AMERICAN  PHARMACEUTICAL  ASSOCIATION.  379 
is  allowed  to  flow  out  into  clearing  vessels  by  the  pressure  of  the  steam. 
When  the  suspended  pulverulent  mass  has  settled,  the  supernatant  lye  is 
conducted  into  the  evaporating  pans.  The  powder  remaining  in  the  kettle 
is  cleaned  out,  and  new  masses  immediately  introduced,  so  that  the  working 
of  the  kettle  is  continued  uninterruptedly.  The  lye,  which  contains  caus- 
tic potash  and  soda,  is  either  sold  as  such,  or  saturated  with  carbonic  acid 
by  passing  the  air  of  the  fire  over  it,  by  which  the  evaporation  is  hastened 
at  the  same  time.  If  the  decomposition  has  been  complete,  no  lime  sepa- 
rates in  this  process,  but  only  alumina  and  silica,  which  were  dissolved  in 
the  caustic  lime ;  this  sediment  is  raked  together  and  removed.  During 
the  subsequent  cooling  the  carbonate  of  soda  crystallizes,  whilst  the  more 
soluble  carbonate  of  potash  is  obtained  by  calcination.  The  carbonate  of 
potash  thus  obtained  is  almost  chemically  pure,  and  far  preferable  to  any 
prepared  from  the  ashes  of  plants. 
The  powder  taken  out  of  the  kettle  and  the  clearing  vessels,  which  may 
be  again  lixiviated  to  furnish  a  lye  which  may  be  employed  afterwards  in- 
stead of  water,  contains  the  constituents  of  a  hydraulic  cement.  It  is 
made  into  balls,  or,  by  means  of  a  clay-mill,  into  cylinders,  either  by  itself, 
or  with  the  addition  of  a  little  clay,  and  then  burnt  in  a  furnace.  After 
burning,  the  pieces  are  pounded  in  the  dry  state,  finely  ground  between' 
granite  rollers,  and  sifted  ;  they  then  furnish  a  cement  which  resembles 
Portland  cement  in  its  composition,  but  far  exceeds  it  in  homogeneity. — 
London  Chem.  Gaz.,from  Dingier 's  Polytechn.  Journ, 
AMERICAN  PHARMACEUTICAL  ASSOCIATION. 
The  Seventh  Annual  Meeting  of  the  "  American  Pharmaceutical  Association, r 
will  be  held  in  the  city  of  Washington,  D.  C,  on  Third  day,  (Tuesday)  the 
14th  day  of  September  next  at  3  o'clock  P.  M. 
The  objects  of  the  Association  and  the  conditions  of  membership  are  explained 
in  the  following  extracts  from  the  Constitution. 
Article  I. 
r"  This  Association  shall  be  called  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association. 
Its  aim  shall  be  to  unite  the  educated  and  reputable  Pharmaceutists  and  Drug- 
gists of  the  United  States  in  the  following  objects  : 
1st.  To  improve  and  regulate  the  drug  market,  by  preventing  the  importation 
of  inferior,  adulterated  or  deteriorated  drugs,  and  by  detecting  and  exposing 
home  adulteration. 
2d.  To  establish  the  relations  between  druggists,  pharmaceutists,  physicians 
and  the  people  at  large,  upon  just  principles,  which  shall  promote  the  public 
welfare  and  tend  to  mutual  strength  and  advantage. 
3d.  To  improve  the  science  and  the  art  of  Pharmacy  by  diffusing  scientific 
knowledge  among  apothecaries  and  druggists,  fostering  pharmaceutical  litera- 
ture, developing  talent,  stimulating  discovery  and  invention,  and  encouraging 
home  production  and  manufacture  in  the  several  departments  of  the  drug  busi- 
ness. 
4th.  To  regulate  the  system  of  apprenticeship  and  employment  so  as  to  pre- 
