PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

TWENTY-NINTH ANnual meeting

OF THE

American Pharmaceutical Association.

REPORT ON THE PROGRESS OF PHARMACY.

FROM JULY 1, 1880, TO JUNE 30, 1881.

BY C. LEWIS DIEHL.

THE report submitted in the following will be found a fair exponent of pharmaceutic progress since the date of the last report to the Association. In accordance with the intention already expressed, the various subjects presented have been abstracted with the degree of brevity judged to be commensurate with their importance and to intelligent understanding; the reporter believing that, without being verbose, the abstracts should be sufficiently full to preclude the necessity of reference to the original, except for special investigations. It has likewise been his aim to improve the report in the more careful. selection of the subjects to be abstracted; that is to say, to select only such subjects as are of immediate interest to pharmacy, and to avoid repetitions, either of subjects that have been previously noted in these reports to the Association, or that have been long recognized as established facts. But this is more easily aimed at than accomplished; for the literature to select from is so widespread and voluminous, and the tendency to reproduce articles-in abstract or in full-is so great, that one has to be continually on the alert to avoid repetition. Moreover, editors, in many instances, fail to give the original source of the article abstracted or reproduced (though they may give the immediate source), and as a consequence it is by no means unfrequent that a paper, starting in one section of the world, may make the round of all the journals, becoming reduced in volume by successive abstractions, and finally return, perhaps after years,. possibly also more or less changed, to its original source as something quite new. Under these circumstances it cannot be surprising if the report now and then contains repetitions, notwithstanding the care

exercised; though the circumstance that the work has been intrusted to the present reporter for so many successive years, in a great measure prevents their more frequent occurrence. And while on the subject of selection of matter suitable for the report, it may be well to draw attention to a class of subjects which the reporter considers his duty to ignore emphatically. This class embraces those medicaments that bear the impress of proprietary character, whether their composition be known, or made known, or not; excepting, of course, such preparations, the formulas for which are made known, in good faith, for the eventual use of pharmacists. Obviously these medicaments should find no place in a report that is devoted to pharmaceutic progress, for they are, with few exceptions, rather indicative of pharmaceutic (or perhaps better, therapeutic) degeneration. The same rigorous rule cannot be applied to the current pharmaceutical literature; though even here it would be well if greater circumspection were exercised. For it is surprising how liberally this subject is handled in some of the journals. Formulas are given,-generally copied from medical journals, however,-in which the specialties of the favored manufacturer find a prominent place, notwithstanding the fact that nothing is known of their composition except the assurance or advertisement of the manufacturer, that they represent certain medicinal agents in a particularly felicitous combination. And this kind of rubbish is by no means confined to the American journals, though American manufacturers are in a large degree responsible for the material.

Another class of literary productions that requires rather close scrutiny, embraces those papers in which the intention is evident to land the otherwise legitimate preparations of certain houses. Papers of this nature, though comparatively rare on this side of the Atlantic, are not at all of unfrequent occurrence in the German journals; and these are less easily avoided, because their real purpose is generally covered by a mass of scientific discussion that is calculated to mislead. It may, therefore, occur that an article which has no business in this report may find its way into it, while, on the other hand, a misconception of the purpose may now and then exclude one that would deserve notice.

In conformity with the opinion expressed in last year's report, the reporter has again omitted a series of the principal subjects abstracted for this. The arrangement of the report is so simple that such a review-being mainly a repetition of what is contained further onappears to him to be superfluous. Possibly the arrangement of the report might be still further simplified, so as to bring allied subjects more closely together, and if on mature consideration a change in this direction will be found feasible and desirable, it will be made.

PHARMACY.

A. APPARATUS AND MANIPULATIONS.

Weights, Measures, Specific Gravity, etc.

Improved Balance.-Westphal has constructed the new balance, illustrated by the accompanying cut (Fig. 1.), with a view to facilitate its being put into correct position on any kind of table, and to insure accuracy and certainty in weighing. It has, therefore, the sensitiveness of an analytical balance, permitting fractions of milligrams to be read off, so far as this can be done in the open air, and may be loaded up to 250 grams (8 troy 3), indicating differences from 1 to

FIG. 1.

milli

grams, according as it is covered by a case, or not. The balance, which consists of the pillar, scale-bearer, beam, scale-pans, and suspending arrangement, is illustrated in the accompanying cut.

I is a front view; II a sectional view through the central axis, as seen from the right side; III a lateral view of the suspended scalepan; IV a section of the beam in the direction of the line a ẞ.

The scale rests upon three arms, one of which carries a set-screw, while the other two may be turned in any direction, and, when it is

desired to pack the scale away, may be brought around so as to lie close to the arm a.

The hollow pillar e is firmly screwed into the socket A, and within it is placed a rod f, carrying the beam, etc., which may be raised or lowered as may be required, and may be held in any position by a screw (g, II). The rod f carries at its upper end the cylindrical piece B, upon which is fastened the hard plate h. Upon this latter rest, and may freely turn, both the beam itself, by its knife-edge i, and the scale-bearer D, by its knife-edge h. The guard-plates m m and no, prevent a displacement of the knife-edges forward or backwards.

The scale-bearer D being thus free to turn upon the same level as the beam, it follows that, in a state of perfect equilibrium, the index will point to the exact centre of the scale, even though the balance should not stand upon a perfectly level place. As soon as the different parts have once been put together, and the balance is put upon the place where it is intended to be used, the scale-bearer will vibrate to and fro until it has come to rest, which is hastened by the gentle friction of a camel's hair pencil. The turning of the beam, caused by actual weighing, has no further influence upon the scale-bearer.- New Rem., October, 1880, p. 297.

Short-armed Analytical Balance-Simplification of Mendelejeff's Construction.-Bunge has simplified the construction of the short-armed analytical balances, originally recommended by Professor Mendelejeff

(see Proceedings, 1876, p. 50), which is illustrated by Fig. 2. The beam is composed of different pieces of light metal, whereby a smaller amount of expansion is secured. The short beam and long index facilitate rapid weighing, and greater sensibility when fully loaded.

The stops are of the usual modern construction, being so arranged that the knife-edges are lifted off their agate beds at one motion, while the arrest of their scale-pans is removed by another. The metallic parts are protected from oxidation by suitable coatings, the beam and arm being usually gilt or silvered, while the scale-pans are platinized. The mahogany case, with marble bottom, rests on three set-screws, and the weights and load are introduced from the sides, an arrangement which prevents the access of heat and moisture from the breath of the operator. The balances are manufactured by August Müller, of Berlin, in three sizes (for loads of 200, 500, and 100 grams), and turn, when fully loaded, with th milligram. If desired, attachments for taking specific gravity are furnished with the balances.— New Rem., September, 1880, p. 271, from Pharm. Ztg., No. 55, 1880.

Analytical and Experimental Balance.-Mr. Albert Ruprecht, of Vienna, manufactures a new balance which is specially constructed for illustrating lectures, where it is important that the swinging or deviation of the index of the balance should be seen at a considerable distance.

The balance differs in certain respects from those previously in use. When it is to be used for analytical purposes, and not for lectures, the balance may be set directly upon a table, and in place of the long glass cylinders BB, ordinary scale pans are used. The index b in this. case ends at the point, near a, and does not carry the prolongation