632 
Pharmaceutical  Meeting. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I   December,  1898. 
which  occurs  in  small  proportion  m  the  drug,  so  that  a  lot  of  the  Fid.  Extract 
which  went  out,  deposited  the  sugar  in  crystals  on  the  sides  and  bottom  of  the 
containers,  causing  complaints  which  mystified  the  operators  until  the  cause 
was  ascertained.  Professor  Remington  also  called  attention  to  the  occurrence 
of  potassium  nitrate  in  F.  Ext.  Henbane  and  potassium  chloride  in  F.  Ext. 
Belladonna  occasionally. 
The  program  for  the  afternoon  was  concluded  by  Professor  Ryan,  who 
gave  a  talk  upon  gelatine  pearls  and  their  manufacture.  He  exhibited  the 
sheet  of  gelatine  containing  the  filled  pearls  not  yet  cut  apart,  and  also  the 
perforated  sheet  from  which  the  pearls  had  been  cut  out. 
He  spoke  of  the  comparatively  recent  introduction  of  their  manufacture  into 
this  country,  and  stated  that  the  machinery  employed  was  very  expensive. 
The  difference  between  a  pearl  and  a  capsule  is  that  the  former  contains  no 
air  space  and  the  latter  does.  They  are  made  by  pressing  two  sheets  of  gela- 
tine together  after  having  placed  them  on  metallic  plates  having  hemis- 
pherical depressions.  The  medicament  is  placed  in  the  depressions  on 
one  of  the  sheets,  which  is  held  horizontally.  The  other  is  then  pressed 
down  upon  it,  having  the  depressions  in  perfect  juxtaposition,  so  that  their 
edges  meet  on  both  sheets.  By  the  action  of  powerful  presses  the  excess  of 
medicament  is  forced  out  and  the  pressure  seals  the  edges  of  the  depressions 
on  the  two  sheets,  so  they  may  be  cut  apart,  forming  the  well-known  pearls 
of  commerce.  Professor  Ryan  received  much  applause  and  was  heartily 
thanked  for  his  talk  and  exhibition  of  specimens. 
Professor  Lowe  spoke  of  the  peculiar  leaf  scars  which  he  had  referred  to  in 
an  article  in  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  for  April,  1896,  and  which 
had  been  exhibited  to  the  members  at  that  time.  He  exhibited  an  additional 
lot,  and  stated  that  they  were  from  white  poplar. 
Mr.  Shinn  asked  whether  all  trees  of  this  species  showed  this  remarkable 
effect,  which  Professor  Lowe  could  not  answer  with  certainty. 
Mr.  Wallace  Procter  then  spoke  of  the  preservation  of  certain  easily  decom- 
posable chemical  salts,  such  as  ammonium  carbonate  and  unslaked  lime,  and 
said  that  he  would  recommend  the  use  of  Millville  fruit  jars  of  ^-gallon  size 
for  the  purpose,  as  in  his  experience  they  had  proven  very  satisfactory.  Dr. 
Weidemann  corroborated  this  from  his  own  experience. 
Mr.  F.  W.  E.  Stedem  then  asked  whether  the  members  present  were  accus- 
tomed to  dispensing  the  red  or  straw-colored  Elixir  Curacoa  upon  prescriptions. 
Several  members  stated  they  used  the  N.  F.  preparation,  which  is  the  straw- 
colored  one.  Mr.  Procter  said  he  used  Mr.  Shinn's  process  for  preparing  the 
elixir  by  distilling  spirits  with  the  volatile  oils  of  the  aromatics  used  in  its 
preparation. 
Mr.  Shinn  stated  that  the  process  had  been  obtained  by  him  from  a  French 
pharmacist,  many  years  ago,  who  stated  it  to  be  the  process  for  the  genuine 
"  Curacoa  Cordial." 
Mr.  E.  M.  Boring  spoke  of  some  difficulties  he  had  experienced  in  dissolving 
boroglyceride,  after  which  the  meeting  adjourned. 
The  meeting  was  very  well  attended  by  many  prominent  members  of  the 
pharmaceutical  profession  and  most  of  the  Faculty. 
Charles  H.  LaWale, 
Secretary  pro  tern. 
