630  Minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting-.{Am-^r\f^rm- 
We  are  spared  one  annoyance  of  the  Northern  pharmacist  by  the  disuse  of 
pennies — coins  which  are  almost  entirely  tabooed  here.  Efforts  have  been 
made  by  some  of  our  merchants  (for  what  reason  is  beyond  my  ken)  to  intro- 
duce them,  by  pricing  their  goods  at  figures  whose  units  are  some  other  than 
five  or  naught  ;  but  their  efforts  have  been  of  small  avail,  as  the  ladies  have 
voted  coppers  an  annoyance,  immediately  exchanging  them  for  postage  stamps 
or  some  penny  device.  In  ordinary  business  transactions,  the  penny  never 
enters  into  the  question,  twenty-six  or  twenty-seven  cents  being  settled  at 
twenty-five  ;  twenty-eight  or  twenty-nine  cents  at  thirty  cents. 
Up  to  recently,  we  never  accepted  pennies  at  our  establishment,  but  the 
introduction  of  chewing-gum  in  pennjr  packages  gave  rise  to  a  slight  demand 
on  the  part  of  some  thrifty  urchins  for  that  commodity  in  centesimal  quanti- 
ties, which  is  rather  unwillingly  granted,  as  we  are  as  conservative  regarding 
the  innovation  of  coppers  as  are  other  Southerners. 
We  have  three  denominations  of  currency  in  use  here  that  are  not  known 
in  Eastern  commerce — the  "  quartee,"  the  "picayune"  and  the  "bit." 
The  "quartee,"  a  denomination  original  to,  and  used  only  in,  the  French 
quarter,  represents  two  and  a  half  cents  of  United  States  currency,  and  the 
term  is  used  in  the  absence  of  pennies  by  those  so  poor  as  to  desire  their 
nickel  to  go  as  far  as  possible.  Such,  entering  a  store,  will  ask  for  a  ' '  quartee" 
of  this  and  a  "  quartee  "  of  that,  giving  a  five-cent  piece  in  payment. 
Two  "  quartees  "  make  a  "picayune,"  a  term  used  to  express  the  value  of 
five  cents,  and  in  universal  use  in  this  city,  one  of  our  leading  dailies  being  so 
called.  Both  Webster  and  Worcester  state  that  a  "picayune"  is  worth  six 
and  a  quarter  cents,  a  statement  perhaps  true  in  other  sections  of  the  country, 
but  not  so  here. 
The  last  imaginary  denomination  of  our  currency  is  the  "  bit,"  value  twelve 
and  a  half  cents  ;  and  if,  on  purchasing  a  box  of  Blank's  Pills,  you  are  told 
they  are  worth  "two  bits,"  don't  be  surprised,  but  hand  out  your  silver 
quarter. 
Such  are  some  of  the  oddities  of  the  drug  trade  in  our  well-beloved  Crescent 
City,  the  city  which  has  been  accorded  the  honor  of  entertaining  the  American 
Pharmaceutical  Association  next  May.  I  advise  all  who  can  possibly  do  so  to 
take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  of  visiting  New  Orleans  in  the  month  in 
which  she  is  most  gorgeous,  ensuring  them  a  hearty  Southern  welcome  and  a 
very  pleasant  stay. 
MINUTES  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING. 
Philadelphia,  November  18,  1890. 
On  motion,  Mr.  Alonzo  Robbins  was  asked  to  preside. 
The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  approved. 
The  Registrar  announced  that  the  Index  Catalogue  of  the  Library  of  the 
Surgeon-General  of  the  United  States  had  been  presented  by  Dr.  John  S.  Bil- 
lings, of  Washington  ;  and  the  Jahresbericht  fur  Agricultur-Chemie  had  been 
received  for  the  library. 
Professor  Maisch  read  a  paper,  written  by  Gustavus  Krauss,  Ph.G.,  of  Mem- 
phis, Tenn.,  upon  Solanum  carolinense,  commonly  known  as  horse-nettle,  from 
the  spines  with  which  it  is  covered.    The  plant  has  recently  attracted  some 
