AmDe0cU,r'i8P79?rir'}  Minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.  615 
sponges,  and  yielded,  in  1878,  a  product  valued  at  $120,000.  It  is  highly  probable 
that  this  field  could  be  very  materially  increased  by  the  introduction  and  adoption 
of  the  plan  of  artificial  breeding  here  proposed,  and  we  regard  the  suggestion  as 
worthy  of  the  attention  of  parties  interested  in  the  sponge  trade. — Eng.  and Min.  Jour. 
MINUTES  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING. 
Philadelphia,  November  17,  1879. 
In  absence  of  the  President,  Mr.  Alonzo  Robbins  was  called  to  the  chair  ;  the 
minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read,  and,  on  motion,  adopted. 
Mr.  A.  P.  Brown  presented  to  the  College  a  mounted  specimen  of  kinate  of 
quinia  for  the  microscope  ;  this  salt  has  lately  been  brought  into  notice  by  the 
Messrs.  Beck  of  London,  who  claimed  that  they  were  the  only  parties  preparir  g  it. 
Prof.  Maisch  presented,  on  behalf  of  Messrs.  Wm.  H.  Deprez  and  Chas.  Morri- 
son, of  Shelby ville,  Ind.,  a  handsome  specimen  of  the  common  puff  ball,  Lycoper- 
don  bovista,  Lin.,  or  Bovista  gigantea,  Nees,  belonging  to  the  Nat.  Orci.  Fungi  5  it 
has  no  use  at  present  in  pharmacy,  but  formerly  was  employed  as  ar.  absorbent  like 
punk. 
Prof.  Maisch  also  presented,  from  Mr.  G  J.  Luhn,  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  speci- 
mens of  the  so  called  black  or  long  moss,  which  is  indigenous  to  and  common  in  the 
Southern  States  5  it  is  an  air  plant,  deriving  its  nourishment  from  the  atmosphere, 
and  is  used  as  a  packing  material,  for  filling  matrasses,  etc.  It  is  the  Tillandsia 
usneoides  of  Linnaeus — Nat.  Ord.  Bromeliacae. 
Prof.  Remington  exhibited  and  exp'ained  a  press  adapted  to  the  uses  of  the  phar- 
macist, made  by  the  Enterprise  Manufacturing  Company  of  this  city,  suited  more 
especially  for  obtaining  fruit  juice  and  expressing  the  liquids  from  bulky  matters  like 
arnica  flowers,  hops,  etc. 
Mr.  Wm.  B.  Thompson  presented  to  the  meeting,  for  the  cabinet  of  the  College, 
an  unusually  large  specimen  of  rhubarb  root.  The  same  gentleman  also  read  a 
paper  about  the  various  kinds  of  pills  (see  page  586)  now  urged  by  different  manu- 
facturers upon  the  attention  of  physicians  and  pharmacists  The  paper  drew  out 
remarks  from  several  members  endorsing  the  views  entertained  by  the  writer,  more 
particularly  as  to  the  effects  of  manufacturing  pharmaceutical  preparations  upon  the 
dispensing  business  Facts  were  also  given  to  show  that  medical  men  were  return- 
ing to  the  time-honored,  extemporaneously  made  pills.  A  member  present  expressed 
the  hope  that  some  member  who  had  the  time  would  take  up  the  question  of  the 
abuse  of  fluid  extracts  in  making  tinctures,  sy  rups  and  other  weaker  preparations  of 
the  drugs  thus  represented 
Mr.  F.  L.  Slocum,  a  member  of  the  present  class,  exhibited  an  improved  lozenge 
board  adapted  to  making  the  flat  or  disk  shaped  l;>zenges  ;  this  apparatus  was  com- 
mented upon,  and  its  efficiency  and  simplicity  much  approved  of;  it  was  sug- 
gested that  the  strips  might  be  still  more  securely  held  in  position  by  means  of  set- 
screws.    A  description  of  it  will  be  found  on  page  589. 
A  paper  upon  the  alleged  toxic  effect  of  artificial  vanillin,  by  Mr.  L.  Wolff,  was 
