Am  Jour  Pharm.)        American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  5.'-)3 
Oct.,  loa.i.  j 
A  letter  was  read  from  tlie  proprietors  of  Fort  William  Henry  Hotel, 
Lake  George,  inviting  the  Association  to  meet  there,  and  offering  special 
inducements ;  it  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  next  meeting. 
Mr.  Kennedy  read  a  paper  on  oil  of  birch  bark  and  oil  of  winter  green,  in 
which  he  briefly  reviewed  the  chemical  history  of  these  oils  and  the  results 
of  Mr.  Pettigrew's  investigation  (see  Amer.  Journ.  Pharm.,  Aug.,  1883,  p. 
385),  and  described  the  manufacture  as  carried  on  in  Schuylkill  County, 
Pa.  {Ibid.,  Feb.,  1882,  p  49).  At  the  suggestion  of  Prof.  Maisch  the  author 
had  made  further  inquiries  and  ascertained  that  of  the  oils  only  that  por- 
tion is  collected  which  sinks  to  the  bottom  of  the  water^^  distillate  while 
the  "light  oil "  or  "  light  ring  "  floating  on  the  surface  is  permitted  to  run  off 
with  the  water,  but  this  is  collected  in  barrels  to  be  used  again  for  the 
next  lot  of  material.  It  is  difficult  to  comprehend,  from  the  author's 
description,  given  in  outline,  why  the  light  oil  should  not  accumulate  so 
as  to  attract  attention  ;  but  from  some  verbal  remarks  made  by  Mr.  Ken- 
nedy, it  appears  that  a  considerable  portion  of  this  light  oil  ultimately 
subsides.  Mr.  Kennedy's  paper  also  states  that  100  lbs.  of  old  gaultheria 
leaves  from  plants  which  had  not  been  previously  picked  yield  about  12  oz., 
while  from  plants  that  had  been  picked,  the  spring  leaves  yield  about  14 
oz.,  and  the  autumn  leaves  as  much  as  a  pound.  This  is  about  double  the 
yield  previously  reported  by  Mr.  Underbill  [Ibid.,  April,  1883,  p.  197).  The 
oils  of  betula  lenta  and  of  gaultheria,  made  in  Pennsylvania,  are  usually 
mixed.  The  Counties  of  Carbon  and  Monroe  are  reported  to  have  produced 
in  1882  not  less  than  twenty  tons  of  oil,  about  40  per  cent,  of  which  was  oil 
of  birch;  Bradford,  Sullivan  and  Susquehanna  Counties  make  about  two 
tons,  including  20  per  cent,  of  oil  of  gaultheria,  and  Schuylkill  County 
about  1,000  lbs.,  of  which  about  10  per  cent,  is  oil  of  gaultheria. 
Prof.  Maisch  thought  that  nothing  short  of  actual  analysis  could  prove 
the  presence  or  absence  of  terpene  in  the  distillate  from  birch  bark,  in 
which  the  oil  does  not  pre-exist,  but  is  formed  by  a  decomposition  in  the 
presence  of  water.  That  the  hydrocarbon  which  presumably  exists  in  gaul- 
theria, is  not  collected,  he  had  reason  to  believe,  from  correspondence  with 
one  or  two  manufacturers  of  oil  of  gaultheria,  who  stated  that  they  had  not 
observed  the  separation  in  the  distillate  of  a  light  oil.  This  rejection  at  the 
present  time  of  the  light  oil  seemed  to  indicate  that  the  oil  differed  some- 
what from  that  sold  thirty  or  forty  years  ago,  and  would  also  explain  why 
Mr.  Lloyd,  in  preparing  salicylic  acid  from  the  commercial  article,  failed 
to  observe  a  hydrocarbon  {Ibid.,  1879,  p.  18).  Prof.  Lloyd  stated  that  occa- 
sionally he  had  met  with  samples  from  which  a  light  oil  could  be  obtained 
{Ibid.,  1875,  p.  343).  Prof.  Diehl  called  attention  to  the  evident  empyreu- 
matic  odor  of  one  of  Mr.  Kennedy's  samples,  due  doubtless  to  carelessness 
in  distillation.  Prof.  Maisch  stated  that  judging  from  other  samples  there 
was  a  slight  but  noticeable  distinction  in  the  odor,  that  of  gaultheria  oil 
being  more  delicate. 
A  paper  on  quininepills  by  Mr.  Virgil  Coblentz  was  read,  1,  2,  3  and  5  gr. 
pills  having  been  examined  from  18  different  manufacturers.  The  pills 
were  mixed  with  lime,  the  mixture  dried,  exhausted  with  ether  and  the 
alkaloid  weighed  ;  the  sulphate  was  calculated  witli8H20  which  is  permitted 
