536  State  Pharmaceutical  Associations.  {^Je^^i*™ 
history  and  thereby  plant  in  the  student  the  seed  which  will  develop 
the  love  for  the  profession  of  pharmacy. 
In  order  that  my  words  will  not  be  misconstrued,  permit  me  to 
state  that  I  am  not  looking  for  a  "  job." 
ABSTRACTS  OF.  SOME  OF  THE  PAPERS  PRESENTED 
TO  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  AND  NEW  JERSEY  STATE 
PHARMACEUTICAL  ASSOCIATIONS. 
By  John  K.  Thum,  Ph.G., 
Apothecary  at  the  German  Hospital,  Philadelphia. 
The  annual  meeting  of  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Asso- 
ciation held  last  June  was  remarkable  for  the  large  number  of  papers 
and  answers  to  queries  that  were  read  before  that  progressive  State 
organization.  Another  State  organization  that  did  some  good  work 
in  that  direction  was  our  neighbor,  the  New  Jersey  Pharmaceutical 
Association. 
The  following  abstracts  of  some  of  the  papers  read  were  pre- 
pared from  the  published  proceedings  of  the  respective  associations : 
A  Method  for  Confirmation  of  the  Presence  of  Saccharin 
in  Foods  and  Beverages. 
By  F.  A.  Genth,  Jr. 
In  the  examination  of  a  number  of  carbonated  beverages  the 
author  used  a  modification  of  the  confirmation  of  the  presence  of 
saccharin  by  the  well-known  method  of  its  conversion  into  salicylic 
acid. 
The  absence  of  salicylic  acid  having  been  proven  in  a  part  of  the 
residue  from  an  ethereal  extract,  the  remainder  was  dissolved  in 
i  c.c.  of  water  made  slightly  alkaline  with  ammonia,  transferred  to 
a  small  crucible  and  evaporated  to  incipient  dryness.  A  drop  or 
two  of  water  and  a  very  small  piece  of  sodium  hydroxide  were  then 
added,  and  the  whole  quickly  heated  to  dryness ;  when  dry,  the  mass 
was  further  heated  until  fusion  took  place;  after  cooling,  I  c.c. 
of  water  was  then  added,  and  the  larger  portion  of  alkali  neutralized 
with  dilute  acid  (either  HC1  or  H2SOJ.  After  adding  one  or  two 
drops  of  a  i  per  cent,  ferric  alum  solution,  the  neutralization  was 
