''^"'■Ai°rii?i88o^'"''}  Pharmaceutical  CoLle^es  and  Associations.  223 
The  Registrar  presented  to  the  library,  on  behalf  of  Mr.  George  W.  Gray,  a 
graduate  of  the  class  of  1877-78,  a  copy  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  St.  Thomas  Hos- 
pital, London,  dated  1781,  for  which  the  College  returned  their  thanks.  The  recent 
addition?  to  the  library  were  shown,  consisting  mainly  of  serial  publications,  received 
in  exchange  for  the  "American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,"  and  of  several  works  bearing 
upon  the  sciences  closely  related  to  pharmacy. 
Mr.  Gaillard  exhibited  a  very  handsome  specimen  of  the  sweet  cassava  root 
[Janipha  Manihot),  a  native  of  Brazil,  but  now  acclimated  in  Florida  j  when  boiled 
it  furnishes  a  good  substitute  for  the  potato  5  a  ,  very  beautiful  starch  can  be  prepared 
from  it  by  the  usual  method,  and  a  very  fine  article  of  glucose  can  be  obtained  by 
boiling  with  dilute  sulphuric  acid. 
Professor  Maisch  presented  to  the  cabinet  and  exhibited  samples  of  soft  paraffin 
sold  under  the  name  of  petrolina  and  made  by  the  Binghamton  oil  refining  company, 
of  Binghamton,  N.  Y.  It  is  of  a  uniform  consistence,  free  from  odor,  and  appears 
to  be  composed  entirely  of  paraffins  melting  at  about  the  same  temperature.  The 
thanks  of  the  meeting  were  returned  to  the  donors  for  their  gift. 
Mr.  J.  U.  Lloyd,  of  Cincinnati,  lately  sent  samples  of  the  root  of  Anemopsis 
Californica,  Hooker,  to  Professor  Maisch,  which  he  exhibited.  A  singular  peculiarity 
was  pointed  out,  that  a  number  of  underground  stems,  of  same  species  of  grass, 
had  completely  grown  through  the  root,  sometimes  transversely,  sometimes  diagonally 
and  sometimes  longitudinally.  The  root  is  possessed  of  a  good  deal  of  pungency 
and  yields  a  large  proportion  of  volatile  oil,  which  gives  a  blue  color  with  hydro- 
chloric acid,  this  being  the  only  known  volatile'oil  exhibiting  this  reaction  5  several 
other  products  of  the  root,  described  by  Mr.  Lloyd  in  the  January  number  of  the 
**  Journal,"  p.  4-6,  accompanied  the  oil.  An  investigation  of  the  medical  properties 
of  the  root  is  being  made. 
A  specimen  of  sclerotic  acid  was  shown  by  Professor  Maisch ;  this  acid  was  dis- 
covered by  Professor  Dragendorff  and  is  considered  the  most  efficient  principle  in 
ergot  5  it  has  been  used  with  considerable  success  in  the  hospitals  of  Russia  and 
Germany. 
A  number  of  the  botanical  plates^  published  by  Dr.  Dodel-Port,  of  Zurich,  Switzer- 
land, were  exhibited  by  Professor  Maisch,  who  stated  that  these  handsomely  executed 
plates  are  admirably  adapted  for  illustrating  lectures  on  botany. 
There  being  no  further  business,  the  meeting  adjourned. 
T.  S.  WiEGAND,  Registrar. 
PHARMACEUTICAL  COLLEGES  AND  ASSOCIATIONS, 
Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy. — The  examination  of  the  Junior  Class  was 
'held  on  the  afternoon  and  evening  of  February  14th.  The  following  were  the  ques- 
tions : 
MATERIA   MEDICA  AND  BOTANY. 
1.  What  kind  of  tissue  is  called  cork? 
2.  Define  the  nature  of  tuber,  and  give  an  example. 
