Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
March,  1909.  / 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
145 
in  the  southwest  last  September,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  sin- 
cerity of  members  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  to 
make  the  best  of  the  situation  and  secure  as  large  a  delegation  as 
possible  to  attend  the  meeting  in  Los  Angeles. 
The  National  Association  of  Retail  Druggists  has  decided  to 
meet  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  the  first  week  in  September  and  is  not  alone 
assured  of  a  hearty  welcome,  but,  also,  a  record-breaking  attendance. 
An  editorial  in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association 
(1909,  v.  52,  p.  562)  discusses  the  report  of  the  referee  board  on 
sodium  benzoate,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  average  intelligent 
citizen  who  is  interested  in  getting  value  for  value  and,  incidentally 
at  least,  in  conserving  his  own  health  and  the  health  of  those 
dependent  on  him.  In  this  editorial  it  is  made  plain  that  the  several 
questions  reported  on  by  the  referee  board  do  not  alter  or  even 
involve  the  real  question  at  issue :  the  use  of  chemical  preservatives 
to  hide  the  indiscriminate  use  of  partially  decomposed  food  materials. 
Gelatin  Capsules. — F.  Lorenzen  has  examined  a  number  of  gela- 
tin capsules  containing  extract  of  male  fern  and  finds  that  they  vary 
in  weight  from  0.8  to  1.08  Gm. ;  the  weight  of  the  empty  capsule 
varied  from  0.29  to  0.49  Gm.  and  the  content  varied  from  0.50  to 
0.64  in  place  of  0.55  Gm.  claimed  by  the  manufacturer. — Apoth. 
Ztg.,  Berlin,  1908,  v.  23,  p.  899. 
The  Java  Cinchona  Plantations. — The  British  and  Colonial 
Druggist  (1909,  v.  55,  p.  7)  contains  an  illustrated  article  descrip- 
tive of  the  introduction  of  cinchona  into  Java  and  gives  some  account 
of  the  military  pharmacists  who  were  interested  in  the  cultivation 
of  this  plant  and  have  supervised  the  government  plantations. 
Cinchona  Assay. — Dr.  N.  H..  Cohen  (Pharm.  Wcekbld.,  1907) 
has  devised  a  modification  of  the  assay  process  for  cinchona  bark, 
in  which  the  powdered  bark  is  extracted  by  means  of  ether,  heated 
in  a  reflux  condenser;  the  mixture,  after  cooling,  is  made  alkaline 
with  soda  solution.  The  ethereal  solution  is  subsequently  treated 
with  lime  water  and  the  ethereal  layer  finally  evaporated  and  the 
alkaloid  dried  and  weighed. — Pharm.  Zentralb.,  1908,  v.  50,  p.  1025. 
Coca  and  Cocaine. — An  interesting  historical  study  of  coca  and 
its  chief  alkaloid  is  printed  in  a  recent  number  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Journal  (1909,  v.  28,  pp.  28-30).  Dating  back  to  the  early  history 
of  Peru  the  story  of  this  drug  is  traced  chronologically,  with  many 
interesting  quotations,  up  to  the  present  time. 
Scopola. — G.  Weigel  points  out  that  there  is  a  marked  difference 
