The delegates to represent the college at the next meeting of the American Pharmaceutical Association are, N. Hynson Jennings, Wm. Silver Thompson, Joseph Roberts, E. Walton Russel, and Louis Dohme. Alternates, Henry A. Elliott, J. Newport Potts, J. Faris Moore, Chas. F. Adams, and Edwin Eareckson. The delegates to the conference of teaching colleges of pharmacy are, Prof. J. Faris Moore, J. Brown Baxley, and Louis Dohme. To From present indications it is expected that a full delegation will attend the Boston meeting. A committee from the college, consisting of Messrs. Wm. Silver Thompson and N. Hynson Jennings, has in charge the getting up of an excursion party, to go by steam from this port. those who love the ocean waves and refreshing breezes, the trip will be delightfully pleasant. The steamers of this line are commodious, of swift speed, and afford excellent accommodations. The reduced rate for a party of twenty and more (including state rooms and meals) are, to Boston, $12.50; round trip, $20.00. REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. Sur les Differentes Modes d'Administrer le Phosphore in Nature. Par le Docteur C. Mehu, Pharmacien de l'hospital Necker. Des Liquides de l'Hydrocele de la Tunique Vagtnale, et de l'Hydrocele Enkystee de l'epidyme. Par le Docteur Mehu, Pharmacien de l'hospital Necker. On the first of these essays, reprinted from the Bulletin de Therapeutique Medicale et Chirurgicale, Dr Mehu reviews the various methods which have, from time to time, been proposed for the administration of free phosphorus. He comments upon its combination in solid form, with resin, wax, balsam of tolu, spermaceti, etc., showing the unsatisfactory nature of such preparations; the ethereal solution, the solution in alcohol, or a mixture of alcohol and glycerin, he finds are preferable, but he clearly shows the superiority of the phosphureted oil, as originally proposed by himself;* Dr. Mehu insists upon the importance of the preliminary heating and filtration of the almond oil. It has been objected that the phosphorus in this preparation is gradually oxidized, as shown by its phosphorescence; this may be obviated according to its author, by the addition of a drop or two of ether, to a bottle of the phosphureted oil. In the second memoir mentioned above, Dr. Mehu extends his observations on the serosities of the body, normal and pathological, studying with praisworthy care the chemistry of the serum from hydrocele of the tunica vaginalis, and that from the encysted hydrocele of the epididymis. He carefully distinguishes these fluids, establishing points of difference between them, in a manner which must prove of interest to the pathologist, and of service to the surgeon. The essay is extracted from the Archives Generales de Medecine. *Pharmacist, Vol. VII., page, 222. The following interesting account of the conditions under which pharmacy is practised in Russia, has been contributed to the Journal de Pharmacie et de Chimie, by Dr. C. Mehu, who attended the Conference at St. Petersburg last year, as a delegate from the Paris Society of Phar macy. The larger proportion of Russian pharmacists are of German origin; all their names are either German or Polish. It has been only during the last few years that the Emperor Alexander has permitted a true Russian to become a pharmacist. The Emperor Peter the Great reserved to Germans the pharmacies in his dominions. The pharmacist who conducts an ordinary pharmacy takes the name of "free pharmacist" (freier Apotheker); others bear the name of "crown pharmacist," (Krone Apotheker). The so-called "crown pharmacies are those of the civil and military hospitals and benevolent institutions. Of these, there exist twenty-five in St. Petersburg, two or three among them supplying the public with medicaments. There are also in Russia some pharmacies called "Filial-Apotheke," or branch establishments. In the district of St. Petersburg, there are two such to fifty pharmacies. As their names indicate, they are dependent upon another pharmacy, and are established in places where an independent pharmacy could not be founded. The branch establishment is within a distance not exceeding fifteen "versts" (a Russian measure of three thousand five hundred and one feet.