The question was taken by Mr. Tufts, of Dover, N. H., carried without dissent.

and

Resolved, That the thanks of the Association are due and are hereby tendered to the retiring officers for their labors during the past year, and to the acting officers for their attention during the sessions.

The question was taken by Dr. J. Baker Edwards, of Montreal, and carried.

Resolved, That we thank our highly competent and careful reporter, Mr James H. Slade, of Boston, and the several reporters for the public press who have attended our sittings.

Carried unanimously.

Dr. Frederick Hoffmann, Chairman of the Committee on Exhibition, offered some remarks on the specimens on exhibition, speaking favorably of them, and promising to prepare a written report in time for the Proceedings. [See editorial.]

James T. Shinn made a motion to allow the Committee sufficient time to complete their report.

Prof. Procter, on behalf of Prof. Parrish, late Chairman of the Committee, brought forward the completed report on Queries, which was accepted, and is as follows:

The following Queries have been prepared and have been accepted by the members during the session, viz :—

QUERY 1st.—An inquiry into the origin, culture, and trade in Rhubarb in China?

Accepted by Henry W. Lincoln, of Boston.

QUERY 2d. Does the milky juice of the common species of Asclepias possess narcotic or other medicinal properties? (Two years will be required to answer this query, as the season is now too far advanced to collect the juice in its perfection.)

Accepted by Prof. J. M. Maisch, of Phila. QUERY 3.-What are the best forms for using Celandine (Chelidonium majus, Linn.) in medicine, including its recent juice, with formulæ ? Accepted by Prof. J. J. Graham, of Philadelphia. QUERY 4th.-What are the best processes for ascertaining the strength of fluid extracts and tinctures containing no alkaloids ?

Accepted by Prof. Graham.

QUERY 5th.-What is the most eligible process for obtaining persulphate of iron in a dry powder, not objectionable for deliquesence?

Accepted by F. V. Heydenreich, of Brooklyn, N. Y.

QUERY 6th. Are the extract and fluid extract of Conium of commerce

as inert as some recent writers represent, and can these preparations, made by the process of the Pharmacopoeia, be depended on ?

Accepted by G. F. H. Markoe, of Boston.

QUERY 7th.-Are Sugar-coated Pills of commerce generally as soluble as those of like age kept under ordinary circumstances without coating? Accepted by John Buck, of Chelsea, Mass.

QUERY 8th.-What kind of glass ware is, on the whole, best adapted to shop furniture-what shapes are most to be preferred for salt-mouthed and tincture bottles, and what kinds of dispensing and prescription bottles are best? With practical remarks on the glass manufacture in its bearings on pharmacy. Accepted by T. S. Wiegand, of Phila.

QUERY 9th. Whence are the Corks of commerce derived, and where are they cut; with general observations on the commercial history of Corks and Cork Wood?

Accepted by P. W. Bedford, of New York.

QUERY 10th. What strengths of Alcoholic Menstruæ are best adapted to the treatment of the officinal gum resins with reference to producing permanent preparations less incompatible with aqueous dilutents than the present officinal tinctures?

Accepted by Alfred B. Taylor.

QUERY 11th. Which of the preparations of the late edition of the Prussian Pharmacopoeia are preferable to like preparations in our own; and what new Drugs and preparations in that standard should be transferred to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, out of regard to the numerous German practitioners in the United States?

Accepted by Victor Heydenreich, of Brooklyn. QUERY 12th.-Gelsemium Sempervirens is found to be a valuable remedy in the treatment of nervous symptoms, consequent on the suspension of opium after its habitual use. What forms of preparation and what combinations with opium, if any, will be useful in practice?

Accepted by Dr. J. Manlius Smith, of Manlius, N. Y.

QUERY 13th. What are the sources of Asphaltun of commerce, now so largely used in roofing, and what uses is it capable of in Pharmacy? Accepted by G. F. H. Markoe, of Boston, Mass.

QUERY 14th.-How does Pharmacy compare in its emoluments and social advantages with other professions and trades, and what general means, if any, can be adopted to render it more profitable and to regulate the number of its practitioners ?

Accepted by Frederick Stearns, of Detroit, Mich. QUERY 15th. What are the sources of Bromine in the United States, and what is the extent of its production for the supply of commerce? Accepted by Charles H. Dalrymple, of Morristown, N. J.

QUERY 16th. What is the best substitute for Camphor for the protec 1

tion of woolens from moths and other insects, that will be cheaper and equally effective.

Accepted by G. F. H. Markoe, of Boston, Mass.

QUERY 17th. In view of the scarcity and high price of Cardamoms, may not Asarum, Canadense, Canella Alba, Calamus and Ginger be used singly or combined in place of that aromatic in some officinal preparations at the next Revision of the Pharmacopœia.

Accepted by Joseph L. Lemberger, of Lebanon, Pa. QUERY 18th. What are the sources of Vinegar made and sold in the United States, and what relation in quantity and quality does the true cider vinegar produced bear to that from other sources.

Accepted by P. R. Hoagland, of Boston.

