Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Sept.,  1883.  ; 
Editorials. 
475 
It  will  be  remembered  that  the  meeting  will  be  held  in  the  lecture-room 
of  the  National  Museum,  located  on  the  grounds  of  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution, and  that  the  headquarters  will  be  at  the  Arlington  Hotel. 
The  International  PHARMACf^uTiCAL  Exhibition  at  Vipjnna  was 
opened  August  11,  but  not  by  the  archduke  Carl  Ludwig,  as  had  been 
announced,  and  by  this  time  the  awards  have  doubtless  been  made  in  the 
different  classes.  The  invitations  were  extended  at  such  a  late  date,  that 
even  if  there  had  been  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  many  American  firms, 
only  few  could  have  availed  tliemselves  of  the  opportunity  of  showing  their 
products  in  Central  Europe.  Yet  the  United  States  are  represented  by  four 
firms  ;  with  these  exceptions,  all  tlie  exhibitors  are  from  European  coun- 
tries, including  three  or  four  from  England. 
We  look  forward  with  some  interest  to  the  details  of  the  exhibits,  and  to 
the  results  that  may  accrue  from  this  experiment  to  the  general  good.  We 
have  annually  in  the  United  States  such  a  large  number  of  pharmaceutical 
exhibitions — one  at  the  meeting  of  nearly  every  State,  and  of  the  American 
Pharmaceutical  Association — and  these  partake  more  or  less  of  an  inter- 
national character,' that  it  will  probably  be  a  long  time  before  the  example 
of  Vienna  will  find  enthusiastic  advocates  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
unless  it  was  possible  to  create  sufficient  interest  in  the  enterprise  by  all  the 
more  prominent  nations  of  both  hemispheres. 
Sophistication  of  Quinine. — The  Central  Pharmacy  of  the  Paris 
hospitals  received  in  October  and  November,  1882,  several  cans  of  quinine 
sulphate,  which  on  examination  proved  to  be  a  mixture  of  the  sulphates  of 
quinine  and  cinchonidine  covered  with  a  layer  of  pure  quinine  sulphate 
about  12  or  15  centimeters  thick.  It  had  been  delivered  under  contract  by 
a  Paris  druggist,  H.  C.  Lacomb,  who  explained  the  occurence  as  an  unin- 
tentional mistake  on  the  part  of  one  of  his  employees,  who  had  been 
ordered  to  mix  t^vo  cans  each  of  quinine  of  Taillandier's  and  of  Milan 
manufacture,  and  to  fill  with  the  mixture  four  cans  bearing  the  label  of 
the  latter  factory ;  the  superficial  layer  of  the  pure  salt  was  asserted  to 
have  been  made  solely  on  account  of  its  handsome  appearance.  It  was 
shown,  however,  from  the  books  of  the  accused,  that  Taillandier's  quinine 
had  not  been  on  hand  for  a  prolonged  period,  as  had  been  asserted,  but 
was  purchased  September  20,  and  that  shortly  before  this  time,  eight 
kilos  of  cinchonidine  had  been  purchased.  The  motive  for  the  adulteration 
was  found  in  the  advance  of  the  price  of  the  Milan  quinine,  which  in 
August,  1882,  was  400  francs  per  kilo,  while  the  contract  price  was  only 
374  francs.  The  accused  was  found  guilty  of  wilful  adulteration,  and  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  he  knew  the  medicine  had  been  intended  for  the  sick 
in  public  charitable  institutions,  and  that  the  act  was  aggravated  thereby, 
the  court  sentenced  the  accused  to  pay  a  fine  of  50  francs,  to  be  imprisoned 
for  one  year,  and  that  in  addition  thereto  the  verdict  be  exposed  to  public 
view  for  twenty-four  hours,  attached  to  the  door  of  the  business  place  of 
the  accused,  and  at  his  cost  be  published  in  full  in  six  newspapers,  in  three 
pharmaceutical,  and  in  three  medical  journals. 