-ED. PH.) from the mother pharmacy, and it is worked at times when there is a temporary augmentation of the population of the district, as during a fair, or during the winter when the roads are rendered impracticable by the snow, or during the fine season for a group of country houses. The branch establishment belongs to the nearest pharmacist; sometimes to several pharmacists residing within a radius. of less than fifteen versts. It contains all the medicines of an ordinary pharmacy, but it is not necessary that it should contain a laboratory, a store of drugs, and other additions required by the regulations for a complete pharmacy. It is conducted by a graduate in pharmacy, under the superintendence and responsibility of the proprietor of the normal pharmacy upon which it depends. In the branch establishment, all the prescriptions are registered, as in other pharmacies. The law compels the pharmacist to enter all the prescriptions he executes, and to pass a special examination in the deciphering of handwriting and the legal prices of medicines. The annual number of prescriptions in a town is one of the elements which determine the Government in opening or closing a pharmacy. For this purpose, a calculation is made of the average number of prescriptions made up in all the pharmacies of the locality, during the three years last past, the renewal of a prescription being reckoned as a new prescription. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, there is a pharmacy to 12,000 inhabitants, and an average of 30,000 prescriptions. In the principal seats of the Government, there is one pharmacy to 10,000 inhabitants, and 15,000 prescriptions. In the chief places of a district, there is a pharmacy for 7,000 inhabitants and 6,000 prescriptions. Finally, in sea-ports there is one pharmacy to 7,000 inhabitants and 12,000 prescriptions. The military are not reckoned in the numbering of the inhabitants. In the large cities, pharmacies sell for a sum equal to from three to three and a half times their annual receipts. In the small towns, the price falls to one or one and a half times their annual receipts. When the opening of a new pharmacy is authorized, it is established in the quarter where the augmentation in the number of inhabitants has become most manifest. If no pharmacy exists in a circuit of 15 versts (= about ten miles), although the number of neither the inhabitants nor prescriptions in the locality comes up to the regulation standard, the medical council is authorized to open a pharmacy. The pharmacies in the large cities are inspected several times each year, and those of the small towns at least once a year, by Government medical officials. More than once, during recent years, grave complaints have been made respecting the manner in which these commissioners do their work, and of their inexperience in pharmaceutical matters. In the case of great negligence, or bad pharmaceutical preparations, the Government can withdraw from the holder of a pharmacy the privilege accorded to him, but not until after he has been fined several times. The withdrawal of the privilege is ordered by the medical department of the minister of the interior, on the recommendation of the medical authority of the Government in which the pharmacist resides. The granting of the privilege, and the penalties for the contravention of the regulations, are all the subject of particular rules. After satisfying these numerous shackles upon his liberty, it would appear reasonable to expect that the pharmacist would be assured of a comfortable living. This is, unfortunately, not the case, especially in the smaller towns; because every town and village can have a pharmacy which must supply medicines at cost price in the cause of humanity. This pharmacy is placed under the direction of a medical man, who draws from it all the profit possible, to the great detriment of the pharmacist of the town, who, in consequence of the unfair competition, is often compelled to close his pharmacy, whilst his hypocritical competitor, free from the expense of rent and first establishment, takes his ease without running any risk. The limitation of the number of pharmacies, moreover, has only been instituted for the profit of the State. The compulsory legal tariff places the pharmacist at the mercy of commissions in which medical men constitute the majority. On the other hand, the illegitimate competition of the medical men at the benevolent institutions, contributes to place the Russian pharmacist in a position little to be envied. Education.-There is no special school of pharmacy in Russia. There are professors of pharmacy in the universities of Moscow, Kiew, Kasan, Charkow, Dorpat, and Varsovie. At St. Petersburg, the teaching of pharmacy is entrusted to the Medico-Chirurgical Academy, established at the ministry of war. The pharmacist can acquire all his grades in the educational centers. Each of these establishments has a plan of study which is vigorously observed. With the courses of theoretical and practical pharmacy, the student attends also the university courses, particularly those in chemistry, physics, mineralogy, botany, zoology, during three or four semestres. The pharmaceutical student passes through three successive grades : "assistant," (Gehulfe), "dispenser," (Provisor), and "master," (Magister.) First Grade.