QUERY 19th. What is the actual practical power of the Microscope for detecting impurities in commercial powders of drugs?

Accepted by Joseph P. Remington, of Brooklyn, N. Y. QUERY 20th.-Lycopodium Clavatum is said to grow in this country. To what extent is this true, and may the lycopodium sporules be collected from it for the supply of commerce?

Accepted by Prof. J. M. Maisch, of Phila. QUERY 21st. What process can be recommended as easy of execution and affording accurate results for determining the percentage of crystallizable alkaloids in cinchona bark?

Referred to Dr. Samuel P. Duffield, of Detroit.

QUERY 22d.—An Essay on Abies Canadensis and its products yielded to medicine and the arts.

Accepted by William Procter, Jr., of Phila.

QUERY 23d.-On the present sources of supply and the statistics of the indigenous drug trade of the United States.

Referred to Louis C. Diehl, of Louisville, Ky. QUERY 24th.-Tapioca is largely substituted by a product made from other feculas. To what extent is this imitation practiced, and what are the natural sources of the fecula.

Prof. J. Faris Moore, of Baltimore.

QUERY 25th. Soluble Pyrophosphate of Iron in scales is observed to become less soluble by keeping. What is the cause of this change, and how may the salt be obtained of constant solubility.

Accepted by G. E. Jeannot of Louisville, Ky. QUERY 26th-What are the best practical tests for the purity of Bromide of Potassium.

Accepted by J. F. Llewellyn, of Louisville..

QUERY 27th. The fusing point of true butter of Cacao being near that of the temperature of the body, what is the influence of such additions as wax, tallow, &c., on its fusing point, and to what extent are such addi

tions objectionable as irritants, if at all, in vaginal and urethral suppositories.

Accepted by Charles L. Eberle, of Phila. QUERY 28th. The existence in the dry state of Bisulphate of Soda has been doubted, in contradiction to older observations. Can a dry bisulphate of soda be obtained by any one of the published or some other process? If so, does the salt possess sufficient stability as a medicinal agent?

Accepted by S. P. Duffield, of Detroit. QUERY 29th.-Ammoniated Citrate of Bismuth dried in scales has become an article of commerce. What percentage of bismuth does it contain, as obtained from different sources, and by what process can the largest amount of oxide of bismuth be obtained in this form in soluble condition?

Accepted by J. F. Llewellyn, Louisville, Ky. QUERY 30th.-Can a pharmaceutical preparation be made from the recent or dried herb of Lactuca Elongata, Muhl., which may be used as a substitute for Lactucarium and its preparations?

Accepted by Prof. John M. Maisch, of Phila.

The committee on nominations presented the name of William H. Fuller, of Chicago, for Local Secretary, which was adopted.

Prof. Maisch mentioned that he had received a letter from M. Berbrugar, of Panama, stating that he would send some specimens of drugs to the Association, but that they had not arrived.

[Prof. Maisch informs us that they have been received since the meeting. ED.]

On motion, the meeting now adjourned to meet in Chicago, on the first Tuesday of September, 1869.

NOTE ON WINE COLCHICUM SEED (ENG.)

BY JAMES T. KING.

Complaints having been made that some wine of colchicum seed (English) failed to produce its peculiar effects in several cases, even when its administration was run up to teaspoonful doses every four hours, until several ounces were taken, I was induced to make an examination of the wine, to ascertain if it was so deficient in the active principle.

The following method was adopted: From a bottle bearing

the label of the English manufacturers, and having the seal over the cork unbroken, one fluidounce was taken, placed in a porcelain capsule, about one grain of oxalic acid added, and the wine allowed to evaporate spontaneously to the consistence of a soft

extract.

This extract was exhausted with two drachms of distilled water, and filtered, the filtrate slightly supersaturated with liquor potassa, and two fluidrachms of pure chloroform were then added in a test tube, and the mixture thoroughly agitated several times.

The chloroform was allowed to settle, and then the contents of the test tube poured slowly into a small separating funnel. When the chloroform had become clear, it was run off into a small capsule and spontaneously evaporated, leaving a small amount of yellowish-green residue.

This was treated with one drachm of distilled water, to which had been added two drops of dilute sulphuric acid, then filtered, to filtrate added one drop of Mayer's test,-the normal solution of iodohydrargyrate of potassium,-but obtained not the slightest reaction or trace of a precipitate, showing the wine to contain little or none of the colchicia. To prove that this method would determine the presence of the active principle, one fluidounce of some wine of colchicum that we made from a fair lot of seeds according to the U. S. P. was treated in precisely the same manner as above described, and, on the addition of one drop of the test liquor, a copious canary-colored precipitate was obtained.

Four drops of the test solution were required to precipitate all of the alkaloid.

Physicians report this wine as efficient and active, corroborating the chemical test.

Middletown, N. Y., Sept., 1868.

NOTE ON THE CLEANSING OF COD-LIVER OIL BOTTLES.

BY WILLIAM PROCTER, JR.

It is not unusual with the pharmaceutist to take back the empty bottles from consumers of cod-liver oil, and the corks be