280         Pharmaceutical  Colleges  and  Associations.  {km£y%l^Tm' 
Cincinnati  College  of  Pharmacy. — The  annual  commencement  took  place  at 
College  Hall,  on  the  evening  of  March  19th.  The  degree  of  Graduate  in  Phar- 
macy was  conferred  on  thirteen  candidates.  An  address  was  delivered  by  Judge 
Jos.  Cox.  Prof.  Judge  delivered  the  valedictory  address  on  behalf  of  the  faculty, 
and  Mr.  J.  M.  Long  on  behalf  of  the  class. 
Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britian. — At  the  Pharmaceutical  meeting 
held  February  5th,  President  John  Williams  in  the  chair,  Mr.  E.  M.  Holmes  read  a 
paper  on  Myrtus  Cbekan,  Spreng.,  an  evergreen  shrub  of  Chili,  the  oval-lanceolate 
and  entire  leaves  of  which  have  recently  been  sent  to  London  ;  they  have  an  aro- 
matic, pungent,  slightly  bitter  and  astringent  taste,  and  are  considered  by  Dr. 
Dessauer,  of  Valparaiso,  to  possess  tonic,  expectorant,  diuretic  and  antiseptic  pro- 
perties, and  to  be  particularly  useful  in  cases  of  bronchitis,  catarrh  of  the  bladder  and 
other  affections  of  the  mucous  membranes. 
Mr.  William  A.  Tilden  read  a  paper  on  distilled  oil  of  lemon.  The  oil  had  been 
prepared  by  Mr.  John  Moss,  and  on  examination  proved  to  consist,  1,  of  a  terpene, 
C10H16,  boiling  below  i6o°C,  a  small  qnantity  2,  of  a  terpene  called  citrene,  boil- 
ing at  1760,  the  chief  constituent  ;  3,  of  an  oxygenated  substance  of  alcoholic  proper- 
ties, probably  formed  by  the  combination  of  one  of  the  hydrocarbons  with  the  ele- 
ments of  water;  and  4,  of  minute  quantities  of  several  less  important  substances  which 
do  not  contribute  appreciably  to  the  fragrance  of  the  oil,  this  being  chiefly  due  to 
the  association  of  the  first  three  principles.  In  the  discussion  following  the  reading 
of  the  paper  surprise  was  expressed  at  the  statement  that  this  distilled  oil  was  supe- 
rior in  odor  to  that  ordinarily  obtained. 
At  the  pharmaceutical  meeting  held  March  5th  two  papers,  by  W.  R.  Dunstan 
and  A.  F.  Dimmock,  were  read.  One  of  the  papers  treats  of  the  estimation  of  dias- 
tase, which  the  authors  effect  by  ascertaining  the  amount  required  for  completely 
converting  the  jelly  of  a  given  weight  of  starch  into  maltose  and  dextrin,  by  mace- 
ration for  three  hours  at  a  temperature  not  exceeding  iao°F.  The  second  paper 
gave  the  results  of  an  examination  of  14  samples  of  extract  of  malt,  the  variation  of 
which  is  shown  by  the  following  figures:  Water,  190  to  86*3;  ash,  0*3  to  1:6  j 
maltose,  4'6  to  59*05  dextrin,  2-5  to  9*8  ;  albumenoids,  0*5  to  8*2  ;  phosphates,  as 
phosphoric  pentoxide,  —  to  0  6.  One  sample  contained  41  per  cent,  of  alcohol, 
and  of  three  samples,  17  3,  29  0  and  34  0  grams  were  required  to  convert  one  gram 
of  starch  ;  the  remaining  samples  did  not  affect  starch. 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
Adulteration  of  Food  and  Medicine.— Of  the  various  products  which  are  sub- 
i  ret  to  adulterations  and  sophistications,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  those  which  aie 
used  for  food  or  medicines  are  doubtless  of  greatest  importance,  for  obvious  reasons} 
mot  so  much,  perhaps,  on  account  of  the  dangerous  qualities  of  the  diluents  and 
