Am.  Jour  Pharm.  ) 
Oct.  1875.  ; 
Hydrocotarnina, 
447 
having  been  mailed,  but  failed  to  arrive,  it  vv^as  referred,  and  the  Secre- 
tary requested  to  publish  an  abstract  of  it  in  the  "  American  Journal  of 
Pharmacy." 
On  motion  of  Prof.  Sharpies,  it  was  voted  to  appoint  a  Committee 
of  three  to  report  on  the  desirability  of  introducing  the  metrical  system 
of  weights  into  pharmacy. 
On  motion  of  Mr.  Leis,  resolutions  of  thanks  were  passed  to  S.  A^ 
D.  Sheppard,  Jos.  Burnett,  H.  F.  Horton,  E.  H.  Doolittle,  and  others 
of  the  Local  Executive  Committee,  for  their  valuable  services  and  at- 
tention ;  also  to  the  past  and  present  presiding  officers  \  also,  on  motion 
of  Mr.  Sheppard,  to  the  many  exhibitors  who  have  contributed  to  the 
success  of  the  exhibition. 
The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Queries  was  read,  and  the  follow- 
ing papers  were,  for  want  of  time,  read  by  title  and  referred  to  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee:  "Alcohol  and  mucilage  of  acacia,"  by  M.  S. 
Bidwell  ;  "  Pharmaceutical  Legislation  in  New  Jersey,*'  by  Jas.  R. 
Mercein ;  "  How  to  improve  the  practice  of  pharmacy,"  by  R.  W. 
Gardner  ;  "  Progress  of  the  metric  system,"  by  Fred.  Brooks  ;  "  Mor- 
tar practice — a  few  notes  on  contusion,"  by  H.  T.  Cummings  ;  "  On 
percolation,"  by  Samuel  Campbell  ;  "  On  syrups  prepared  by  percola- 
tion, and  notes  on  home-made  pills,"  by  Clay  W.  Holmes  ;  "  Ung. 
Hydrargyri  Nitratis,"  by  Joseph  H.  Whall. 
After  the  reading  and  approval  of  the  minutes,  the  Association  ad- 
journed to  meet  in  Philadelphia  next  year. 
ON  HYDROCOTARNINA. 
Some  years  ago  (1871),  O.  Hesse  observed  in  the  mother  liquors  of 
opium  working  for  the  extraction  of  alkaloids,  a  base  having  the  com- 
position C^2Hj5N03,  which  he  supposed  to  be  a  decomposition  product 
of  narcotina.  C22H23N07(narcotina)4-H20  may  yield  C^oHjo05(opianic 
acid)+C^2Hj5N03,  the  latter  differing  from  cotarnina  Cj2H,3N03 — by 
— H2.  G,  H.  Beckett  and  C.  R.  A.  Wright  have  dissolved  pure 
cotarnina  in  diluted  hydrochloric  acid  and  treated  the  solution  with 
granulated  zinc,  the  acid  being  added  in  sufficient  quantity  to  keep  up  a 
just  perceptible  effervescence,  and  the  heat  kept  below  100°  C,  at 
which  temperature  the  bases  are  easily  decomposed.  After  two  or 
three  days  the  product  was  poured  into  a  large  excess  of  ammonia  and 
the  mixture  agitated  with  ether,  which,  on  evaporation,  left  large 
prisms  having  the  composition  2C,2H,5N03.    H2O.    When  pure  they 
