AmDe0c.yif86arm'}    Minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.  617 
MINUTES  OF  THE  PHAEMAGEUTICAL  MEETING. 
Philadelphia,  November  16, 1886. 
The  second  of  the  present  series  of  Pharmaceutical  meetings  was  held  thisday. 
Mr.  William  B.  Thompson  was  called  to  the  chair.  The  minutes  of  the  last  meet- 
ing were  read  and  there  being  no  corrections  required  they  stand  approved. 
The  Actuary  presented  on  behalf  of  our  fellow-member,  Mr.  Eobert  C.  Davis, 
the  following  works  :  "  Simple  Medicines,"  by  R.  Pemel,  published  in  1652  ; 
"  London  Dispensatory,"  translated  by  H.  Pemberton,  dated  1760  ;  "  The  New 
Dispensatory,"  dated  1796,  and  the  " Eclectic  Dispensatory,"  dated  18 18.  He 
also  presented  a  copy  of  Buffon's  "  Natural  History,"  in  3  volumes,  Herndon's 
"  Exploration  of  the  Valley  of  the  Amazon,"  with  accompanying  maps,  and 
Grove's  "  Greek  and  English  Dictionary."  On  motion,  the  books  were  accepted 
and  thanks  of  the  meeting  were  returned  to  the  givers. 
Mr.  F.  X.  Moerk,  Ph.G.,  read  a  paper  upon  solution  of  nitrate  of  mercury.  In 
the  discussion  which  followed  the  reading  of  this  paper,  Prof.  Maisch  stated  that 
the  solution  of  the  new  Pharmacopoeia  was  evidently  intended  to  be  as  nearly  as 
possible  identical  in  composition  with  that  of  1870,  and  that  in  preparing  the 
manuscript,  50  was  inadvertently  written  in  place  of  60  per  cent. ;  normal  mer- 
curic nitrate  was  not  soluble  in  water  without  decomposition,  to  avoid  which 
an  excess  of  nitric  acid  was  necessary.  The  paper  was  referred  to  the  Commit- 
tee on  Publication. 
Prof.  Maisch  exhibited  a  botanical  specimen  of  a  tropical  plant,  the  Dioscorea 
bulb  f era,  and  several  tubers,  received  from  Professor  Lloyd,  which  grew  in  the 
axils'  of  the  leaves  and  resemble  small  potatoes  in  appearance.  The  tubers  are 
farinaceous  and  are  used  for  food. 
He  also  showed  a  specimen  of  the  root  of  the  Scuppernong  grape  vine,  or 
southern  fox  grape,  the  Vitis  vulpina.  The  root  which  had  been  sent  by 
Mr.  P.  W.  Vaughan,  of  North  Carolina,  had  been  taken  from  a  plant  about 
three  years  old  and  resembled  a  tress  of  long,  dark-colored,  coarse  hair.  The 
northern  fox  grape,  which  grows  wild  in  our  woods,  the  Vitis  cordifolia,  has  a 
thicker  and  stronger  root. 
Professor  Maisch  also  exhibited  the  fruit  of  the  Luffa  oegyptiaca,  known  as 
the  wash  rag  plant,  towel  gourd  or  vegetable  sponge,  from  the  fact  that  after 
the  removal  of  the  pulpy  matter  of  the  fruit  there  remained  a  network  of 
flbrovascular  tissue,  resulting  from  the  lateral  and  inward  growth  of  the  three 
placentas,  and  which  was  used  in  the  East  as  a  flesh  brush  and  after  moisten- 
ing it,  as  a  sponge.  The  fruit  was  grown  in  this  city  from  seeds  furnished  by 
Mr.  Moerk. 
Mr.  Thompson  stated  that  in  the  formulary  of  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceu_ 
tical  Association  talc  was  recommended  as  a  filtering  material,  and  he  inquired 
of  Mr.  Robbins  whether  he  had  used  it  and  what  his  experience  led  him  to 
think  of  it;  the  result  of  his  experiments  was  favorable  to  it  if  the  washing 
of  it  had  been  thoroughly  attended  to,  but  not  otherwise. 
After  a  short  time  spent  in  conversation  on  various  matters,  the  meeting  ad- 
journed. 
Thos.  S.  Wiegand,  Registrar. 
