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Imrnmccutiral Jourmtl

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THIRD SERIES.

VOLUME IX.

1878-79.

LONDON:

J. & A. CHURCHILL, NEW BURLINGTON STREET;

Edinburgh, MACLACHLAN & STEWART; Dublin, FANNIN & Co.;

Leipzig, TWIETMEYEE.

1879.

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PRINTED BY STEVENS AND RICHARDSON,

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5, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS, LONDON, W.C.

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VOX. I X. — J U L Y % 18 78.

THE PARIS EXHIBITION.

Since 1851, when the doors of Paxton’s fairy palace in Hyde Park were thrown open to cosmo¬ politan myriads, International Exhibitions have been held with sufficient frequency to deprive them of at least the charm of novelty. Nevertheless several of the successors of Great Britain’s first “World’s Fair” have proved to be no mean rivals, if indeed it must not be confessed that in some respects they have completely overshadowed it. Among them, the Exposition Universelle, which Republican Franee has called into existence on the Champ de Mars, where not long since Imperial troops were manoeu¬ vred, has, in spite of many shortcomings, already taken high rank. Never before, perhaps, has there been gathered together a more marvellous collection of the gifts of nature, and of the products of the skill of artists, scientists, and manufacturers, now working separately, or now uniting their efforts to the perfection of one object, and the man must be singularly constituted who could walk through the miles of courts now open to the inspection of the sightseer and the student without finding much to interest and instruct him.

Although there will be many temptations to di¬ gression, any report on this exhibition appearing in these columns must necessarily be restricted to matters in some degree connected with pharmacy or the sciences and industries with which it is most closely allied. Even when limited by these bounds the subjects to be noticed are so multitudinous that the necessities of space and time will require the exercise of brevity and method in their description. Still it is not intended to make these papers mere catalogues of exhibitors’ names; the principal object will be to place before the readers such points in connection with the exhibits and their history as appear to be most useful as well as novel and in¬ teresting.

It will not be out of place, however, to remark here that the small amount of assistance afforded towards properly performing such a task by the conditions under which exhibits are usually pre¬ sented to the visitor has been on the present occasion diminished by the general unreadiness that has hitherto been such an unsatisfactory characteristic of the Paris Exposition of 1878. The bald manner in which both crude and manufactured articles are often set out in cases or bottles, secure from examination by finger, tongue or nose, and very often without a word of explanation as to their source or to peculiarities in the method of their produc¬ tion, always renders a good descriptive catalogue a welcome guide as well as an indispensable help Third Series, No. 419.

in examining them. But when four or five weeks had elapsed since the official opening of the build¬ ing in the Champ de Mars many of the cases even of the French exhibitors were still unoccupied, whole sections were not yet numbered or labelled, some were still in the hands of the carpenters, while of the Official Catalogue, only four volumes out of eight had appeared. As to a Descriptive Catalogue, although it had been talked about, and though Austria, Algeria, and Victoria promptly contributed their portions, its completion, whilst the exhibition exists to be examined with its aid, appears problematical. The question naturally arises whether exhibitors might not remedy such a defect and at the same time greatly increase the interest of the public in their exhibits by largely amplifying the descriptions accompanying them, and it is only fair to say that the question is decided in the affirmative by a few notable exceptions to the general rule. In the following papers some of these exceptions will be mentioned, and the information afforded will be made use of. This will further be supplemented by information that lias been furnished by many exhibitors at home and abroad in reply to a special application, and to these gentlemen the reporters desire especially to express their thanks for the courtesy thus shown.

As the order in which it will be necessary to deal with the several subjects comprised in the following report will give but little clue to the general arrange¬ ments and classification adopted in the exhibition, it will be as well to preface it by a few details descrip¬ tive of the building and in explanation of the system of classification.

The best bird’s-eye view of the exhibition is obtained immediately after passing through the Tro- cadero Palace entrance. This building stands on the high ground bearing the name and situated near the banks of the Seine at the western end of Paris. Between it and the river, which must be crossed over the Pont de Jena to reach the main buildings, are scattered several outlying structures. On the left are to be seen the white walls of the Algerian building, and by the side of it another building specially devoted to the ex¬ hibits of the Administration des Forets, both of which contain much that is interesting. On the right hand is a group of smaller but not less pretentious structures, where a visitor — if rich in faith — may fancy he is purchasing in oriental bazaars articles that have been manufactured in Tunis, Morocco, Persia, or some other eastern country. Beyond the Seine the eye falls upon the principal facade of the great Champ de Mars building, bearing a dome at each extremity and one in the centre. This building may be de¬ scribed briefly as an enormous parallelogram, the

2

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

[July G, 1878.

sides of which are formed of two series of long iron and glass arcades such as have now1 become asso¬ ciated in the public mind with exhibitions and might, though perhaps somewhat irreverently, be compared with the better class of goods sheds of factories or railway stations ; these are connected at each end by a shorter arcade running transversely. The series of arcades on the right hand is devoted to exhibits from foreign countries ; that on the left hand is occupied entirely by French exhibitors, the French colonies being represented at the further end. Starting from under the middle dome is a third arcade devoted to the fine arts, but interrupted so as to form a central space in which stands a tasteful edifice containing models of the public buildings and engi¬ neering works, as well as the art and other treasures of the “ Yille de Paris.” In the open space on one side of this central arcade is built the picturesque “ street of nations,” which is intended to illustrate the domestic architecture characteristic of various countries.

The classification adopted is the division of the whole of the exhibits into nine groups, and these are again subdivided into ninety classes. Group I., “Works of Art,” however interesting, cannot be descanted upon here. In Group II., “ Education and Instruction: Apparatus and Processes of the Liberal Arts,” are to be found apparatus used in teaching chemistry and illustrations of the diagrams, apparatus, and specimens used in the French medical and pharmaceutical schools. This will be perhaps the best opportunity of mentioning that in France there are four medical faculties, — at Paris, Nancy, Lille, and Lyons, — each of which has its chair of medical chemistry and pharmacy. Of pharmaceu¬ tical schools of the first rank, under the control of the state, there are three: one at Paris, endowed wntli nine professional chairs ; and two others at Mont¬ pelier and Nancy, each having five chairs. Medical and pharmaceutical teaching is also carried on in “ ecoles de plein service ” and “ ecoles preparatoires” of which secondary establishments there are twenty. These have, however, only authority to confer the grades of “ officer of health ” and “ pharmacien of the second class,” vThich only enables a pharmacien to carry on business in one department, to be selected at the time of examination, whilst the pharmacien of the first class can exercise his profession in any part of the country. During the year 1877 the three superior schools received 97 pharmaciens of the first class and 352 of the second. In Class 9 of this group, “ Printing and Books,” a well known pharma¬ ceutical chemist, Mr. H. C. Baildon, of Edinburgh, appears as the inventor of a method of printing ferns by taking impressions on transfer paper direct from the froncl and transferring them to stone for lithographic printing. _ It is also in Class 14 of this group, entitled “ Medicine, Hygiene and Public As¬ sistance,” that search must be made for surgical instruments, whilst the next class, “ Instruments of Precision,” includes chemical and physical apparatus. The title of the third group is “ Furniture and Ac¬ cessories,” which through the connecting link of mirrors and stained glass is made to include the exhibits of the bottle manufacturers ; it is also stretched to cover the class of Perfumery, of which it is still less suggestive. Group IV., “ Textile Fabrics, Clothing and Accessories,” may be passed over as containing nothing specially interesting to pharma¬ cists ; but with respect to Group V., “ Mining In¬

dustries ; Raw and Manufactured Products,” the case is different. Here are met with illustrations of the mineral and metal industries ; products of the culti¬ vation of forests, such as cork, charcoal, barks for tanning, resins, turpentines, etc. ; products of the chase and fishery, which include sponges but not fish oils ; a class described as “ n on-alimentary agri¬ cultural products,” among which may be found in the French court some admirable exhibits of the Association of Herborists, and also, curiously enough, olive oil, honey and hops, though this classification of the last article doubtless accords with a wide¬ spread opinion ; and lastly, the most important class of “Chemical and Pharmaceutical Products.” In Group VI., “ Apparatus and Processes used in the Mechanical Manufactures,” there is a class for “ Apparatus used in Chemistry, Pharmacy and Tanning,” which, however, rather belies the promise of its name. Group YII,, “Alimentary Pro¬ ducts,” includes a large number of interesting sub¬ stances, such as starch, gluten, albumen, condiments, sugar, and fermented drinks. Groups YIII. and IX. relate to “Agriculture and Pisciculture” and to “ Horticulture ” respectively.

It will thus be seen that the exhibits to which reference will have to be made are distributed freely through the various groups and classes, and that sometimes substances that would appear nearly allied, in dealing with them for the purposes of this article, are widely separated in the classification adopted in the exhibition. Of course in the smaller courts this is not much noticed and it is practically impossible to invent a scheme that shall provide for every con¬ tingency. The official one appears on the whole to be admirable, but it has its ludicrous points of in¬ congruity ; for instance, feeding bottles are to be found in Group II., as illustrative of “apparatus and processes of the liberal arts,” whilst the only Algerian exhibits in the class of “chemical, pharmaceutical and tanning apparatus ” are two washing machines.

As before mentioned the greatest amount of interest to the readers of this Journal will be found in Class 47, Group Y., “ Chemical and Pharma¬ ceutical Products,” and to it therefore a few lines may be devoted in this preliminary sketch. The catalogue of French exhibitors in this class contains about 450 names, but the connection of a large pro¬ portion of them with pharmacy is rather remote. Nevertheless, though soaps, candles, varnishes, glues, pigments, india-rubber and gutta percha goods, inks, machine oils, harness polish and blacking might be expected to give the department the appearance of a medley, still there are probably at least one hundred exhibits by pharmacists, and the strictly chemical and pharmaceutical elements are sufficiently predominant by their number and excellence to pre¬ serve its titular character. Next to France in point of numbers comes Spain, with 126 exhibitors, followed by Great Britain and Ireland and 4ustria, each with 90, Russia with 51, Algeria with 45, the United States with 43, and Norway with 28, etc. These figures are quoted simply as indicating the relative numbers of the exhibits from different countries in this the specially chemical and pharmaceutical section, but they must not be presumed to represent their relative importance in respect to those subjects.

The arrangement of the exhibits in the French department differs very much from that in the other departments. The native exhibitors appear to have been under somewhat strict control as to the style

July 6, 1878.]

