Am.  jour.  Pharm.  |  National  Pharmaceutical  Service  Association.  57 
January,  1919.     }  Ot 
losses  on  the  part  of  contractors  and  growers  have  been  sustained 
through  following  advice  and  directions,  there  should  be  reimburse- 
ment of  such  losses  by  the  government,  with  a  fair  allowance  for 
personal  services  or  profits." 
Mr.  Walker  estimates  that  Florida  contractors  and  growers  have 
lost  $5,000,000  or  more  this  year,  in  money  and  labor,  in  trying  to 
produce  a  crop  of  castor  beans.  The  average  losses  will  be  scarcely 
less,  he  believes,  in  the  other  states  where  castor  beans  were  grown 
under  government  contracts.  These  other  states  are  Georgia,  Ala- 
bama, Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  South  Carolina,  North 
Carolina,  Texas  and  California. 
In  view  of  the  heavy  loss  entailed  on  southern  farmers,  and  the 
wide  area  over  which  the  failures  and  losses  are  scattered,  Mr. 
Walker  is  of  the  opinion  that  congress  will  investigate  the  whole 
handling  of  the  castor  bean  crop  shortly,  and  will  probably  be  asked 
to  pass  an  appropriation  bill  for  the  relief  of  those  who  have  suf- 
fered financially  through  the  failure  of  the  crop. — Tropical  Sun. 
THIRTEENTH  MEETING  OF  THE  NATIONAL  PHARMA- 
CEUTICAL SERVICE  ASSOCIATION. 
A  meeting  of  the  National  Pharmaceutical  Service  Association 
was  held  on  Friday  eveningj  December  20,  at  the  Philadelphia  Col- 
lege of  Pharmacy.  President  Beringer,  being  unable  to  be  present, 
because  of  sickness  in  his  home,  Vice-President  Charles  H.  LaWall 
occupied  the  chair.  The  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  having 
been  published,  the  reading,  was  on  motion  omitted. 
The  first  order  of  business  was  to  have  been  a  presentation  by 
the  president  of  a  brief  resume  of  the  work  of  the  N.  P.  S.  A. 
during  the  year  and  a  half  of  its  existence,  of  the  effort  which  the 
Association  is  making  to  secure  recognition  of  professional  pharma- 
ceutical service  in  our  military  organizations.  As  Mr.  Beringer  was 
unable  to  be  present,  he  requested  that  the  publication  of  such  a 
statement  be  authorized,  and  on  motion,  this  request  was  approved. 
The  chief  purpose  for  which  the  meeting  had  been  called,  was 
the  consideration  of  the  activities  and  future  of  the  Hospital  Corps 
of  the  United  States  Navy.  Lieutenant  Commander  George  F. 
Cottle,  the  head  of  the  Hospital  Corps,  had,  upon  invitation,  come 
