90 
EDITORIAL. 
Caoutchouc— A  correspondent  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  gum 
elastic  macerated  in  chloroform  swells  out  very  much,  becomes  sticky  and 
plastic,  and  may  then  be  used  for  mending  gum  elastic  shoes,  tubes,  etc., 
if  applied  quickly,  before  the  chloroform  evaporates.  The  gum  elastic  re- 
sumes its  original  consistence  on  the  evaporation  of  the  solvent. 
Proceedings  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  at  the  Sixth  Annual 
Meeting  held  in  Philadelphia,  Sept.  1857,  with  the  Constitution  and  List 
of  the  Members.  Philadelphia,  1857.  Pp.  178,  octavo. 
If  the  usefulness  and  numbers  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Associa- 
tion increase  in  ratio  with  the  size  of  its  printed  annual"  Proceedings,"  it  will 
ere  long  more  than  fulfil  the  brightest  hopes  of  its  early  supporters.  The 
volume  before  us  contains  so  much  that  is  valuable  both  as  information  and 
for  future  reference,  that  it  fully  merits  a  place  in  the  library.  The  work 
is  in  five  parts :  1st.  The  Minutes  of  the  several  Sessions  of  the  Meeting. 
2d.  The  Reports  of  the  Standing  Committees.  3d.  Scientific  Reports  on  re- 
ferred subjects.  4th.  Voluntary  papers  ;  and  lastly,  an  Appendix.  We 
have  already  (in  our  last  issue)  published  the  minutes  and  some  of  the 
papers,  and  several  others  will  be  found  in  the  present  number.  We  pro- 
pose in  a  succinct  manner  to  refer  here  to  the  second  part,  or  that  embrac- 
ing the  reports  of  Standing  Committees,  The  first  of  the  reports  is,  that 
on  Weights  and  Measures,  of  which  Dr.  C.  B.  Guthrie  was  chairman.  This 
Report,  after  setting  forth  irregularities  at  present  existing  in  the  weights 
and  measures  of  this  country  and  England,  both  as  regards  the  standards 
of  the  measure  of  weight  and  capacity,  as  well  as  the  instruments  in  use, 
directs  their  efforts  to  advocating  the  decimal  system,  as  preferable  to  others, 
and  to  developing  the  views  of  J.  H.  Felton  as  set  forth  in  the  report  of 
Marshall  Lefferts,  chairman  of  a  Joint  Committee  of  the  N.  Y.  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  and  American  Geographical  and  Statistical  Society,  on  the 
extension  of  the  Decimal  System  to  the  weights  and  measures  of  the 
United  States.  The  main  features  of  this  proposed  system  is  to  make  the 
pound  avoirdupois  the  unit  of  weight,  and  the  Imperial  English  gallon,  of 
ten  avoirdupois  pounds  of  water  the  unit  of  capacity.  The  increments  and 
decrements  from  these  units  are  in  decimals,  whilst  the  terms  used  to 
designate  them  are  as  near  as  possible  those  in  general  use.    Thus : 
WEIGHTS. 
10  grains  ==  1  scruple 
10  scruples  =  1  dram 
10  drachms  =  1  ounce 
10  ounces  =  1  pound 
10  pounds  =  1  stone 
10  stones  =  1  hund'dwt. 
10  hundred  weights  =  1  ton 
It  will  be  seen  by  this  statement  that  the  value  of  the  grain  has  been 
changed  to  l-10,000th  part  of  the  avoirdupois  pound  instead  of  l-7,000th 
as  at  present,  and  hence  is  but  7-10ths  of  a  troy  grain  in  quantity.  This 
MEASURES. 
10  grains  =  1  scruple 
10  scruples  =  1  dram 
10  drams  =  1  ounce 
10  ounces  =  1  pint 
10  pints  =  1  gallon 
10  gallons  =  1  anker 
10  ankers  =  1  tun 