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

3

and size of the cases, whilst on the other hand the foreign exhibitors appear to have been allowed to carry out their own ideas, without much other limitation than might be suggested by monetary considerations. The result has been on the whole of advantage to the latter, who have produced many reallv handsome cases, some of the best of which are to be seen in the British court. This liberty has, however, been purchased at the cost of considerable disproportion and want of uniformity ; for instance, the structure of Messrs. Tilden, of New York, who in one sense may be credited with the greatest pharmaceutical show in the whole building, would probably still admit in addition the goods from any half a dozen pharmaceutical cases in the French section.

The French cases are as a rule uniform in size ; they are constructed in blocks, which are divided into sections generally about two feet wide and eight feet high, two feet out of this, at the base, consisting of a closed cupboard. The cases are painted black and the divisions between the glazed portions are faced by slender black columns enriched by ornaments in gilded copper. The glass is set in frames of lacquered iron, ornamented at the angles. The uppermost moulding is surmounted by sculptured flowers. Many of the cases are subdivided at half their height, and thus made to serve for two exhibitors, the names of whom are painted above and below in gold letters. Under these conditions the end cases of the blocks fixed against the walls and those that form the angles of the blocks in the centre of the room have considerable advantage over the others, of which the well known taste and skill of the Frenchman have made the most.

Having thus described briefly some of the features of that portion of the exhibition in the French capital which is to be the topic of succeeding papers, it is necessary in this preliminary sketch to indi¬ cate the order in which it is proposed to deal with the subjects. Speaking generally the plan will be to begin first with the crude materials and then pass on to the products obtained from them by various processes of manufacture. The arrangement followed will be as nearly as possible the following : —

A. Pharmaceutical and4 Medical Materials and Preparations.

(1) Crude Materials used or applicable in Medicine

and Pharmacy.

(2) Preparations.

(a) Galenical Preparations : Extracts, Pills,

etc.

(b) Chemical Preparations : Salts, Alkaloids,

etc.

(c) Miscellaneous and Proprietary Prepara¬

tions.

{d) Perfumery.

B. Chemical Manufactures.

(1) Crude Materials used or applicable in the

Arts.

(2) Manufactured products.

(a) Acids.

(b) Alkalies and salts.

(c) Soap.

(d) Candles.

(e) Glue, Gelatine, etc.

(/) Iodine, bromine, sulphur, phosph rU3, etc., and articles in the making of which these products are used.

C. Alimentary Materials and Preparations.

(1) Cereals and Products obtained from them:

Starch, Gluten, Glucose, etc.

(2) Saccharine Materials and Products : Sugar,

Alcohol, Fermented Drinks, etc.

(3) Oleaginous Materials : Vegetable and Fish

Oils.

(4) Preserved Meat, Vegetables, etc.

This arrangement will also incidentally establish a division between the new and old groups of coun¬ tries, if such a phrase be allowable. Nothing is more remarkable in the Exhibition than the great wealth of raw material brought forward by the British, French and other colonies, while on the other hand the old countries show evidence of great pro- ess in the manufactures.

In addition to the difficulty, already referred to, of making anything like a thorough examination of the various objects exhibited, there is another, and perhaps a more serious difficulty, in comparing the exhibits themselves so as to arrive at a just estimate of the relative excellence of the particular manufac¬ turers by whom they are exhibited. In some instances the exhibits comprise remarkably fine specimens of various articles, noticeable not only for the quantity in which they are shown but also for their good condition. This is very marked in some of the exhibits of chemical products, though there is not, at the same time, any recognizable criterion by which to estimate the extent that these fine exhibits may be regarded as representing the position of the respective manufacturers. Instances are also to be met with in which elaborate ornamen¬ tation of the exhibitor’s case, the elegant form and disposal of the bottles containing the articles shown, and the application of mirrors and other devices of decoration are not always in accord with the intrinsic merit of the exhibits, or with the industrial status of the exhibitor. On the other hand, some of the ex¬ hibits whose importance and interest are in every respect considerable, are set out in a manner so un¬ pretending as to appear almost mean and insignificant, unless one’s judgment is aided by a special knowledge which the majority of visitors to an exhibition of this kind cannot be expected to possess.

This difficulty, however, is one almost unavoidable, and though it is perhaps one of the most valid rea¬ sons that have been urged for questioning the utility of exhibitions as a means of illustrating the state of industry in different countries, careful consideration of the accessory data that should be furnished by a good descriptive catalogue would do much to prevent the formation of erroneous impressions. It has been deemed desirable to refer to these points, because in some instances it will be necessary to mention certain exhibits on account of their special excellence as such.

Another point which characterizes the Exposition Universelle Internationale is the greater extent to which the commercial element has been developed in some of its departments as compared with most of its predecessors. It is no disparagement to say that in this respect it partakes very much of the nature of a vast bazaar. Extension of trade is un¬ mistakably the main object of many of the exhibitors, even if it be not the only one. Not unfrequently prices of articles are to be seen marked up, and in some cases articles of furniture and ornament that have attracted special attention have conspicuous labels, attached stating that orders are received for

4

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

[July 6, 1878.

duplicates, while in tlie Chinese and Japanese sec¬ tions numerous assistants are actively engaged in tempting customers. Considering the heavy expense incurred by some of the exhibitors, however, it can scarcely be matter for surprise that they should thus turn to account the chance of effecting a sale of their goods which is after all the main object they have in producing them.

ASPIDIUM MARGINALE, SWARTZ,*

BY CHARLES H. CRESSLER, PH.G.

In September, 1874, Dr. J. L. Suesserott, of Cham- bersburg, requested me to prepare for him an emulsion of oleoresin of male fern, which he administered with the result of the expulsion of but a small portion of tenia. The oleoresin furnished the doctor was bought from a wholesale druggist of good repute, and had the appear¬ ance of a pure article, but his failing to get a satisfactory result caused me to think that if our indigenous fern had any comparative virtues we could furnish a reliable pre¬ paration, which would be one advantage ; and even if it were not so active as the European plant, that this might be more than counterbalanced by having the control of its preparation. I at once collected what I had thought to be Filix mas , selected the greenish coloured remains of the leaf stalks, with an adhering portion of the rhizome, dried them by means of a gentle artificial heat, and made an oleoresin according to the British formula. Dr. Suesserott administered the same quantity of this oleo¬ resin that he had of the other to the same patient, the result of which was the expulsion of nine feet of taenia, including the head.

Believing this result sufficient for further trial, I gathered in October of the same year, 1874, more of the fern and made four ounces of the oleoresin. I did not dispense this on prescriptions, however, but in August, 1876, a friend of mine stated to me that he was passing sections of tape-worm. My anxiety to test still further the virtues of our indigenous fern led me to violate my usual custom of not prescribing. Two drachms of the oleoresin were put into nine gelatine capsules, of which three were taken at 10 p.m., and two at 12 p.m. Unpleasant eruc¬ tations followed, so that no more of the preparation could be taken. A bottle of citrate of magnesium was taken at 6 a.m. next morning, and, after an hour and a half, the subject passed over twenty-four feet of tenia, taper¬ ing down apparently close to the head, which, however, was not found. In the latter part of October, about two months after the expulsion of the twenty-four feet, the same person began to void fully developed sections of tenia. Two drachms more of the oleoresin were put into nine gelatine capsules. The subject, after fasting from 12 m., took three of these at 10 p.m., and one more at 12 p.m., and followed them in six hours with emulsion of castor oil, and in two and a-half hours he discharged eight feet of the worm, tapering down apparently to the head, which, however, was not found in this instance either. To this date careful observation has failed to discover any further evidence of the presence of the parasite.

The fern used is an evergreen, and, according to Woods ‘Botany,’ seems to be the Aspidium marginale described by James Lemon Patterson in vol. 47, p. 292, American Journal of Pharmacy, 1875. It grows along the banks of the Conococheague cx*eek and other streams that wind through the fertile region of the Cumberland valley, but only on the rocky ledges that face northward. I never found it on those facing directly southward, and never on the mountain ranges that border our valley

Read before the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. From the American Journal of Pharmacy for June.

except a few stocks at springs along the foot of the mountain.

An interesting fact in support of this statement was noticed this morning on a visit to the yard of Dr. Sues¬ serott. In a shaded portion of the ground on an elevated bed, having an evergreen honeysuckle as its principal occupant, a circular and marginal belt of these ferns had been planted in October, 1874. At this date they are still flourishing luxuriantly on only about two-fifths of the circle facing northwards, while none whatever remain on the three-fifths of the circle facing southward, not¬ withstanding the fact that the north, east and south sides of this mound are surrounded at about equal dis¬ tances with buildings of similar height.

The following note by Professor Maisch is appended to this paper : —

“Mr. Cressler has very kindly accompanied the pre¬ ceding communication with various specimens comprising the tape-worm expelled in August and October, 1876 ; specimens of the rhizome and stipes as used by him in preparing the oleoresin, and living plants and herbarium specimens of the same. As indicated by Mr. Cressler, the plant is Aspidium marginale , Sw., Which, according to Gray, is very common on the northern section of this continent, is of frequent occurrence in the rocky wood¬ lands of Pennsylvania, and is met with farther south to the mountains of North Carolina (Chapman’s ‘Flora of the Southern United States ’). Our native species of Aspidium , as arranged in Gray’s ‘ Manual,’ belong to two sub-genera, viz., Polystickum , which has the indusium or shield-like covering of the sori (fruit patches) orbicular, entire and attached by the depressed centre, while in the sub-genus Dryopteris , the indusium is more or less kidney¬ shaped and notched at one side. The latter comprises the larger number (8) of species, which include both Aspidium marginale and Aspidium Filix-mas. The true male fern occurs in rocky woods of the KeWeenaw penin¬ sula of Lake Superior and westward, and, according to Porter and Coulter’s ‘Flora of Colorado,’ also in the Grand Canon of the Arkansas, and along the foot-hills west of Denver, It agrees with Aspidium marginale in having the stipes or leaf stalks covered at the base with a copious chaff of brown glossy scales, the fronds or leaves twice pinnate with the upper pinnules confluent, and the lower ones more or less pinnatifid-toothed and with some of the veins repeatedly forked. But the two species differ in the frond of Aspidium marginale being evergreen and having the fruit dots close to the margin, while in Aspidium Filix-mas the fruit dots are near the mid- vein and the fronds do not survive the winter. The rhizome of the latter attains a thickness of one inch, and shows upon the cross section about ten larger, besides several smaller, and in the stipes about eight irregular wood bundles, the former being arranged in a loose circle. The rhizome of Aspidium marginale is thinner, about three -eighths of an inch in diameter, and contains a loose circle of about six larger and smaller, and the stipes six very small wood bundles ; otherwise in appearance and sensible properties the subterraneous portions of the two plants resemble each other very closely.

