210  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.  { AmApOiui90hiarm' 
Professor  Coblentz  said  that  in  an  examination  that  he  had  made  of 
oils  of  bergamot  and  lavender  he  had  found  no  relationship  to 
exist  between  the  ester  content  and  aroma ;  in  fact  the  inverse  ratio 
seemed  to  hold.  He  said  that  perfumers  judged  these  oils  by  odor 
and  had  not  found  the  chemical  tests  to  check  the  results  based  on 
odor  ;  that  the  Italians  were  particularly  adept  in  raising  the  ester 
value  of  these  oils  without  increasing  their  aroma. 
In  the  absence  of  the  donor,  Professor  Sadtler  exhibited  a  jar 
which  had  been  presented  to  the  College  by  Mr.  Howard  B.  French, 
and  which  was  used  formerly  in  transporting  olive  oil  across 
the  Egyptian  deserts  on  the  backs  of  camels.  It  was  interesting 
on  account  of  it  being  a  kind  of  container  that  is  seldom,  if  ever, 
seen  at  the  present  time. 
Mr.  W.  E.  Ridenour  presented  a'  specimen  of  a  bezoar,  which  was 
taken  from  the  stomach  of  a  Texas  steer.  Mr.  Wiegand  presented, 
in  behalf  of  W.  C.  Wescott,  Atlantic  City,  a  decimal  platform  scale. 
An  interesting  note  was  furnished  by  Mr.  W.  E.  Ridenour  on  the 
value  of  the  carat  as  expressed  in  the  metric  system.  He  said  that 
some  time  ago  he  was  called  upon  to  weigh  a  diamond  and  to  state  the 
weight  in  jeweler's  terms,  carats  and  fractions.  It  was  necessary  to  find 
the  equivalent  in  the  metric  system,  as  his  weights  were  of  the  latter, 
and  in  looking  the  matter  up  found  the  following  clipping  from  the 
Mining  and  Scientific  Press,  October  27,  1900:  "  The  weight  by 
which  diamonds  and  precious  stones  are  calculated  is  :  4  grains  = 
1  carat;  157^  carats  —  1  ounce,  Troy.  A  fine  diamond,  perfectly 
white  and  pure,  weighing  1  carat  is  worth  $100  ;  2  carats,  $400  ;  4 
carats,  $1,100;  5  carats,  $1,750." 
The  diamond  weighed  -327  gramme,  and  according  to  the  above 
data  he  reported  its  weight  to  be  ij^  carats.  His  report  was  made 
in  the  presence  of  the  diamond  salesman,  who  became  indignant,  as 
he  had  claimed  the  weight  to  be  1  carat  \  —  -Jg-  and  The  dia- 
mond was  subsequently  taken  to  several  jewelers  and  the  weight  of 
1  carat  i- — and  JT  was  verified  in  each  case.  Mr.  Ridenour 
then  weighed  several  1  carat  weights  and  found  them  all  to  weigh 
•205  gramme,  being  055  gramme  lighter  than  stated  in  the 
Mining  and  Scientific  Press.  This  was  subsequently  confirmed  by 
Mr.  Henry  Troemner,  Philadelphia;  so  therefore  1  carat  =  -205 
gramme  ==  3T2^  grains. 
H.  K. 
