Am.  Jour.  Pharru.\ 
June,  1901.  j 
Pharmaceutical  Meeting. 
313 
to  which  Mr.  Kilmer  referred  belonged,  in  all  probability,  to  this 
class  of  substances,  which  were  apparently  of  rather  wide  occurrence 
in  nature.  He  also  referred  to  a  recent  paper  in  Science  (see  p. 
765),  in  which  the  author  points  out  the  living  character  of  the 
ferments. 
Frederick  T.  Gordon  read  a  paper  on  "  Notes  on  the  Use  of 
Methyl  Alcohol  in  Pharmacy"  (see  p.  285).  In  the  discussion 
Mr.  Wiegand  pointed  out  that  the  odor  in  wood  alcohol  can  be 
removed  by  passing  the  electric  current  through  it.  Dr.  Miller 
said  that  it  was  sometimes  used  in  making  bay  rum,  and  that  he 
could  always  detect  the  odor,  which  was  very  offensive  to  him. 
E.  Fullerton  Cook,  Assistant  Director  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Labor- 
atory, presented  some  abstracts  of  recently  published  articles  refer- 
ring to  "  The  Use  of  Methyl  Alcohol  in  Pharmaceutical  Preparations  " 
(see  p.  289).  Frederick  T.  Gordon  presented  some  "  Notes  on  the 
Spoliation  of  Syrups,"  which  will  be  printed  in  a  subsequent  issue 
of  this  Journal.  F.  W.  Haussmann  sent  some  notes  bearing  on 
this  question,  which  will  also  be  published  later.  Dr.  Miller  stated 
that  broken  rock-candy  cost,  by  the  barrel,  about  1  cent  more  per 
pound  than  granulated  sugar,  and  that  the  cost  of  rock-candy  would 
therefore  not  interfere  to  any  considerable  extent  with  its  use  in  the 
preparation  of  medicinal  syrups.  Mr.  Boring  favored  Mr.  Gordon's 
suggestion  to  make  syrups  in  quantity  to  suit  the  demand  for  them. 
Mr.  Boring  further  said  that  he  used  rock-candy  in  making  syrup 
of  hydriodic  acid,  and  that  in  the  preparation  of  syrup  of  wild  cherry 
he  used  the  finely  powdered  bark,  which  he  placed  loosely  in  the 
percolator.  He  moistens  the  bark,  pours  it  into  the  percolator, 
allows  it  to  macerate,  then  removes,  moistens  again  and  pours  back 
into  the  percolator,  the  extraction  then  being  rapid  and  satisfactory. 
A  device  for  cutting  soap,  by  V.  Clyde  Michels,  was  exhibited, 
which  consisted  of  a  ruled  board  with  a  wire  attached,  so  that  the 
soap  can  be  cut  off  in  definite  sizes.  Mr.  Boring  stated  that  he  heated 
the  soap  on  a  register  and  cut  it  with  an  ordinary  spatula.  Dr.  Lowe 
suggested  that  several  pieces  of  wire  should  accompany  the  appar- 
atus, as  the  wire  was  likely  to  break,  and  that  he  found  it  necessary 
to  buy  a  large  quantity  in  order  to  have  it  on  hand. 
On  motion  of  Mr.  Boring,  which  was  seconded  by  Dr.  Weide- 
mann,  a  vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  the  speakers  for  their  commun- 
ications. H.  K. 