“ Since the constituents of the latter species have been proved by Mr. Patterson to be identical with those of the male fern, and since the efficiency of the American species has been shown through Mr. Cressler to be equal to that of Aspidium Filix-mas , it is to be hoped that the next pharmacopoeia will place the two species on an equality, and authorize the indiscriminate use of the one which may be most convenient to collect. In the mean¬ time, it is suggested that, if occasion offers, pharmacists will submit preparations of Aspidium marginale for the use of physicians, and that the results obtained be duly recorded. In preparing the oleoresin it must not be overlooked that only the green portion of the subter¬ raneous parts should be used, and that all the brown and decayed portions should be rigidly excluded.”

July C, 1878.1

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

5

Ufa lhapaqtttical damp!.

SATURDAY, JULY 6, 1878.

Communications for the Editorial department of this Journal , boohs for review , etc., should be addressed to the Editor, 17, Bloomsbury Square.

Instructions from Members and Associates respecting the transmission of the Journal should be sent to Mr. Elias Bremridge, Secretary, 17, Bloomsbury Square, W.C.

A dvertisements, and payments for Copies of the Journal, Messrs. Churchill, New Burlington Street, London, IV. Envelopes indorsed “ Pharm. Journ .”

THE MEDICAL ACTS AMENDMENT BILLS

According to the orders of the day the second reading of the Government Medical Bill, as well as the adjourned debate on the second reading of the No. 2 Bill brought in by Mr. Mills, and the second reading of Dr. Lush’s Bill will now be brought for¬ ward on Thursday next, the 11th inst. In reference to these Bills several notices of motion have been given; thus Mr. Meldon and Mr. McLaren have given notice that they will move that the Government Bill be read a second time that day three months, or to speak more plainly, either abandoned or postponed to another Session. Mr. Mitchell Henry is to move “ That no measure of medical reform can be satis¬ factory which does not provide for the affiliation of all licensed practitioners to one or other of the Medi¬ cal Corporations either in England, Ireland, or Scot¬ land, and further that provision should also be made for the direct representation of the profession on the Medical Council. Mr. Errington has given notice that after the second reading of the Government Bill he will move that it be referred to a Select Committee, and Dr. Lush will add to this motion that the Committee shall have power to take evi¬ dence. In reference to Dr. Lush’s Bill, which deals chiefly with the penal clauses of the Medical Act, 1858, Mr. James Barclay is to move that it be read a second time that day three months, and Mr. Sergeant Simon has given notice of a similar motion in reference to the No. 2 Bill of Mr. Mills, while Mr. Errington will move that it be referred to a Select Committee.

Certainly the prospect afforded by these notices is not at first sight such as to encourage hopes of a satisfactory termination of the efforts to bring about medical reform ; but there are at the same time indications that consistently with the appre¬ ciation of the merits of compromise, which is said to characterise the proceedings of other negotiating parties, informal discussions have been carried on by those interested, in such a way as to induce con¬ cession on all sides and justify the belief that while the provisions of the Government Bill would not be altogether distasteful to the profession generally they might be accepted without serious cavil by the corporations and universities.

The proposed second reading of the Government

Medical Act Amendment Bill did not take place last Monday week as had been expected, and since that time a considerable change appears to have been effected, so far as regards . the reference of the whole subject of medical reform to a Select Committee of the House of Commons, which seemed at one time to be probable. One great disadvantage of that course, had it been followed, would have been the postponement until another session, at least, of legislation that is admitted to be urgently required, though there are still some differences of opinion as to certain details.

On Thursday evening Lord George Hamilton distinctly stated, in reply to a question put by Mr. Errington, that the Government would decline to entertain the proposal of referring the Bill to a Select Committee, feeling sure that, if time would permit the discussion of its proposals, the assistance of the House might be reckoned upon to help in carrying through reforms so earnestly desired by the great majority of the medical profession. In support of this view his Lordship pointed out that the whole subject of medical education and reform had been very thoroughly discussed by the many and various deputations visiting the Lord President and him¬ self, and that while the objects of all the Bills now before Parliament were really the same, and could be covered by the Government Bill, the main question as to a Conjoint Board presented no difficulties that could not be satisfactorily settled when discussed. The only question not yet ripe for legislation is that affecting the reconstruction of the Medical Council, to which the Bill of Mr. Mills is especially di¬ rected ; but though this matter requires further con¬ sideration, that need not in any way prevent the passing of the Government Bill this session.

One material feature of progress is presented by the official recognition by the Medical Council that its constitution needs revision, and by the declaration that it will at once consider what modifications of constitution are demanded and required, and report to the Government accordingly. Consequently we are not by any means surprised to find it predicted by a medical contemporary that the recent sitting of the General Medical Council will possibly prove to be the commencement of a new era in the history of the organization of the medical profession.

We have already j)ointed out that the effect which the Government Bill would have upon chemists and druggists, if it were passed as it now stands, is scarcely so favourable as would have been the case had the original draft of the Bill remained unaltered. We refer here to the practice of counter prescribing and to the circumstance that the penal section of the Apothecaries Act, originally proposed to be entirely repealed, is now left in operation as against chemists and druggists. It is not surprising to find that the Executive of the Chemists and Druggists’ Trade Association views this amendment with apprehension, or that it should feel the need of taking some

6

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

[July 6, 1878.

action in reference to it. Through the courtesy of the Secretary we are enabled to state that in pursuance of the resolution passed at a meeting of the Law Committee on the 14th ult., a deputation has waited on the Duke of Richmond and Lord George Hamilton who has charge of the Govern¬ ment Medical Act Amendment Bill in the House of Commons, mainly with the object of urging them to repeal the 20th section of the Apothecaries Act, in¬ stead of leaving it as it now stands. Their Lordships, we understand, declined to commit themselves to any alteration of the kind desired, but stated, somewhat ambiguously, that they clearly understood the objects of the deputation, and requested that a memorandum might be forwarded to them, stating the modifications desired, which they promised should receive careful consideration.

This memorandum has been drawn up and copies of it have been circulated to members of Parliament as well as to prominent members of the trade, together with the draft of a petition to be presented to Parlia¬ ment praying for the total repeal of the 20th section of the Apothecaries Act.

We have not this week space to deal with the sub¬ stance of the memorandum of the Trade Association, but we cannot refrain from expressing the opinion that the action that body is now taking, and the agi¬ tation which it is deemed necessary to instigate, are to be regarded as having been rendered necessary only in consequence of the impolitic attempt to defend an acknowledged indefensible case of prosecu¬ tion under that very section of the Apothecaries Act, the repeal of which is now demanded.

We strenuously deprecate any strained interpre¬ tation of the 20th section of the Apothecaries Act to the prejudice of chemists and druggists as regards that kind of “ counter practice ” which may fairly be deemed legitimate and even necessary in some instances, though it may not in the abstract be desirable; but we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that the unwise action of the Trade Association in defending the case recently tried has had a very mischievous effect in unnecessarily drawing attention to those cases in which chemists and druggists do overstep the limits within which “counter practice ” ought to be confined and within which the medical profession generally has no desire to interfere with the practice of chemists and druggists.

We regard the amendment in the Schedule of the Government Medical Bill as being a direct result of the injudicious course pursued by the Executive of the Trade Association, and we regret not only that the possible utility of its career has thus early been marred by this mistake, but also the probability that the efforts of the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society to protect the interests of chemists and druggists may thus have been at the same time rendered more difficult of realisation than they other¬ wise might have been.

©ransitcttons j#f i\t f fcanraptal

MEETING OF THE COUNCIL.

Wednesday , July 3, 1878.

MR. JOHN WILLIAMS, PRESIDENT, IN THE CHAIR.

MR. WILLIAM DAWSON SAVAGE, VICE-PRESIDENT.

Present — Messrs. Atkins, Betty, Bottle, Churchill, Cracknell, Fairlie, Frazer, Gostling, Greenish, Hampson, Hills, Mackay, Rimmington, Robbins, Sandford, Schacht, Shaw and Woolley.

The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed.

A letter was read from M. Petit, of Paris, thanking the Council for electing him an honorary member.

The following being duly registered as Pharmaceutical Chemists were respectively granted a Diploma stamped with the seal of the Society:—

Hall, Richard Arthur.

Hugill, John Howden.

Tharle, Charles Albert.

Elections.

members.

Pharmaceutical Chemists.

Tharle, Charles Albert . London.

Chemists and Druggists.

Dean, Charles Geldard . Chesham.

Wild, Frederick . Hyde.

ASSOCIATES IN BUSINESS.

The following having passed their respective examina¬ tions, being in business on their own account and having tendered their subscriptions for the current year, were elected “Associates in Business” of the Society: —

Carlton, Arthur . Peterborough.

Markham, William Charles . San Francisco.

Matthews, John Henry . London.

Pownall, Thomas . Mold.

Richards, Philip . East Harling.

Richardson, Thos. Plowman ...Alford.

Temple, Frederick Staveley ...Hull.

Thomas, John . Llannon.

ASSOCIATES.

The following having passed their respective examina¬ tions and tendered (or paid as Apprentices or Students) their subscriptions for the current year were elected “Associates” of the Society : —

Minor.

Allen, Henry . .London.

Brown, Thomas . . Hull.

Brown, Thomas Land . Ripon.

Clough, Alfred . N orthwich.

Crowther, William Charles . Tickhill.

Gulliver, George Ekins . Holdenby.

Mason, William Drury . Louth.

Naylor, Thomas Hamilton . Newcastle-on-Tyne.

Place, Thomas . York.

Smailes, Robert . Grantham.

Taylor, John . Bolton.

West, William Painter . Liskeard.

Williams, Robert William . Cheltenham.

Wing, William . Sheffield.

Modified.

Smith, John Charles . Yentnor.

APPRENTICES OR STUDENTS.

The following having passed the Preliminary examina¬ tion and tendered their subscriptions for the current year were elected “ Apprentices or Students ” of the Society : —

Dods, John Henry . Market Deeping.

Elkins, Frank Ashby . Northampton.

Parker, William Henry . . Hitchin.

Paterson, James Smith . Castle Douglas,

July 6, 1878.]

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.'

7

Several persons were restored to their former status in the Society upon payment of the current year’s subscrip¬ tion and a fine.

The Pharmaceutical Conference.

The President said he had received a letter from the Editor, stating the time was approaching when it would be necessary to arrange for reporting the proceedings at the Conference at Dublin, and containing an estimate of the expense.

The letter was referred to the Library, Museum and Laboratory Committee.

Reports of Committees, finance.

