268 
Minutes. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharra. 
May,  1898. 
of  a  number  of  plant  specimens  for  the  purpose  of  detecting  the  presence  of 
mucilage.  In  some  previous  work,  on  the  pansy,  the  author  found  that  he  was 
able  to  detect  this  substance  by  means  of  a  solution  of  methylene  blue.  Since 
then  he  has  applied  the  test  to  various  specimens  and  found  it  to  be  quite  char- 
acteristic. 
A  "Note  on  the  Common  Names  of  Plants,"  by  Prof.  J.  U.  Lloyd,  was  read 
by  Professor  Trimble.  (See  page  234.)  This  subject  was  the  occasion  for  con- 
siderable discussion.  Professor  Trimble  said  that  many  instances  could  be 
cited  where  plants  have  more  scientific  names  than  common  names,  which 
furnishes  another  reason  for  using  the  common  names. 
Professor  Kraemer  said  that  he  saw  no  chance  to  lessen  the  number  of  syn- 
onyms while  so  many  separate  schools  of  taxonomy  exist. 
Others  taking  part  in  the  discussion  were  the  chairman,  Professor  Lowe  and 
Mr.  B.  M.  Boring. 
Fig.  1 — Pharmaceutical  Sieve,  with  the  several  parts  detached. 
A  new  form  of  pharmaceutical  sieve  was  exhibited  by  Professor  Trimble,  in 
behalf  of  the  inventor,  J.  Frank  Strawinski,  P.D.,  a  member  of  the  recent 
graduating  class.  The  writer  stated,  in  his  description  of  the  apparatus,  that 
the  idea  of  producing  a  sieve  which  would  lessen  the  liability  to  contamination 
of  powdered  drugs  was  suggested  to  him  while  attending  the  lectures  on  com- 
minution. The  accompanying  illustrations  show  the  several  parts  of  the  sieve 
in  Fig.  /,  and  in  Fig.  2  its  appearance  when  these  are  put  together  for  use. 
The  body  or  frame  of  the  sieve  is  made  of  brass,  which  is  tinned  on  the  inner 
surface.  At  the  base  of  the  frame  is  a  coarse  threading,  and  over  this  a  collar 
containing  the  sieve-plate  is  screwed,  On  the  exterior  of  the  collar  are  five 
finger-holds,  so  that  it  may  be  adjusted  quite  firmly.  The  sieve-plates  are  made 
separately,  and,  in  adjusting  the  apparatus,  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  place  one 
of  these  of  the  desired  mesh  in  the  collar  before  attaching  the  latter  to  the 
frame.  The  model  constructed  by  the  author  has  five  sieve-plates,  each  of  the 
proper  mesh  for  producing  the  degrees  of  fineness  specified  in  the  Pharmaco- 
