Am'oc£fi89oarm'}   American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  531 
Whereas,  No  laws  of  the  United  States  exist  establishing  a  National  System 
of  Weights  and  Measures,  or  fixing  the  values  of  the  customary  units  ;  there- 
fore, be  it 
Resolved,  By  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  that  Congress  be 
and  is  hereby  respectfully  requested  to  consider,  without  unnecessary  delay, 
the  importance  of  legislation  upon  this  subject  ;  and,  further 
Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  Association  that  it  would  be  worthy  of 
the  dignity  of  the  American  nation  to  celebrate  the  four-hundredth  anniversary 
of  the  discovery  of  America  by  the  adoption  of  the  decimal  system  of  weights 
and  measures  in  all  governmental  transactions  and  for  purposes  of  foreign  and 
interstate  commerce,  to  take  effect  on  the  date  of  the  landing  of  Christopher 
Columbus  on  this  continent  ;  and 
Resolved,  That  copies  of  these  preambles  and  resolutions  be  forwarded  by 
the  Secretary  of  this  Association  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  United  States,  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Coinage, 
Weights  and  Measures  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  to  the  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Bureau  of  Weights  and  Measures. 
Percolation  was  the  theme  discussed  by  J.  W.  Bckford,  of  Mississippi,  a 
review  being  given  of  various  methods  of  percolation  and  of  apparatus  con- 
structed for  the  purpose  of  insuring  complete  exhaustion  as  nearly  as  may  be 
possible.  While  several  of  the  pressure  percolators  that  have  been  devised  are 
quite  favorably  commented  upon,  the  author's  "  experience  is  that  the  simpler 
the  apparatus,  the  more  available  it  is  ;  and  I  think  this  is  the  opinion  of  the 
average  retail  pharmacist  who  manufactures  for  his  own  retail  trade." 
Syrup  of  Tolu  is  suggested  by  M.  B.  Travis,  of  Illinois,  to  be  prepared  by 
dissolving  1  ]/^  oz.  of  Tolu  balsam  in  4  fl.  oz.  of  alcohol,  using  this  menstruum  in 
two  portions,  straining  the  solution,  pouring  it  upon  28  oz.  of  loaf  sugar  con- 
tained in  a  percolator,  and  displacing  with  sufficient  water  to  obtain  32  fluid 
ounces  of  syrup,  which  is  stated  to  be  clear,  permanent,  well  flavored  and  to 
retain  the  acids  of  the  balsam  in  complete  solution. 
Solution  of  Magnesium  Citrate,  according  to  Luther  F.  Stevens,  of  Brooklyn, 
should  be  made  to  contain  the  bibasic  salt  which,  owing  to  its  ready  solubility 
in  water,  is  difficult  to  crystallize,  but  is  stated  to  be,  therapeutically,  the  most 
active  of  the  magnesium  salts,  and  to  have  a  pleasantly  acid  taste  even  when  no 
free  acid  is  with  it.  Its  solution  is  more  readily  prepared  than  that  of  the 
tribasic  salt ;  and  with  less  material  to  the  same  dose,  and  with  the  danger  of 
crystallization  removed,  is  the  cheaper  of  the  two.  For  the  preparation  of  four 
bottles  of  the  solution  the  following  ingredients  are  employed  :  Magnesium 
carbonate,  484  grains  ;  citric  acid,  1,134  grains;  syrup,  5  fluid  ounces;  oil  of 
lemon,  1  minim  ;  potassium  bicarbonate,  120  grains,  and  a  sufficient  quantity 
of  boiled  water.  The  potassium  salt  may  be  replaced  by  the  use,  for  each 
bottle,  of  25  grains  of  pure  sodium  bicarbonate. 
Belladonna  Plaster,  by  S.  W.  Williams,  of  Orange,  N.  J. — The  paper  gives 
a  brief  review  of  the  belladonna  plasters  as  directed  by  different  authorities, 
and  from  the  recorded  assays  of  belladonna  root  considers  x/z  per  cent,  of 
alkaloid  to  be  the  proper  strength  of  the  pharmacopceial  plaster.  Regarding 
the  material  to  be  employed  in  the  preparation  of  this  plaster,  the  author 
favors  the  use  of  an  extract  prepared  from  the  rhizome  of  Scopola  carniolica 