The report of this Committee recommending the pay¬ ment of sundry accounts was adopted.

benevolent fund.

The report of this Committee included a recommenda¬ tion of the following grants : —

£20 to a pharmaceutical chemist, connected with the Society as associate or member from 1842 to 1877, and formerly in business for many years, but now suffering from an incurable disease.

£15 to the widow of an associate, who died suddenly, leaving applicant with two young children ; and another has since been born.

£10 to a former member, many years in business, but latterly an assistant, who has lost his savings through the failure of a bank.

£10 to the widow of a chemist and druggist. Appli¬ cant has had two previous grants of like amount.

£20 to the widow of a chemist and druggist who received a grant of £15 in 1875.

£20 to tfoe widow of a late member many years in business.

£10 to the widow of a registered chemist and druggist.

Several other cases were deferred for further conside¬ ration, and in one case, in which a widow with five children under 11 years of age applied for assistance to secure the election of a girl into an orpham asylum, the Committee recommended that £52 10s. be granted, to be placed in Mr. Owen’s hands to be used as desired if there should be a good prospect of success.

The Secretary reported that Mr. Owen had attended the election of the St. Anne’s School and had expended the fifty guineas which the Council had voted to assist in securing the election of an orphan to that institution. Unfortunately the election was lost by seven votes.

The President said the Committee had a very long sitting on the previous evening and saw many of the candidates ; and he could only say that the more he saw of the work of the Committee the more he was convinced that the Benevolent Fund was doing an immense deal of good, and he was quite sure that many who now refused to subscribe to it, if they had an opportunity of seeing the work which was being done, would reconsider their determination. It would be noticed that the Committee had availed itself of Mr. Owen’s kind offer to render any aid he could at future elections to orphan asylums. The members of the Council were all much indebted to Mr. Owen for his past services, and they showed it by again calling upon him.

Mr. Greenish brought forward one case which he wished more fully discussed, and the Council accordingly resolved itself into Committee for the purpose. After some discussion this particular case was referred back to the Committee for further consideration.

The Council then resumed.

Mr. Shaw suggested that a list of subscribers to the Benevolent Fund should be prepared and issued sepa¬ rately. He thought it would tend to increase the number of subscribers.

The President did not see the advantage of such an arrangement, and thought it might interfere with the sale of the Calendar.

Mr. Betty thought such a list would only lead to an extension of the system of canvassing, which Mr. Shaw so much deprecated.

Mr. Mackay said the list of subscriptions was published in the Journal. At any rate if a list were published it should be done at the same time as the Calendar was issued.

Mr. Shaw said that was what he meant.

The Vice-President thought this would be a good plan.

Mr. Shaw said he would bring the subject forward again at the proper time.

The report and recommendations of the Committee were received and adopted.

A resolution was passed thanking Mr. Owen for his services in endeavouring to secure the election of an orphan into the St. Anne’s School.

Library, Museum and Laboratory.

The report of this Committee included the report from the Librarian for the preceding month, showing the average attendance in the Library to have been, day, 24 ; evening, 10. Circulation of books, town, 193; country , to 36 places, 64. Carriage paid, 20s. 0 ^d. He also re¬ ported the following Donations to the Library : —

* Etude sur les Rapports entre les Principes actifs et les Caractbres botaniques des Plantes officinales,’ 1878. 2 copies. From Professor A. Herlant (Author).

‘ De la Toxicitd des Sels de Cuivre et de l’Emploi du Sulfate dans la Panification.’ 1878. From Dr. J. Morel.

Stackmann’s ‘Studien fiber die Zusammensetzung des Holzes.’ 1878. From Professor Dragendorff.

Cooley’s ‘Practical Receipts.’ 6th Edition. Part 3. 1878. From Messrs. Churchill.

‘ Sixteenth Annual Report, 1877.’ From the Birming¬ ham Free Libraries Committee.

Thomson’s ‘ Chemistry.’ 6th Edit. 4 vols. 1820.

Quincy’s ‘ Dispensatory.’ 14th Edit. 1769.

From Mr. Joseph Stapleton.

Priestley’s ‘ Experiments on Air and in Natural Philosophy,’ 6 vols. 1777-86.

Alpinus’ ‘De Medicina -ZEgyptiorum, etc., 1719.’

Alpinus’ ‘De Medicina methodica, 1719.’

Bate’s ‘ Dispensatory,’ by Salmon. 3rd Edit. 1706.

Bergman’s ‘ Physical and Chemical Essays,’ by Cullen. 2 vols. 1788.

Bergman’s ‘Elective Attractions.’ 1785.

Fourcroy’s ‘ Chemical Knowledge,’ by Nicholson. 11 vols. 1804.

Jones’s ‘ Mysteries of Opium Revealed.’ 1700.

Lucretius, ‘ Of the Nature of Things,’ by Creech. 2 vols. 1714.

Smee’s ‘ Electro-Biology.’ 1849.

Salmon’s ‘Medicina Practica,’ 1619, with translations from R. Bacon and G. Ripley.

Cullen’s ‘ Materia Medica.’ 2 vols. 1789.

Boerhaave’s ‘ Chemistry,’ by Shaw. 3rd Edition. 2 vols. 1753.

Renodseus’ ‘ Medicinal Dispensatory and Pharma¬ copoeia,’ by Tomlinson. 1657.

Galen’s Works (in Latin), parts 3 —4, 7 — 9, in 2 vols.

1625. From Mr. R. M. Atkinson.

The purchase of the following was recommended : —

John’s ‘ Forest Trees of Britain.’

Dewey’s ‘ Classification and Subject Index.’

Thomson’s ‘ Chemistry.’ 4 vols. 1802.

Chaptal’s ‘ Chemistry.’ 7 vols. 1800-7.

Jourdan’s ‘Pharmacopde Universelle.’ 2 vols. 1828.

Parkes’ ‘ Chemical Essays.’ 5 vols. 1815.

Pearson’s ‘ Materia Alimentaria et Medica. 1808.

Tournefort’s ‘ Materia Medica.’ 1708.

Cottereau’s ‘ Pharmacologie.’ 1839.

Nysten’s ‘ Dictionnaire de M^decine, Pharmacie, etc.’

1840.

Cooper’s ‘ Catalogue of Chymicall Books.’ 1675.

‘Philosophical Transactions, 1849-53.’

8

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

[July 6, 1878

ThejCurator had reported that the average attendance in the Museum during the previous month had been, day, 14 ; evening, 3.

He had also reported the following Donations to the Museum : —

Specimens of false Sumbul, from Mr. F. J. Hanbury ; Specimens of Impure Capsaicin (and a promise of the pure specimen at present in the Paris Exhibition), from Mr. J. C. Thresh ; Specimens of Candle Nut Oil and Cake, from Mr. W. Cunningham.

The Curator had also reported that the North British Branch had selected several specimens of materia medica from the duplicate list. Also that he had obtained much valuable information at the Paris Exhibition, and copies of all the catalogues yet printed which contain notes relating to materia medica. That he had received further information respecting cochineal culture from Mr. Bruce, and would make a report thereon.

The list of Local Secretaries had been submitted to the Committee, and referred to the President and Secretary to complete and report.

The Committee had also considered an application for the partial return of an examination fee which had been submitted to it, and was of opinion that it would be in¬ expedient to return any part of such fee as there was no sufficient reason for so doing.

The Professors had attended the Committee and re¬ ported favourably of their respective classes.

Mr. Greenish said he hoped the Society would be able to get from Paris copies of all the catalogues, which would be useful in the library. They were not yet published, but would be in the course of the year. One thing must strike every one who attended that exhibition, viz., the immense progress made by the colonies.

The report and recommendations were received and adopted.

Local Secretaries.

The Secretary said the desire was to appoint Local Secretaries in all towns in which there were chemists and druggists to represent the Society, but there were sixteen places which were eligible to have Local Secretaries and had not a single chemist and druggist connected with the Society. For instance at Ayr, there was a population of 18,970, and nine chemists and druggists, but not one connected with the Society. At Bury there was a popu¬ lation of 38,000, and twenty-three chemists and druggists, but not one connected with the Society.

Mr. Atkins asked if there were any expense connected with appointing Local Secretai-ies, because if so, it seemed absurd to appoint one in a small town, which might have only one chemist and druggist in it, simply because it re¬ turned a member to Parliament.

The Secretary said there was no expense. The idea was that, if necessary, Parliamentary influence might be brought to bear.

It was then resolved that the persons named in the following list should be appointed' Local Secretaries for the ensuing year: —

List of Local Secretaries, 1878-9.*

Towns eligible. Names of persons appointed.

Aberdare . . Thomas, Watkin Jones.

Aberdeen . Davidson, Charles.

Abergele . Hannah, John.

Aberystwith . Ellis, R. ,

Abingdon . . . Smith, William.

Altrincham . . Hughes, Edward.

Andover . Madgwick, W. B.

Arbroath . Shield, George.

Ashbourne . Bradley, Edwin Silvester

Ashby-de-la-Zouch . Johnson, Samuel E.

Ashton-under-Lyne . Bostock, William.

* Local Secretaries are appointed in all towns in Great Britain which return a Member or Members to Parliament, and in such other Towns as contain not less than Three Members of the Society or Associates in Business.

Towns oligible. Names of persons appointed.

Aylesbury . Turner, John.

Ayr .

Banbury . . . . Beesley , Thomas.

Banff . Ellis, Bartlett.

Bangor . . . Roberts, Meshach.

Barnsley . . Badger, Alfred.

Barnstaple . Goss, Samuel.

Barrow-in-Furness . Steel, Thomas.

Bath . Commans, Robert Dyer.

Beaumaris . . .

Bedford . Cuthbert, John M.

Belper . . . ...,. Ashton, John.

Berwick . Carr, William Graham.

Beverley . . . Hobson, Charles.

Bewdley . . .

Birkenhead . ; . Nicholson, Henry.

Birmingham . . Southall, William.

Bishop Auckland . Leigh, John James.

Blackburn . Pickup, Thomas Hartley

Blackpool . . . Harrison, John.

Bodmin . Williams, Joel Drew.

Bolton . . Dutton, George.

Boston . Pilley, H. T.

Bournemouth . Duncan, Alexander.

Bradford (Yorkshire) . Rimmington, Felix W. E.

Brecon . . Meredith, John.

Bridgnorth . Deighton, Thomas Milner.

Bridlington . ..Forge, Christopher.

Bridport . Tucker, Charles.

Brighton . . G watkin, James Thomas.

Bristol . Stoddart, William W.

Buckingham . Sirett, George.

Burnley . Thomas, Richard.

