14-0         Minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.  {Am'^'J^m- 
The  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were  read,  corrected  and  approved,  the 
correction  being  that  the  glycerin  dropper,  exhibited  at  our  last  meeting,  was  not 
the  invention  of  Mr.  Bowman,  but  of  Mr.  H.  W.  Wharton,  of  Nashville,  Tenn. 
(See  p.  99). 
Prof.  J.  M.  Maisch  presented,  from  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference, 
*'  The  Year  Book  of  Pharmacy,"  and  also  a  pamphlet,  by  Prof.  Mark  W.  Har- 
rington, of  the  University  of  Michigan,  on  "  The  microscopic  examination  of 
crude  drugs,"  which  were  accepted  with  the  thanks  of  the  meeting. 
Prof.  Maisch  then  presented  a  specimen  of  nut  galls,  forwarded  from  Texas,  by 
Mr.  Vcelcker,  of  New  Braunfels.  They  resemble,  in  structure,  Aleppo  nut  galls, 
differing,  however,  in  being  lighter  in  color,  having  a  smoother  surface  and  contain- 
ing less  tannin. 
Prof.  Maisch  also  presented  a  handsome  specimen  of  monobromated  camphor, 
prepared  by  Mr.  T.  C.  Linthicum,  a  member  of  the  present  class. 
Mr.  Morris,  of  Edw'd  S.  Morris  &  Co.,  was  then  introduced,  and  presented 
specimens  of  palm  nuts,  from  which  palm  oil  is  obtained  5  also,  palm  oil,  made  from 
the  pulp  around  the  kernel,  of  a  reddish  orange  color,  and  also  a  white  oil, 
obtained  from  the  kernels  themselves.  A  specimen  of  palm  soap,  made  in 
Liberia,  from  the  fresh  oil,  by  this  firm,  was  then  exhibited,  and  specimens  of  coffee, 
the  entire  fruit,  from  Liberia  and  Brazil,  donated  to  the  cabinet. 
Mr.  Morris  then  spoke  of  the  manufacture  of  indigo,  as  prepared  by  his  firm  j 
instead  of  exposing  the  juice  to  the  air,  as  usually  practiced,  they  force  air,  by  a 
steam  pump,  directly  into  the  expressed  juice  of  the  plants,  thus  allowing  oxidation 
to  proceed  with  great  rapidity,  with  the  consequent  great  saving  of  time  and  labor, 
the  granulated  precipitate  of  indigo  is  then  spread  upon  trays,  and  dried  by  means 
of  hot  air. 
Mr.  Trimble  read  a  paper  on  "  The  presence  of  ammonium  in  phosphoric  acid," 
prepared  by  Prof.  Markoe's  process,  (seep.  113),  the  conclusions  of  the  writer 
being  that  the  amount  of  ammonia  formed  is  so  small  as  to  be  of  no  practical 
importance.  Some  remarks  followed,  in  which  Prof.  Markoe's  process  was  warmly 
commended,  no  objection,  however,  being  found  to  the  first  process  of  the 
Pharmacopoeia. 
Mr.  Chas.  L.  Mitchell  read  a  paper  on  the  preparation  of  the  red  iodide  and  yellow 
oxide  of  Mercury  (see  p.  115),  and  exhibited  specimens  prepared  by  the  processes 
recommended.  Prof,  Maisch  said  that  in  case  of  the  mercuric  iodide,  the  use  of 
mercuric  nitrate  had  been  objected  to,  owing  to  the  free  nitric  acid  necessary  to 
keep  the  nitrate  in  solution,  tending  to  liberate  iodine  ;  Mr.  Mitchell's  manipula- 
tion, however,  seems  to  obviate  this  difficulty,  the  specimen  exhibited  appearing  to 
be  unobjectionable. 
Prof.  Maisch  then  read  an  interesting  and  valuable  paper  on  "The  asserted 
presence  of  tannin  in  gentian  root,"  clearly  showing  the  absence  of  tannic  acid  in 
this  drug  (seep.  117).  The  infusion  is  not  at  once  precipitated  by  gelatin,  and 
yields,  with  a  chemically  neutral  solution  of  ferric  chloride,  a  blackish  color,  due  to 
gentisic  acid,  and  to  a  body  producing  a  green  fluorescence,  the  color  being,  of 
course,  destroyed  by  an  acid  from  the  decomposition  of  the  ferric  gentianate. 
