MINUTES  OF  THE  COLLEGE. 
275 
boil  about  twenty  minutes.  When  the  liquid  has  become  cold, 
some  drops  of  tincture  of  iodine  are  poured  into  it.  If  a  blue 
coloration  of  iodide  of  starch  occurs,  the  acetic  acid  contains  no 
mineral  acids  ;  but  if  this  coloration  is  not  produced,  we  may  be 
certain  of  the  presence  of  mineral  acids,  which,  under  the  action 
of  heat,  have  transformed  the  starch  into  dextrine,  and  thus 
prevented  the  formation  of  the  iodide.  Care  must  be  taken  to 
pour  the  iodine  into  the  cold  liquid,  for  iodide  of  starch  is  de- 
colorized spontaneously  under  the  action  of  heat.  Chlorhydric 
acid  may  also  be  immediately  detected  by  adding  to  the  acetic 
acid  a  few  drops  of  nitrate  of  silver ;  and  the  presence  of  sul- 
phuric acid  is  discovered  by  chloride  of  barium.  In  the  latter 
case,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  chloride  of  barium  is  insoluble 
in  acids,  and  that  the  acetic  acid  ought  to  be  diluted  with  a  suf- 
ficiently large  quantity  of  water  to  avoid  the  possibility  of  error 
from  this  cause. 
Pyroligneous  acids  generally  standardize  89°  to  40°  ;  how- 
ever, this  figure  is  not  absolute.  We  have  sometimes  met  with 
samples  containing  only  34  per  cent,  of  acetic  acid,  others  hav- 
ing 46  to  50  per  cent.,  and  even  still  larger  quantities. — Chein. 
News,  Lond.,  Jan.  21,  1870. 
A  stated  meeting  of  the  College  was  held  at  the  College  Building, 
December  27th,  1869  ;  the  President,  Dillwyn  Farrish,  presiding.  [This 
was  the  first  meeting  under  the  revised  By-laws,  making  the  meetings  of 
the  College  quarterly  in  place  of  semi-annually  as  heretofore.] 
The  minutes  of  the  last  stated  meeting  and  all  of  the  several  adjourned 
meetings  were  read  and  approved.  The  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
being  read  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Board,  inform  that  Louis  G.  Bauer, 
C.  F.  Gristock,  Clemmons  Parrish,  Andrew  C.  Blair,  Henry  C.  Eddy, 
James  S.  Robinson,  Geo.  W.  Kennedy,  W.  G.  Buchanan,  Samuel  Camp- 
bell, Louis  A,  Baker,  Wm.  Mclntyre,  Henry  K.  Bowman,  M.  G.  Ros- 
engarten  and  Jos.  R.  Dugan  were  elected  active  members  of  the  College, 
Also  that  at  a  meeting  of  the  Board  on  the  5th  of  October  the  following 
gentlemen  were  elected  corresponding  members  of  the  College,  viz.  : 
Great  Britain. — Prof.  John  Attfield,  London;  Henry  B.  Brady,  New 
Castle-on-Tyne  ;  John  Abraham,  Liverpool ;  T.  B.  Groves,  Weymouth  • 
Chas.  Tichbourne,  Dublin  ;  F.  Crace  Calvert,  Manchester  ;  John  Mackay, 
Edinburgh;  W.  W.  Stoddart,  Bristol  ;  J.  C.  Brough  of  London. 