Burslem . . . ....Blackshaw, Thomas.

Bury .

Bury St. Edmunds . Youngman, Edward.

Buxton . Barnett, Alexander.

Caine . . . .

Cambridge . .Deck, Arthur.

Canterbury . . .......Bing, Edwin.

Cardiff . '. . Williams, T.

Cardigan . . . Jones, John Edward.

Carlisle . .-.Thompson, Andrew.

Carmarthen . Davies, Richard M.

Carnarvon . . . Lloyd, W.

Chatham .. . . . Watts, H.

Chelmsford . Baker, Charles Patrick.

Cheltenham . Smith, Nathaniel.

Chester . Baxter, G.

Chesterfield . Greaves, Abraham.

Chichester ... . . . . .Long, William Elliott.

Chippenham ..... — . . Coles, John Coles.

Christchurch . Green, John.

Cirencester . Mason, Joseph W.

Clevedon . . . Martin, J.

Clitheroe . . .

Cockermouth . Bowerbank, Joseph.

Colchester . Cordley, W. B.

Congleton ... . . Goode, Charles.

Coventry . . Wyley, John.

Crewe . . . McNeil, James Norton.

Cricklade . .

Croydon . Barritt, G.

Darlington . Robinson, Alfred Francis.

Deal . Green, John.

Denbigh . ....Edwards, William.

Derby . Stevenson, R.

Devizes . Evans, John.

Devonport . . Codd, Francis.

Dewsbury . Gloyne, C. G.

Diss . Gostling, Thomas Preston.

Doncaster . Howorth, J.

Dorchester.. . Evans, Alfred John.

Dorking . Clift, Joseph.

Dover . Bottle, Alexander.

July 6, 1378.]

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

9

Towns eligible.	Names of persons appointed.
Droitwich .	..Taylor, Edmund.
Dudley .	..Hollier, Elliot.
Dumfries .	..Allan, William.
Dundee .	..Hardie, James.
Dunfermline . .	..Seath, Alexander.
Durham ... .	..Sarsfield, William.
Eastbourne .	..Provost, J. A.
Edinburgh .	..Mackay, John.
Elgin . . . .	..Robertson, William.
Ely . .	. . Pate, Henry Thomas.
Evesham .	. .Dingley, Richard Loxley.
Exeter .	..Delves, George.
Eye . - . . . .	..Bishop, Robert.
Falkirk . . .	. . Murdoch, David.
Falmouth . .	..Newman, W. F.
Fareham .	..Batchelor, Charles.
Faversham .	..Underdown, F. W.
Flint .	..Jones, Michael.
Folkestone ; .	. . Goodliff e, George.
Forfar .	..Ranken, J. A.
Frome .
Gainsborough .	..Forrest, R. W.
Gateshead . .	,. Elliott, ^Robert.
Glasgow .	..Kinninmont, Alexander.
Gloucester .	..Meadows, Henry.
Gosport .	..Hunter, John.
Grantham . . .	..Cox, J.
Gravesend .	..Bulgin, William.
Greenock .	..Fraser, Charles.
Grimsby, Great . .	..Palmer, Enoch.
Guernsey . .	..Arnold, A.
Guildford .	.Martin, Edward W.
Haddington . . .	..Watt, James.
Halifax .	..Dyer, William.
Hanley . . .	.Jones, C.
Harrogate . .	..Davis, R. Hayton.
Hartlepool .	..Jackson, William G.
Harwich . .	..Bevan, Charles F.
Hastings and St. Leonards .	..Jameson, William E.
Haverfordwest .	..Williams, William.
Hawick . . . . . . . . .
Helensburgh . . .	.Harvie, G.
Helston . .	..Troake, Marler H.
Hereford . . .	. J ennings, Reginald.
Hertford ... .	..Lines, George.
Hexham . . .	..Gibson, J. P.
Heywood . . .	..Beckett, William.
Hitchin .	..Ransom, William.
Horncastle . . .	.Kemp, William.
Horsham . . .	..Williams, Philip.
Huddersfield .	.King, Wiliiam.
Hull .	..Bell, Charles Bains.
Huntingdon . . . . .	..Provost, John Pullen.
Huntly .	..Prott, William.
Hvde .	..Wild, Joseph.
Hythe . . .	..Lemmon, Robert Alee.
Inverness .	..Galloway, George Ross.
Ipswich . .	..Anness, Samuel Richard.
Jersey...* . . .	..Ereaut, John, jun.
Kendal . .	..Severs, Joseph.
Kidderminster .	..Hewitt, George.
Kilmarnock .	..Borland, John.
King’s Lynn .	. .Atmore, George.
Kingston-on-Thames .	. .Walmsley, Samuel.
Kirkcaldy .	. .Storrar, D.
Knaresborough .	..Sindall, John William.
Knutsford .	..Silvester, Henry Thomas.
Lancaster . .	..Bagnall, Wm. Henry.
Launceston .	..Eyre, Jonathan Symes,
Leamington .	..Jones, Samuel Urwick.
Leeds .	..Reynolds, Richard.
Leek .	..Johnson, William.
Leicester .	.Cooper, Thomas.
Leighton Buzzard .	. Read man, William.
Leith . . .	..Finlayson, Thomas.

Towns eligible.

Leominster .

Lewes.., . . .

Lichfield . . .

Lincoln . .

Liskeard . .

Liverpool . . .

Llandudno .

Longton . . .

Loughborough . . .

Louth . . . .......

Lowestoft . .

Ludlow . .

Lyme Regis . .

Lymington ...... .

Macclesfield .

Macduff . . .

Maidenhead .

Maidstone .

Maldon .

Malmesbury . . .

Malton . . . .

M alvern . .

Manchester, etc. .

March . .

Margate .

Marlborough . .

Marlow .

Merthyr Tyd vil .........

Middlesborough .

Midhurst . . .

Montgomery .

Monmouth... . .

Montrose . .

Morecambe . .

Morpeth ,.

Neath . .

Newark .

Newbury ... . .

Newcastle-under-Lyne Newcastle-on- Tyne .... Newport (I. of Wight) Newport (Mon.) .......

New Radnor .

Newton Abbot .

Newtown . . .

N orthallerton . . . . .

Northampton . .

Northwich .

Norwich . . .

Nottingham . .

Nuneaton . .

Oldham . . .

Oswestry . . .

Over Darwen .........

Oxford .

Paisley . . .

Pembroke . . .

Pembroke Dock , , .

Penrith . .

Penzance . . . . . .

Perth . . .

Peterborough .

Petersfield .

Plymouth .

Pocklington .

Pontefract . . .

Poole . .

Portsmouth, etc .

Preston . .

Ramsgate . . —

Reading .

Redditch .

Retford .

Richmond (Yorks) .... Kipon .

Names of persons appointed. ..Davis, David Frederick. ..Martin, Thomas. ..Perkins, John Jaquest. ..Maltby, Joseph.

..Young, Richard. ..Abraham, John. ..Williams, Thomas. ...Prince, Arthur G-.

..Paget, John.

..Hurst, John B.

..Sale, Thomas J. ..Woodhouse, G. ..Thornton, Edward.

. Allen, Adam U.

..Bates, William Isaac. ..Henry, James Hay. ...Walton, R.

. .Rowcroft, Albert Edward. .. Wall worth, David. ..Brown, Francis James. ..Hardy, George.

, . .Metcalfe, Edmund Henry ..Wilkinson, William. ..Davies, Peter Hughes. ..Knight, Alfred.

Foottit, C. M.

.Smyth, Walter. .Robson, James Crosby.

Key, H.

.Burrell, George.

Birkett, J.

Marshall, G. T.

Hibbert, Walter.

.March, William.

.Davis, Frank Pratt. .Cartwright, William. Proctor, Barnard S.

. Orchard, Herbert J oseph. Pearman, Henry.

..Poulton, J.

..Owen, Edward.

..Warrior, William. ...Bingley, John. ..Wolstencroft, J.

..Sutton, Francis. ..Fitzhugh, R.

..Hiffe, George. ..Hargraves, H. Lister. ..Saunders, George James. ...Hargreaves, Wm. Henry. ...Prior, George T. ..Hatrick, William.

.John, D. W.

.Kirkbride, W.

.Cornish, Henry Robert. .Dandie, R.

.Heanley, Marshall. .Edgeler, William B, .Balkwill, Alfred P. .Cundall, Robert. .Bratley, William. .Penney, William. .Rastrick, J. L.

.Barnes, James.

.Morton, Henry. Hayward, William G. .Mousley, William. .Clater, Francis. .Thompson, John Thomas . Judson, Thomas.

10

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

[July 6, 1878.

Towns eligible.

Rochdale .

Rochester .

Rothesay .

Runcorn .

Rugby . . .

Ruthin . . . ; .

Ryde (Isle of Wight)

Rye .

St. Albans .

St. Andrews .

St. Austell .

St. Ives (Cornwall) ..

Salisbury .

Sandwich .

Scarborough .

Seacombe .

Selby .

Shaftesbury .

Sheerness . . .

Sheffield .

Shields, South .

Shipley . .

Shoreham .

Shrewsbury .

Slough . .

Southampton .

Southport .

Spalding .

Stafford .

Stalybridge .

Stamford .

Stirling .

Stockport .

Stockton-on-Tees _

Stoke-on-Trent .

Stourbridge .

Stratford-on-Avon .

Stroud .

Sudbury .

Sunderland .

Sutton-in- Ashfield . .

Swansea . .

Tam worth .

Taunton .

Tavistock . .

Teignmouth .

Tenby . .

Tewkesbury .

Thirsk . .; .

Tiverton .

Torquay .

Totnes .

Truro .

Tunbridge Wells .

Tynemouth .

Uttoxeter .

Wakefield ..., .

Wallingford .

Walsall .

Wareham .

Warrington .

Warwick .

Watford .

Wednesbury .

Wellington .

WeDlock .

Westbury .

West Bromwich .... Weston-super-Mare .

Weymouth .

Whitby .

Whitehaven .

Wick .

Wigan .

Wigton .

Names of persons appointed.

. Taylor, Edward.

. Harris, Henry William.

. Duncan, William.

. Whittaker, William.

. Garratt, John C.

. Bancroft, John James.

. Pollard, Henry Hindes.

. Waters, William Allen.

. Ekins, A. E.

. Govan, Alexander.

. Hern, William Henry.

. Young, Tonkin.

. Atkins, Samuel Ralph.

. Baker, Frank.

. Whitfield , J ohn.

. Holt, R. W.

. Cutting, T. J.

. Powell, John.

. Bray, John.

. Ward, William.