-Before being admitted to pass the examination for assistant, the apprentice (Lehrling) must present (1), a certificate that he has entered as apprentice either in a free or a crown pharmacy, and (2), a certificate attesting that he has passed at least three years in a free or a crown pharmacy. The certificate also states the zeal and behavior of the candidate during that time, as well as his progress in the art of pharmacy, and it must be signed by the master, and also the magistrate in whose jurisdiction the master resides. A pharmacist is interdicted from receiving as an apprentice a pupil who does not possess a certificate from a director of a gymnasium or similar instititution, to the effect that the young man is suited to enter a pharmacy as an apprentice, and possesses a competent knowledge of the subjects taught in the three lower classes of a gymnasium. The period of three years may be reduced to two years in the case of young men who have completed their courses at a gymnasium before entering a pharmacy. The examination for the degree of "assistant includes- (2) Translation of a passage from the national or some other pharmacopoeia, written in Latin. (3) The reading of a medical prescription. The candidate has also to indicate the order in which he would make it up, fix the price according to the legal tariff, and to give practical proof of his dexterity as a dispenser, and his ability to overcome any difficulties the prescription may present. (4) The recognition of the most usual pharmaceutical substances (simple drugs and commercial products) and the indication of their principal characteristics. (5) The recognition and description of the more common medical and poisonous plants, especially those that grow in the wild state in Russia. (6) The method of preparing, the properties, and the constituent elements of two frequently used compound medicines, and of two chemical preparations. (7) Knowledge of the various names of medicines. (8) Knowledge of the usual doses of powerful medicines. (9) The preparation by the candidate, in the laboratory of the university or academy, under the supervision of the professor of pharmacy, of two common products specified by the examiners, one of them to be a pharmaceutical compound, the other a chemical product. The candidate has also to describe the processes of preparation he adopts. Second Grade.-The candidate for the grade of "dispenser," (Provisor) must possess a thorough practical and theoretical knowledge of the subjects pertaining to pharmacy. Upon presenting himself for examination, he must produce a certificate that he has served three years in a crown or private pharmacy, and that he has attended, in a school of medicine or university, complete courses in the sciences which are the subject of examination (usually four semestres.) The assistant enters the school of medicine, or university, without undergoing an examination, upon the simple presentation of his diploma as assistant. He also brings a certificate he received upon leaving the pharmacy in which he completed his first stage, and this certificate reports upon his conduct and industry. These certificates are regulated by the superior medical authority. The examination is public, and is held in the large room of the University; it is oral and practical. The subjects for examination are as follows: Mineralogy-Terminology and history of the minerals used in phar macy. Botany.-Terminology; principal systems of classification; the recognition and description of at least two fresh or dried plants. Zoology. The principal systems of the classification of animals; description of one or two animals, parts of which are used in medicine. Physics. In its relation with chemistry and pharmacy. Chemistry.-Principally from a pharmaceutical point of view, and in respect to chemico-legal researches. Pharmacology.-Doses and pharmaceutical forms of medicines. Also a knowledge of the temporary assistance to be rendered to the sick and wounded in urgent cases. The candidate has besides (1) to recognize and describe, by their external characters, two pharmaceutical drugs and two chemical products,. and to make quantitative and qualitative analyses of the latter; (2) to conduct a chemico-legal research under the supervision of the examiner, and to give a written report; (3) to prepare two pharmaceutical chemicals in a school of medicine, under the supervision of the professor of pharmacy; and (4) to show generally that he possesses the knowledge necessary to fit him to undertake the responsibility of a pharmacy. Third grade.-The title of "master," (Magister) is the highest that can be obtained by a pharmacist. Before being admitted to the examination for this degree, the candidate must have served at least one year as a "dispenser." The examination is mainly in the same subjects as that for "dispensers," but the candidate must exhibit a more extensive knowledge of chemistry and pharmacy than is required from a "dispenser." He has (1) to make two analyses, or chemico-legal researches, and to |