AmDJe0cU,r'i8P79arm'}  Pharmaceutical  Colleges  and  Associations.  619 
Holmes  and  Dymock,  proved  to  be  ammoniacum  root  colored  and  scented  $  also  to- 
the  variation  in  the  color  of  tincture  of  sumbul,  the  cause  of  which  remains  to  be 
investigated. 
A  paper  on  Taraxacum,  by  Chas.  Symes,  Ph.D.,  was  read  in  which  the  author 
referred  to  the  views  regarding  the  proper  time  for  collecting  the  root  ;  his  own 
experience  points  to  November  as  the  month  in  which  taraxacum  roots  should  be 
gathered  for  medicinal  use,  the  perio  1  being  extended  to  the  beginning  of  Decem- 
ber, if  the  winter  has  not  commenced  early  ;  at  this  period  they  contain  a  large 
quantity  of  inulin,  but  the  active  principle  taraxacin  is  more  fully  developed  (if 
bitterness  is  any  criterion)  than  at  any  other  period,  and  the  inulin  can  be  separated 
from  the  expressed  juice  far  more  readily  than  the  saccharine  matter,  which  abounds 
in  the  spring.  No  sooner  does  the  frosty  weather  set  in  than  the  roots  become 
sweet,  and  experiment  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  bitter  principle  became  more 
or  less  altered  in  character,  and  that  its  distruction  probably  went  on  pari  passu  with 
that  of  the  inulin.  The  solid  extract  of  taraxacum  is  not  regarded  by  medical- 
men  as  an  agent  of  much  activity,  e:  cept  in  large  doses.  The  succus  on  the  other 
hand,  when  well  prepared  and  mo  lerately  fresh,  is  a  good  representative  of  the 
medicinal  properties  of  the  root.  When,  however,  it  is  kept  for  any  length  of  timey 
and,  more  especially  in  warm  weather,  it  often  becomes  turbid,  deposits  and  some- 
times ferments,  losing  much  of  its  bitterness,  and  this  will,  as  a  matter  of  course,, 
occur  much  more  readily  in  the  presence  of  a  large  quantity  of  saccharine  matter 
than  in  its  comparative  absence.  An  increase  of  5  per  cent,  of  spirit  to  the  succus 
is  proposed,  and  attention  was  drawn  to  the  fluid  extract  officinal  in  the  United 
States  Pharmacopoeia.  Of  three  samples  exhibited  one  was  at  least  thiee  years  old, 
one  had  been  recently  prepared  from  roots  a  year  old,  and  the  third  from  roots  col- 
lected and  dried  about  ten  days  previous;  all  three  were  decidedly  bitter.  As  the 
autumnal  roots  lose  75  per  cent  of  moisture  in  drying,  each  fluidrachm  represents 
at  least  four  times  the  quantity  of  fresh  root. 
The  discussion  on  this  paper  elicited  the  fact  that  the  collection  of  taraxacum 
root  after  frost  was  generally  considered  inadmissible  ;  but  Mr.  Postans  considered 
the  time  from  July  to  September  as  the  most  suitable,  and  Prof.  Bentley  suggested 
the  spring.  Several  members  regaided  the  succus  as  meeting  all  the  wants  for  a 
liquid  preparation  of  taraxacum,  and  considered  a  fluid  extract  unnecessary.  In. 
filtering  the  magma  of  expressed  juice  and  spirit,  it  should  be  done  out  of  contact 
with  air  as  much  as  possible.  The  time  elapsing  between  the  collection  and  the 
use  of  the  root  was  likewise  referred  to  as  being  of  great  importance  in  preserving 
the  medicinal  properties. 
A  Turkish  Pharmaceutical  Society.— On  June  9th  last  twenty  five  of  the 
pharmaciens  of  Constantinople  met  at  the  rooms  of  the  Society  of  Medicine  of  that 
city  and  formed  a  Society  of  Pharmacy  for  the  Ottoman  Empire.  The  scheme  was 
urged  with  much  energy  in  a  speech  by  M.  Pierre  Apery,  whose  father,  M.  Nicolas- 
Apery,  presided  at  this  meeting  as  the  oldest  member  of  the  profession  present.  A. 
bureau  was  at  once  formed,  C.  Bonkowski  ErTendi  being  chosen  President  ;  M.  A. 
Matcovich,  Vice-President ;  M.J.  Zanni,  GeneralSecretary  ;  M.  P.  Apery,  Special 