. Mays, Robert J. J.

. . Dunn, Henry.

. Barker, John.

. Cross, William Gowen.

. Griffith, Richard.

. Dawson, Oliver R.

. Walker, William Henry.

. Shadford, Major.

. Averill, John.

. Brierley, Richard.

. Patterson, George.

. Duncanson, William.

. Kay, S.

. Brayshay, Thomas.

. Adams, Jonathan Henry.

. Bland, T. F.

. Hawkes, Richard.

. Blake, William F.

. Harding, James John.

. Nicholson, John J.

. Little wood, John A.

. Brend, Thomas.

. Alikins, Thomas Boulton.

. Prince, Henry.

. GiU, William.

. Cornelius, Joseph.

— .Davies, Moses Prosser.

. Allis, Francis.

. Thompson, John.

. Havill, Paul.

. . Smith, Edward.

. . Keen, Benjamin.

. Percy, T. B.

. Howard, Richard.

Johnson, John Borwell. .Hick, Matthew Bussey. .Payne, Sidney.

.Elliott, George.

.Randall, Thomas.

Woods, Joseph Henry. .Pratt, Henry.

. Chater, Edward Mitchell. .Gittoes, Samuel James. .Langford, John Brown.

.Taylor, Stephen. .Laugher, William. .Gibbons, George.

.Groves, Thomas Bennett. .Stevenson, John.

. Kitchin, Archibald. Miller, Kenneth.

Phillips, Jonathan.

Towns eligible.

Wilton .

Winchester .

Windsor .

W olverhampton

Wokingham .

Woodbridge .

Woodstock .

Worcester .

Worthing .

Wrexham . .

Wycombe . .

Yarmouth, Great York .

Names of persons appointed.

Hunt, Richard.

.Russell, Charles J. L. Brevitt, William Yates. .Spencer, Thomas.

.Betts, J.

.Griffits, John Alonza. Virgo. Charles.

.Cortis, Arthur B. .Edisbury, James Fisher. .Furmston, Samuel C. .Poll, Wm. Sheppard. Davison, Ralph.

HOUSE.

The report of this Committee was very brief, referring only to trifling details, and was adopted unanimously.

The Preliminary Examination.

The Secretary presented a list of centres and table of attendances at each centre since July, 1874, which is printed on the opposite page.

GENERAL PURPOSES.

The report of this Committee contained details of cer¬ tain alleged infringements of the Pharmacy Acts, also of the discussion in the Committee of various measures now before Parliament. The Committee had considered the question of centres at which written examinations are held, and recommended that the following places be omitted from the existing list: — Aberystwith, Barnstaple, Berwick, Boston, Cardigan, Chester, Colchester, Don¬ caster, Dorchester, Dumfries, Hereford, Lymington, Lei¬ cester, Lynn, Macclesfield, Perth, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Reading, Salisbury, Scarborough, Stafford, Swansea, Taunton, and Worcester. Also to substitute Lancaster for Preston.

Mr. Schacht asked what was the principle on which the Committee had acted in this somewhat revolutionary measure.

The President said, not merely on numbers attending the examinations, but on geographical situation and facility of railway communication. It was wished to throw the examinations as much as possible into large centres like Manchester and Liverpool.

Mr. Schacht said he could understand that principle was of considerable importance, provided always there was anything like pressure or necessity to reduce the number of centres at all.

The President said that question was put to the Com¬ mittee and carried unanimously, that it was advisable, and he had reason to believe that the Board of Examiners both north and south coincided in that idea.

Mr. Schacht said there were two points of view from which this question might be regarded. The more the centres were limited the greater the ease to the officials, and the less the expense ; but, on the other hand, the more they were limited in number the greater was the trouble, expense, and difficulty to the pharmaceutical public at large. These were two positions to a certain extent an¬ tagonistic to each other. For his own part, remembering what had been urged at various times by the most thoughtful members of the body in favour of inducing their youths to pass the Preliminary on entering phar¬ macy, it occurred to him that any amount of official trouble was worth taking for securing that object. He remembered also that two or three years ago the list was looked over and cut down to its present numbers with a good deal of anxiety, and looking to what the result would now be, he could not regard favourably the proposition which would limit the number of centres to something like half what was thought necessary four years ago. Taking the first town disfranchised, Aberystwith, it was a question affecting all those in the neighbourhood of that town. Only last week he had been in South Wales, and knew the speed of railway travelling there, even on the

July 6, 1878.] THE pharmaceutical journal and transactions. 11

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION.

List of Centres and Table of Attendances of Candidates at each Centre.

	1874. July. Oct.	1875. Jan. April. July. Oct.	1876. Jan. April. July. Oct.	1877. Jan. April. July. Oct.	1878. Jan.	1878. April.	1878. July.	Total num¬ ber of at¬ tendances at each Centre.
ENGLAND AND WALES. Aberystwith .	3	9	7	11		2	4	36
Barnstaple .	1	1	5	3	2	• • •	v « •	12
Berwick-on-Tweed .	3	1	1	3	1	3	2	14
Birmingham .	31	39	68	57	16	14	10	235
Boston .	6	18	14	15	• • •	4	2	59
Brighton .	5	8	15	9	. . •	1	2	40
Bristol .	11	29	24	21	3	7	5	100
Cambridge .	12	15	20	14	5	9	4	79
Canterbury .	5	11	15	11	4	5	4	55
Cardiff .	8	10	19	20	4	• • •	5	66
Cardigan .	5	4	11	9	• . .	2	• • •	31
Carlisle .	3	9	13	22	6	3	3	59
Carmarthen .	13	17	12	12	8	4	4	70
Carnarvon .	5	8	4	10	, , ,	1	• • •	28
Cheltenham .	5	10	7	5	3	...	1	31
Chester .	9	11	12	14	1	6	5	58
Colchester .	2	3	13	5	3	4	7	37
Darlington .	14	9	14	23	9	5	10	85
Doncaster .	3	4	10	7	2	2	2	30
Dorchester .		1		1	1		• • •	3
Douglas, I. of Man .	• • •		• • .*	2	1	3	1	7
Exeter .	5	3	8	13	• • •	1	3	33
Guernsey .	r	1	1	1	• . •	• • •	• . .	4
Hereford .		1	6	7	3	3	2	22
Hull .	20	22	25	15	6	2	6	96
J ersey . .	• • •		1	1	.. •	• • •	• . .	2
Leamington .	6	8	5	4	7	10	7	47
Leeds .	22	29	52	54	16	11	15	199
Leicester . . .	10	12	12	16	7	2	3	62
Lincoln .	8	5	14	18	9	4	5	63
Liverpool .	26	32	34	33	6	10	14	155
London .	107	118	163	158	47	40	34	667
Lynn .	2	9	7	10	1	• • •	3	32
Macclesfield . > .	4		4	5	4	1	1	19
Manchester .	43	36	55	61	15	25	17	252
N ewcastle-on-Tyne . .	10	18	32	30	2	9	6	107
Northampton .	6	14	6	15	1	• • .	3	45
Norwich .	8	21	12	22	6	10	3	82
Nottingham . .	17	22	24	29	15	7	8	122
Oxford . .	2	8	12	13	1	1	3	40
Peterborough .	5	9	6	10	2	1	2	35
Plymouth .	10	11	15	11	3	2	5	57
Portsmouth .	7	8	10	11	5	6	3	50
Preston .	11	11	21	26	10	12	4	95
Reading .	2	8	8	10	3	5	2	38
Salisbury .	2	8	5	6	• • •	2	1	24
Scarborough .	3	7	9	2	3	1	1	26
Sheffield .	8	14	20	14	10	8	8	82
Shrewsbury .	6	6	16	• 14	1	3	2	48
Southampton .	1	8	9	5	3	4	5	35
Stafford .	9	4	9	5	• • •	2	3	32
Swansea .	10	6	17	20	4	8	3	68
Taunton .	2	5	7	4	2	3	4	27
Truro . .	2	10	8	9	2	2	1	34
Worcester .	9	12	8	4	1	2	2	38
York .	6	14	16	17	7	8	4	72
SCOTLAND.
Aberdeen .	15	40	17	25	10	5	12	124
Dumfries .	5	5	12	6	2	2	2	34
Dundee .	10	5	8	13	4	9	4	53
Edinburgh .	18	37	40	49	14	16	17	191
Glasgow .	13	16	27	36	11	10	9	122
Inverness .	2	2	8	1	1	2	1	17
Perth .	1	2	1	5	• • •	...	• • •	9

12

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

[July 6, 1S78

trunk lines, which was very slow, and it was still more difficult when you had to change three or four times, as would be necessary in order to get to the centres now proposed. In many cases lie felt sure this alteration would involve the necessity of travelling one day, sleeping a night in the place, going through the examination, and returning the next night. All this would involve, not only the candidates, but their masters, in considerable trouble and expense.

The President remarked that the Committee had not really considered the expense, but the efficiency of the examinations. He was sorry that Mr. Schacht had not attended the Committee on the previous evening, when the matter was thoroughly discussed.

Mr. Schacht said he also regretted not having been present. He would not discuss the subject further, but he should oppose the change.

Mr. Atkins, as representing one of the disfranchised boroughs, rose to protest, not personally, because he should be very glad to be relieved of the responsibility, but in the interests of the public. He could not but think that, speaking for the south-west district, if the Committee had duly considered the matter of railway approach, it had dealt very unfairly with Salisbury in erasing it and con¬ fining the centre to Southampton. He could not conceive why that choice had been made, except for its greater population. Its railway facilities were certainly not so great, and there would now be no centre between Bristol and Southampton. The latter town was on the coast, and, of course, was not so central as a place inland. Salisbury had unparalleled facilities in railway, com¬ munications with branches running in every direction, and he hoped the arrangement would be reconsidered.

The President said the original idea was that Salisbury, and not Southampton, should be the centre, and he should have no objection to substitute Salisbury if it were really preferable.

Mr. Atkins did not wish to say anything against Southampton, or too much in favour of Salisbury, but neither in geographical position, or railway facilities could the former be compared with the latter.

The President said the real desire was to do away with small centres, and to have large ones where the superintendents would take more interest in the examina¬ tion.

Mr. Frazer said when the list was previously made he opposed it, and he must also oppose the present omissions. Formerly every local secretary was a superin¬ tendent until the present list was made, and though he did not wish to go back to the old system, he certainly thought it was wrong to introduce the new one. It was a serious mistake if men were wanted to come into the business, and looking at thenumbers of rejected candidates, showing that the class of men coming up was deteriorat¬ ing instead of improving, he contended that this change would tend to increase that evil. He therefore sympa¬ thized with Mr Schacht’ s views. He did not object to certain towns being struck out of the list, such as Perth and Dorchester, where it appeared very few were ex¬ amined.

