and  rosin  were  presented  by  Mr.  R.  G.  Dun- 
wody,  the  beautiful  quality  of  which  was  commented  on  ;  the  rosin  was  in 
cubes  of  about  an  inch.  In  reply  to  a  question  whether  it  was  put  on  the 
market  in  this  shape,  it  was  explained  that  from  each  lot  of  rosin,  as  run  off 
into  barrels,  a  quantity  was  run  into  a  narrow  trough  of  an  inch  depth  and 
width,  and  this  was  broken  into  the  small  cubes  as  samples  by  which  each  lot 
could  be  sold. 
Mr.  G.  E-  Robeson,  representing  Dodge  &  Olcott,  of  New  York,  presented  a 
specimen  of  11  Muse  Baur"  an  artificial  substitute  for  musk  with  an  odor  of 
a  very  strong  resemblance  to  that  of  the  genuine  article.  The  substitute  is 
claimed  to  be  three  times  as  strong  as  grain  musk. 
Dr.  C.  B.  Lowe  presented  two  small  oranges  preserved  in  alcohol,  known  in 
Florida  as  Kumkuats.  They  are  about  the  size  of  walnuts,  and  taste  much 
like  the  larger  fruit.    They  are  used  as  a  table  decoration  in  some  places. 
Mr.  Beringer  exhibited  some  pieces  of  porcelain  apparatus,  made  at  the 
Royal  Porcelain  Works,  in  Berlin.  It  consists  of  a  funnel  with  finely  perfor- 
ated diaphragm  for  filtering  off  liquids  where  it  is  desirable  to  preserve  the 
precipitate.  Another  apparatus  consists  of  a  perforated  plate  with  ring  and 
cover,  and  in  the  side  of  the  ring  a  perforation,  to  which  the  exhaust  of  a  filter 
pump  may  be  attached,  so  as  to  secure  rapid  filtration;  to  tighten  the  joints 
between  the  various  pieces,  a  piece  of  dampened  filter  paper  may  be  laid 
between  the  plates,  thus  forming  a  close  joint. 
Mr.  Beringer  exhibited  a  sample  of  leaves  of  papaver  somniferum,  which  had 
been  imported  presumably  for  use  in  wrapping  around  opium  after  it  had  been 
partially  deprived  of  its  morphine.  As  opium  must  have  a  certain  percentage 
of  morphine  to  pass  the  Custom  House  inspection,  it  was  thought  that  the 
opium,  after  being  imported  and  partially  exhausted,  might  be  put  up  into 
balls  with  the  poppy  leaf  wrappers,  like  the  foreign  opium  ;  and  it  was  stated 
that  a  Turk,  skillei  in  the  manipulation  of  opium,  had  been-  brought  to  this 
countn\  Prof.  Maisch  said  that  under  former  rulings  of  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment, Persian  opium  was  not  permitted  to  be  imported,  except  for  the  manu- 
factured morphine,  and  then  under  a  bond  that  it  should  be  so  used  ;  that 
variety  of  opium  reaches  our  market  packed  in  poppy  trash,  and  not  wrapped 
in  poppy  leaves  and  packed  in  rumex  capsules,  like  the  Smyrna  opium.  Boston 
or  so-called  pudding  opium  was  stated  to  be  quite  common  in  the  New  England 
market,  of  definite  quality,  and  is  said  to  have  been  prepared  at  the  suggestion 
of  Boston  importers,  and  made  into  small  balls  for  convenience.  Prof.  Maisch 
exhibited  from  his  cabinet  some  varieties  of  Constantinople  opium  in  small 
balls  about  2  to  5  ounces  weight. 
A  paper  upon  Tartaric  Acid  was  read  by  Mr.  Fred.  H.  Smith,  of  the  present 
class.  Prof.  Maisch  read  a  letter  from  Mr.  G.  A.  Krauss,  giving  some  further 
information  in  addition  to  that  contained  in  his  thesis  of  1889,  upon  Villosin, 
a  product  from  Rubus  villosus,  discovered  by  him.  Specimens  of  white  crys- 
tallized villosin  and  villosic  acid,  made  by  Mr.  Krauss,  were  also  exhibited. 
