310 MINUTES OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL MEETINGS. 
to the committee soon afterJNo. 6, by G. W. Ridgeway. It 
possessed an excellent consistence and handsome appear- 
ance. One hundred grains yielded by analysis thirty-three 
grains of mercury. 
This specimen was made after No. 6, and with the inten- 
tion of having it examined by the committee. Its consis- 
tence was considered by the maker as more perfect. In 
making the Blue mass marked No. 7, Mr. Ridgeway states 
that he employed the ingredients for a fresh portion of the 
mass and added to it the remainder of No. 6, and worked the 
whole together. 
It is due to Mr. R. to state that the investigation of his 
article was made at his instance, that he is confident of mix- 
ing the ingredients in the full proportion of the pharmaco- 
poeia in every instance, and that he cannot account for the 
deficiency in No. 6. 
No. S. A specimen of blue pill manufactured by Morde- 
cai L. Gordon of Philadelphia, and said to have been made 
during a leisure period in the summer, and worked up for 
an unusual length of time. Consistence and appearance 
good, and contained twenty-six per cent, of mercury. 
No. 9. A second sample of M. L. Gordon's make, recently 
prepared. Appearance good, but softer than No. 8. It 
yielded thirty-one per cent, of mercury, by analysis. 
On further enquiry the committee find that the specimen 
of Gordon's No. 8 , was subjected to the attrition of the mill 
for two weeks, by steam power, and that the instrument 
frequently, during that period, acquired a temperature little 
short of 140°Fahr. — also that the sample No. 9 was treated 
in the same way for only three days. Now as mercury 
will volatilize very sensibly at that temperature, and much 
below it, the committee think that the difference in the 
proportion of mercury may be owing, in part at least, to this 
cause, particularly as they have the testimony of the manu- 
facturer that the full proportion of mercury was employed 
in each case. This is an interesting fact worthy of further 
investigation, and may throw some light on the cause of 