Mr. Hampson thoiight it would be wiser for the Com¬ mittee to reconsider the matter.

The President said it was no use the Committee doing the work if the Council would not accept it; the Council must do it itself.

Mr. Betty must protest against the matter being re¬ ferred again to the Committee. He did not urge the Council to come to any decision then, but the Committee having deliberately voted on each of these centres was not prepared to go over the same ground again. What¬ ever further action was taken must be taken by the Council.

The President remarked that the proposed arrange¬ ment would only last for twelve months, when it would be subject to i'e vision either by way of increase or de¬ crease, but he must say he rather looked forward to

further decreasing than to increasing the number of centres in future years.

Mr. Schacht said that a feeling of annoyance having been expressed by members of the Committee at having their judgment questioned, he must remind them that the subject had not been discussed in principle before, for he did not think the matter had been referred to the Committee. He did not wish to say it had undertaken a duty which did not legitimately belong to it, but as far as he remembered the subject had not been discussed by the Council, and it came upon him rather as a surprise that the Committee had gone into elaborate details of the scheme the principle of which had not been relegated to it. His feeling was against the principle of reduction to anything like such an extent. The omission of a town here and there was a different thing to reducing the number to something like one half.

The President said the General Purposes Committee was appointed to assist the Council by doing particular work which would otherwise take up its time unneces¬ sarily, and it had appeared to him proper that the ques¬ tion of fixing the centres for the ensuing year where the superintendents should be appointed for conducting the written examinations was one of those questions into which the Committee might most properly go. It was of course for the Council to say whether it would accept the report. It could either accept it, reject it, or send it back.

Mr. Frazer asked if the matter was remitted to the Committee in any form.

The President said the matter came on in due course, and he, as President, directed that the Committee should go into the question.

Mr. Frazer wanted to know if the Committee had power to originate any such question as the reduction of the number of centres, which, as he understood, had never been once broached.

The President said the centres were fixed every year, in July. The Council was not bound to appoint the same as last year.

Mr. Betty said Mr. Schacht was quite right in stating that the principle of the thing had not been discussed. When he said the Commistee had done its duty he meant the Committee had done the duty which devolved upon it, which was to look at those centres and see how far it could place them on a better footing. The Committee could only go into these details, and as the principle itself was now controverted the Council itself must discuss that.

The Vice-President remarked that every member of the Council was a member of the General Purposes Com¬ mittee.

The President said when the question came before the Council last July the old list was at once adopted because there was not time to reconsider it, but he himself expressed an opinion then that the list ought to be reduced.

Mr. Schacht said the discussion last year turned mainly on two centres.

Mr. Shaw thought the Committee was perfectly in order. The Examiners received certificates from a number of other examining bodies, amongst the rest, the College of Perceptors, which held examinations in every important town, therefore there was no very great injustice done to the young men, because they could attend those exami¬ nations if' not convenient to attend the centres appointed by the Society. Having regard to some irregularities which had taken place, he thought it would be well to try the new system.

Mr. Cracknell quite sympathized with the Board of Examiners in wishing to reduce the number of centres, and, speaking as an old examiner, he believed the prin¬ ciple was perfectly correct. The towns in which the College of Perceptors held its examinations were very numerous, but the examinations were much more largely attended. He could not help thinking that the question

July G, 1878.]

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

13

of inconvenience and expense had been greatly exaggerated. The inconvienence seemed to be considered to be inflicted on the masters, but this examination should be passed by the students beforo they went into the business at all. On the whole, he thought the proposed alteration was a good one.

Mr. Atkins thought the work of the Committee ought to be treated with the respect due to it, but that no member should feel aggrieved at the report being sent back to be reconsidered. He had not expressed any opinion on the question of principle, and he could quite understand there were centres which it might be very desirable to remove; those which had not large populations or railway facilities. There might be, on the other hand, individual cases which were fairly defensible in detail, not as matter of principle.

Mr. Betty said he would move a resolution which he thought might be unanimously adopted —

“That the principle or scheme of revising and reducing the list of examination centres, with a view of mak¬ ing such alteration as may be found expedient, lie adopted.”

Mr. Sandford thought it should be reducing not revising.

Mr. Betty said revising would include reducing. He thought even Mr. Schacht might support that proposition.

Mr. Schacht said that was precisely what he could not ; he did not admit the principle that it was necessary to fundamentally change the present list.

Mr. GosTling seconded the motion.

Mr. Schacht then moved as an amendment to the adoption of the report of the Committee : —

“ That the report and recommendation of the General Purposes Committee be received and adopted with the exception of that portion which refers to the superintendents of written examinations.”

Mr. Frazer seconded the amendment.

Mr. Hampson thought it would not be desirable to vote cn bloc for the entire change, especially after what had fallen from Mr. Atkins, and there might be other centres in the same position. The Council ought to deliberate on this matter a little longer, and he should therefore support the amendment.

The amendment was then put and carried.

Mr. Hampson suggested that Mr. Betty’s motion ought not to come forward without formal notice.

Mr. Bottle said the Council had heard a great deal of “principle ” in this matter, but he must confess his ignorance as to what the principle was. The only prin¬ ciple he knew of was that of adopting provincial centres for carrying on the written examinations. He did not know that the Council was bound to certain centres as a principle, but, as he understood, it appointed such centres as it thought convenient.

Mr. Schacht said he did not mean an abstract prin¬ ciple, but he used the word in the sense, that the details became almost a question of principle when so many centres were cut off.

The President said the contention was, that having too many centres decreased the efficiency of the exami¬ nation.

Mr. Schacht said then that was a question of principle. He thought it would be well to go into all those ques¬ tions: The distance was not the real point for con¬ sideration, but the time involved in getting from one place to another. It Avas not a question of 20, 40, or 60 miles, but of so many hours’ travelling before a certain time in the day.

Mr. Betty said all these were matters of detail.

The President said the Council must fix the centres that day.

Mr. Schacht said he should move that the present list be reappointed.

Mr. Churchill moved as an amendment —

“ That it is not desirable materially to diminish the number of centres for Preliminary examination.”

He had felt on the previous night and still more on that day, after hearing the remarks of Mr. Schacht and Mr. Atkins, that the Council might be doing a grievous wrong to young men who lived at some distance from railway stations.

Mr. Frazer seconded the amendment.

The President said this was entirely opposed to the opinion of those who were supposed to know most about the nature of the examinations. He could not see the force of the argument about railwav distances. He thought young men who travelled to any centre on the morning of the examination would certainly increase their chance of failing, and that they would naturally go up the night before if they wished to pass.

Mr. Churchill dissented from this view.

The President said he could not see what difficulty or hardship there was in going to the centre the day before.

Mr. Mackay asked what the Council would be pledged to if this motion of Mr. Betty’s were carried.

The President said he could not say.

Mr. Betty wished to point out that the motion was so liberal in its terms that the amendment was quite im¬ material. The Council did not know whether it would be necessary to materially diminish the centres or not, and the motion did not pledge it to anything.

Mr. Schacht said when it came to striking off twenty- seven towns and leaving only thirty-seven it brought the matter, in his mind, to a question of principle. The Society was not in the position of the Society of Apothecaries, or any such examining body, but in exactly an opposite position with reference to this matter. There was no particular reason why the Society of Apothecaries should endeavour to induce men to pass their examinations, but the Pharmaceutical Society had always declared that it wished to induce young men entering the trade to pass the Preliminary examination as a first step. If all sorts of impediments were placed in the way he did not call that inducing them to enter. He believed if every one entering the business could be induced to pass the Preli¬ minary before apprenticeship, such a disgraceful state of things would not continue as had just occurred, when seventeen out of twenty candidates for the Minor exami¬ nation were plucked.

Mr. Churchill’s amendment was then put and lost, the numbers being twelve against and six for it.

Mr. Betty’s motion was then put and carried.

Mr. Savage then moved, and Mr. Shaw seconded, and it was carried unanimously : —

“That superintendents of written examinations for the ensuing year be appointed at the following centres, and that the appointments be offered to the Local Seci’etaries at those centres, with the exception of Newcastle and London : — ■

Aberdeen.	Dundee.	Manchester.
Birmingham.	Edinburgh.	Newcastle.
Brighton.	Exeter.	Northampton.
Bristol.	Glasgow.	Norwich.
Cambridge.	Guernsey.	Nottingham.
Canterbury.	Hull.	Oxford.
Cardiff.	Inverness.	Peterborough.
Carlisle.	Jersey.	Sheffield.
Carmarthen.	Lancaster.	Shrewsbury.
Carnarvon.	Leeds.	Southampton.
Cheltenham.	Lincoln.	Truro.
Darlington.	Liverpool.	York.”

Douglas (I. of M.).i London.

Mr. Schacht said he should be obliged to move one by one the insertion of the names which had been struck out. He then moved the addition of Aberystwith.

On being put to the vote the motion was lost by 14 to 5.

The President asked what was the next town to be proposed.

Mr. Schacht said he should give it up.

14

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

[July 6, 1878.

The President was proceeding to read the list of towns struck out, when

Mr. Sandford rose to order, and protested against the waste of time.

Mr. Schacht said he could understand how the list had been passed on the previous night in Committee if it was considered waste of time to go into it.

Mr. Sandford said that on the previous night the name of every place was called over, and its merits can¬ vassed.

Mr. Woolley said he considered the alterations made in his district were very good.

Mr. Churchill moved that Chester be made a centre, but on being put to the vote the motion was lost.

Mr. Hampson moved the addition of Salisbury.

Mr. Atkins said the Council had already voted for Southampton, and it would be absurd to have both. He then moved the addition of Leicester.

This motion on being put to the vote was lost, and Mr. Hampson withdrew his proposition for Salisbury.

The Case of the London Supply Association.

The President read a letter from the solicitors, en¬ closing a copy of the special case, which had been pre¬ pared relating to the appeal against the recent judgment of the Judge of the Bloomsbury County Court.

The Medical Act Amendment Bill.

The Special Committee appointed to watch the progress of this Bill reported that it had held a meeting, when a memorial was drawn up for presentation to the Duke of Richmond. It was forwarded, with a request that the Duke would receive a deputation. Owing to his Grace leaving town he could not do so, but promised to consider the views set forth in the memorial.

The report of the Committee having been received,

Mr. Churchill suggested the addition of Mr. Greenish to the Committee, which was seconded by Mr. Hampson and carried unanimously.

