} Minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.  229 
MINUTES  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING, 
The  seventh  meeting  of  the  session  was  held  April  20th,  1875,  President  Dillwyn 
Parrish  in  the  chair.    The  minutes  of  the  sixth  meeting  were  read  and  approved. 
The  following  donations  to  the  Library  and  Cabinet  were  made:  A  copy  of  the 
"  Year  Book  of  Pharmacy,"  and  "  Transactions  of  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Con- 
ference," from  the  Conference;  and  a  specimen  of  a  new  variety  of  Cinnamon, 
from  E.  N.  &  J.  B.  Lawrence,  which  is  mentioned  on  page  477  of  Fliickiger  and 
Hanbury's  "  Pharmacographia,"  under  the  name  of  China  Cinnamon-^  it  is  in 
unscraped  quills,  and  has  a  saccharine  and  pungent  cinnamon  taste.  A  sample  of 
the  same  in  powder,  ground  by  Bullock  &  Crenshaw,  was  likewise  exhibited ;  it  is 
much  darker  in  color,  but  of  a  stronger  cinnamon  flavor  than  the  ordinary  pow- 
dered Chinese  cinnamon. 
The  President  presented  a  bottle  of  crab  orchard  salt,  from  Dr.  Blackburn,  with 
the  request  that  it  be  examined. 
G.  W.  Kennedy  remarked,  that  in  Tennessee  this  salt,  but  of  a  darker  color  than 
the  specimen,  is  sold  at  retail,  to  be  used  in  place  of  Epsom  salt.  Several  analyses 
have  been  published  in  the  "Journal"  (vol  xxxii,  page  238  and  xlviii,  p.  212). 
The  President  requested  Rich.  V.  Mattison,  who  was  present,  to  give  the  meeting 
his  views  on  crab  orchard  salt,  which  he  did,  as  follows  : 
"  Crab  orchard  salt  is  obtained  from  a  tract  of  land  in  Lincoln  county,  Ky.,  about 
three  miles  wide  and  fifteen  long,  called  the  '  Epsom  Belt '  Wells  are  dug  in  the 
ground,  and  the  rain,  percolating  and  lixiviating  the  soil,  which  contains  a  large  per- 
centage of  the  sulphates  of  sodium,  potassium  and  magnesium,  collects  in  these 
wells,  and  is  from  thence  evaporated  in  iron  kettles,  and  brought  into  the  market  in 
barrels.  As  found  commercially,  it  consists  of  varying  proportions  of  organic  mat- 
ter and  water,  from  15  to  40  per  cent.,  with  balance  of  the  above  alkaline  sulphates 
and  some  sodic  chloride.  The  insoluble  portion  (I  have  obtained  30  per  cent,  upon 
solution  and  filtration)  consists  of  silicaceous  and  organic  matter,  with  about  one- 
tenth  of  one  per  cent,  of  ferric  oxide. 
"A  short  time  ago  the  product  of  this  belt  of  land  was  leased  or  purchased  by  a 
stock  company  (Col.  Shelby,  Dr.  Blackburn  and  others),  who  now  control  the  salt, 
and  have  raised  the  price  of  it  from  23  and  27  cents  to  632  and  75  cents,  selling  it 
only  in  bottles.  Regarding  Dr.  Blackburn's  statement  that  'a  large  quantity  of  arti- 
ficial salt  is  sold,  and  that  it  is  very  injurious,'  we  agree  to  both  statements.  First. 
There  is  a  very  large  quantity  of  artificial  salt  sold.  Second.  The  sale  of  this  arti- 
ficial salt  is  very  injurious,  but  only  to  the  pecuniary  interests  of  the  company,  and 
not,  as  Dr.  Blackburn,  who  in  the  interest  of  the  company  desires  to  impress  people 
with  the  belief  that  it  is  injurious  to  their  health.  It  is  no  more  so  than  Epsom  salt, 
or  similar  purgatives." 
Dr.  Pile  presented  a  handsome  specimen  of  crystallized  bromide  of  sodium. 
Dr.  Miller  presented  three  samples  of  oil  of  cedar  j  pure  German,  cedar  of  Leba- 
non for  perfumery,  and  a  commercial  sample  of  a  strong  turpentine  in  odor  ,•  also. 
Cochin  ginger-root  and  a  powder  from  it ;  this  root  is  devoid  of  the  coating  of 
lime  adhering  to  bleached  Jamaica  ginger,  but  yields  a  whiter  powder  ;  also,  a  sam- 
ple of  North  Carolina  and  of  Texas  serpentaria.  Prof.  Maisch  remarked  that  the 
former  was  the  produce  of  Aristolochia  serpentaria,  Lin.,  and  the  latter  of  A.  reticu- 
lata, Nuttall.  The  market  is  now  almost  exclusively  supplied  with  the  latter  variety, 
which  is  known  as  Red  River  snake-root,  and  is  sold  for  half  the  price  of  the  former. 
