178  Minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.  {Am^^lrm 
acquire  the  etherial  odor,  for  the  reason  that  the  nitrogen  oxides  are 
unaffected  by  this  addition,  and  perfectly  free  to  react  upon  the  alcohol. 
Tincture  of  ferric  chloride,  prepared  with  potasium  chlorate,  does 
not  attain  the  etheral  fragrance,  and  if  ethyl  chloride,  also  called 
hydrochloric  ether,  is  generated,  its  by  no  means  pleasant  odor  would 
certainly  become  perceptible.  This  tincture,  however,  has  a  pure, 
spirituous  odor,  and  is  otherwise  analogous  to  the  older  tincture  which 
represented  an  orthoferric  salt. 
MINUTES  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING. 
The  fifth  regular  meeting  of  the  session  was  held  March  21st,  1876,  Dillwyn 
Parrish  in  the  chair.    The  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were  read  and  approved. 
Prof.  Maisch  donated  to  the  cabinet  a  cone  from  the  Pinus  pinea,  of  Southern  Eu- 
rope, being  the  same  species  which  yields  the  pine-nuts  exhibited  at  a  former  meet- 
ing. 
Henry  Trimble  exhibited  an  unknown  substance,  which  had  been  sent  from  Mary- 
land to  this  city,  to  be  sold  for  powdered  ergot.    It  has  no  resemblance  to  that  drug. 
Prof.  Remington  read  a  paper  on  a  singular  reaction  occurring  in  a  medicine  com- 
posed of  syrups  of  wild-cherry  and  squill,  spirit  of  nitre,  tincture  of  lobelia  and 
sulphate  of  morphia,  which  turned  green  on  standing,  as  was  stated  in  a  letter  re- 
ceived from  J.  W.  Hall,  of  Nashville,  Tenn.  The  color  reaction  did  not  take  place 
immediately,  but  after  some  hours,  and  appears  to  be  due  to  the  presence  of  traces 
of  iron  in  spirit  of  nitre  and  acetic  acid,  from  which  the  syrup  of  squill  had  been 
made.  The  conclusion  arrived  at  by  the  experimenter  was,  that  extreme  nicety 
should  be  observed  in  the  apparatus  for  handling  such  liquids.  Prof.  Remington 
proposes  to  continue  his  experiments,  and  report  at  the  next  meeting. 
Dr.  Pile  had  frequently  observed  cases  in  which  a  variation  in  the  order  of  mix- 
ing the  ingredients  would  determine  different  colored  solutions. 
J.  T.  Shinn  had  been  surprised  to  find,  upon  attempting  to  prepare  a  prescription 
containing  sulphate  of  iron,  sulphate  of  magnesium  and  chloride  of  Sodium,  a  pre- 
cipitation of  a  red  iron  compound  would  take  place,  and  nothing  but  the  addition 
of  sulphuric  acid  would  prevent  it. 
Dr.  Pile  had  recently  seen  a  prescription  for  Pulvis  Membranse  Galli ;  the  opin- 
ion was  held  that  it  was  a  mystification  symbolic  of  pepsin. 
J.  C.  Biddle  submitted  samples  of  powdered  squill,  the  usual  caking  of  which  is 
prevented  by  the  use  of  sugar  of  milk  in  the  proportion  of  1  part  to  3  of  the  squill. 
The  first  sample  had  bee  prepared  18  months  ago,  and  had  received  such  care  only 
as  is  customary  with  a  dispensing  bottle.  The  other  had  been  exposed  to  the  air 
on  a  paper  for  one  month,  without  having  lost  its  pulverulent  condition.  The  use 
of  sugar  of  milk  for  this  purpose  had  been  suggested  to  him  by  W.  F.  Bender, 
Apothecary  to  the  Philadelphia  Hospital. 