Mr. Atkins hoped the Committee would be very watchful over the future progress of the Bill, as he was quite convinced much good might be done by speaking the right word at the proper moment.

The President said he understood on the previous evening that another body, the Chemists and Druggists’ Trade Association, had succeeded in having the interview which that Society had asked for and had not succeeded in obtaining, and it struck him on thinking over the matter that possibly the Duke of Richmond supposed they were one body, and that he had really received a deputation from that Society. He did not know whether Mr. Greenish and Mr. Hampson formed part of the de¬ putation which waited on His Grace.

Mr. Greenish and Mr. Hampson said they did.

The President said under these circumstances the deputation would be represented by two members of Council who had already appeared, and as he understood had not been very favourably received.

Mr. Hampson : Not at all.

The President said he doubted whether he ought not to withdraw from the Committee. He should feel him¬ self in a very painful position appearing as a kind of second edition of that which had gone before, the nature of which he did not thoroughly know. If he understood rightly the Council was going to take rather a different position to that which the Trade Society would take ; it was not going to defend the principle of chemists pre¬ scribing ; it never had supported that principle and he trusted it never would.

Mr. Greenish : Nor would the Trade Association.

The President said that was his difficulty. He felt it would be a most difficult thing now for him to follow another deputation, with gentlemen who were really the same, and who had already appeared, and had committed themselves or been committed by the Association and would apparently commit the Society to an extent he was not at all acquainted with. Therefore, he felt some diffi¬

culty in the Committee continuing its action and seeking an interview with the Duke of Richmond. Possibly it might be useful to wait on the gentleman who had the management of the Bill in the House of Commons.

Mr. Hampson said it so happened that he was ap¬ pointed on the two deputations to wait on the Duke of Richmond, but he did not think the Society had been committed in the least.

The President said it placed him in an awkward position.

Mr. Atkins said it appeared to him the President’s only difficulty arose from the fact of two members of the Council forming part of both deputations. He was not going to argue the position of the Pharmaceutical Council as against the Trade Society, but he thought the President had supplied the most cogent reason why he should go to represent the position which the Pharma¬ ceutical Council took in the matter. He would again repeat, and he had good reason for saying that the Com¬ mittee should be exceedingly watchful, and in the most delicate and persistent way becoming the Society put forward the claims at the right moment, and then he believed they would not be ignored. He hoped any impression of a difficulty having arisen from a deputation from another organization having had a previous inter¬ view would be removed.

Mr. Sandford had not the smallest objection to the interview Mr. Hampson and Mr. Greenish had had with the Duke of Richmond, but as it seemed to make a difficulty he would suggest that Mr. Hills’ name should be added to the Committee. He was not afraid of either Mr. Hampson or of Mr. Greenish, but he should scarcely like to go between them without someone to support him.

Mr. Greenish thought it quite impossible that the Duke of Richmond could have mistaken one body for the other, considering that the President of the Trade Associa¬ tion wrote from Leamington asking for an interview, and when the deputation waited on him the names were handed in with the title of the Association at the head of the list. Even if Mr. Hampson and himself happened to go with the deputation from that society, he fancied that their interests were identical in this matter. What they asked for was that the chemists and druggists should retain the privileges which they had had from time immemorial; that they should give simple remedies in simple cases. They maintained that they had that right and intended to hold to it. As to assuming the position of medical men, that they had never claimed, and never intended to. He should be quite willing, however, to resign his position in connection with the Committee if it was thought right and proper.

Mr. Shaw said a most admirable letter had been penned by the Special Committee, representing the position of the Council, and he regretted very much that the President should hesitate to attend a deputation supporting that.

The President said he was perfectly prepared to do his duty whenever the opportunity offered, and he was prepared to support all that was in the memorial. But he did not know what he had been committed to by gentlemen who had formed part of the former deputation, or whether they had committed him to any course of conduct which he could not concientiously support.

Mr. Hampson altogether demurred to these remarks. Did the President suppose for a moment that two mem¬ bers of that Board had been so indiscreet as to represent themselves as representing the Society, or to present to the Duke of Richmond an exaggerated view of the whole question? The deputation which had already waited on the Duke of Richmond represented the case as inde¬ pendently and fairly as could be wished.

Mr. Bottle thought it would be desirable to send a deputation to the Duke of Richmond differing as regards individuals from that sent by the Trade Association. The Duke being deeply engaged in other important affairs would naturally look at one or two gentleman who had been before him on the same question on a previous

July 6, 1878.]

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

15

occasion, and would wish to get rid of them as soon as possible.

Mr. SCHACHT thought that if the whole subject of legislation on this matter were to be referred to a Com¬ mittee of the House of Commons the Committee of the Council which was charged with the observation of those Acts should be a little better primed with the views of the Council as to what course it should adopt than simply having a general commission to do the best it could under the circumstances. He should prefer a more precise ex¬ pression of opinion than had yet been given. He could believe that some members of the trade would like a sort of carte blanche to do what they liked in the way of medicine, and provided they did not kill any one they would like full liberty to treat them. He did not charge any member of the Council with that view, but he knew it existed in the trade. On the other hand there were many who wished a limit placed on their powers to pre¬ scribe. Under these circumstances he could understand the feeling of responsibility which made the President hesitate to undertake this duty without further discussion. He hardly knew what his own opinion was on the matter, but at present he certainly had not heard any opinion with which he thoroughly coincided.

Mr. Betty thought it would be well if they understood what were the views advocated by the former deputation. If two deputations waited on his Grace, and they were at all divergent in their views, they would be put down as a divided body and no attention would be paid to them. Their only chance of success was by appearing as a united body. He remembered that years ago, when it was his duty to wait on several membei's of Parliament with re¬ ference to an important measure, the first questions put to him were, what was the Council doing, and what was the Trade doing, and were they unanimous, and the result was that until they became unanimous and spoke with one voice they had no influence whatever. He thought, therefore, for the benefit of the pharmaceutical cause in general, there should be a distinct understanding before the Council committed itself to any official explanation of its position.

The President said the Council had no official know¬ ledge of any deputation at all from the Trade Association ; it was only by hearsay he was made acquainted with it on the previous evening.

Mx\ Shaw suggested that the deputation to wait on the Duke of Richmond should take the letter written from the Council as the basis upon which it was prepared to act, and so far there was no discrepancy.

The President said certain matters had occurred since, which altered the position. The Trade Association had defended certain cases of counter practice, so-called, and he took that as a guide to his own mind of what the theory of the Association was, and it did not coincide with his view and his theory.

Mr. Woolley thought that one point had been rather overlooked. Mr. Churchill had stated in Committee that the Council had applied for an interview and had been unsuccessful, but the Trade Society had been more fortu¬ nate. He thought there might be a little method about that, and that the Duke of Richmond wanted to see if there was any difference between the two parties.

Mr. Sandford said, according to Mr. Betty’s opinion if Mr. Hampson gave a narrative of what occurred at the interview, the deputation would be rather bound by it, if it were anxious to avoid any discrepancies, and therefore he thought it better not to go into it. He did not think it was for that Society to go into the communi¬ cations which had taken place between the Duke of Richmond and the Trade Association. They were two perfectly independent bodies, and as such he hoped they would remain.

Mr. Atkins said, Mr. Bottle has raised a most im¬ portant practical question, whether the two members of the previous deputation should form part of the one now proposed.

Mr. Shaw said Mr. Schacht had said he had never heard any statement formulated which he could absolutely adopt as his own, and that was precisely the same posi¬ tion in which they were all placed. It was not possible to formulate anything which expressed all their views.

Mr. Hampson said he was perfectly willing to withdraw from the proposed deputation. He could see it would be desirable to invite other gentlemen to represent the Council at any interview tliat might be had with the Duke of Richmond, because persons he had not seen before might produce a different impression on his mind than those he had already seen.

The question was here raised whether the Council should go into committee to discuss this matter, but after a short conversation it was negatived.

Mr. Hampson said that he, as one of the deputation, had the letter of the Council in his mind during the interview with the Duke of Richmond, and nothing was stated beyond what was known as occurring in nearly every chemist’s shop in the kingdom. The deputation also asked for the repeal of the 20th section of the Apothe¬ caries Act.

Mr. Churchill said there appeared to be an impression on the minds of many members of the Council that there was a divergence of opinion between that Council and the Executive of the Trade Association, as to what consti¬ tuted counter practice. He assured members that the Executive of the Trade Association looked upon the matter of counter practice, as far as he could see, in pre¬ cisely the same light as they did, and in fact in the first resolution passed by the executive committee of the Association, it pledged itself to support chemists and druggists prosecuted for simple counter practice, but to discountenance indiscriminate counter prescribing.

Mr. Betty asked how that was reconcilable with the defence of Wiggins’s case.

Mr. Churchill said the course taken in that case was not due to the action of the Trade Association, but to the peculiar action of the Medical Defence Association, which kept back all particulars until the parties were actually in Court. The Association had not any notion until going into Court what sort of a case it was.

Mr. Fairlie said chemists and druggists in Glasgow were placed in a very peculiar position, owing to the special laws which prevailed there, under which medical men were entitled to keep open shop without having undergone any efficient pharmaceutical education, and he hoped that matter would be mentioned by the depu¬ tation.

Mr. Frazer said medical men were as much entitled to keep open shop as he was.

Mr. Fatrlie said medical men in Glasgow had only to spend two months behind a druggist’s counter, and that was all the pharmaceutical education they had. He thought that ought to be mentioned by the deputation.

Mr. Frazer said it was all according to law, and it was no use trying to alter it by a side wind.

Mr. Fairlie replied that it was not a side wind ; there was now a proposition to amalgamate all the medical Acts, and this matter might fairly be mentioned.

The report of the Committee was then received and adopted. Mr. Hills and Mr. Greenish to be added to the Committee.

Mr. Hampson moved and Mr. Atkins seconded : —

“ That the Council considers it desirable that the Committee selected to watch the progress of the Medical Bills in the House of Commons should obtain an interview with the Duke of Richmond to bring under the notice of his Grace the views of this Council on the Medical Bills as they affect chemists and druggists.”

Mr. Sandford thought the Committee had already brought under the notice of his Grace the views of the Council, and he did not think its members should force themselves on the Duke unnecessarily. He rather thought it should be left to the Committee to ask for an interview

16

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

July 6, 1878.

if it appeared necessary. The probability was that all these bills would be sent next week to a 'Select Com¬ mittee, which would prepare a Bill for next session.

Mr. Betty agreed with Mr. Sandford that it would be unwise to press for an interview at present.

Mr. Shaw suggested that the resolution might be so worded as to leave it to the discretion of the Committee.

The President said the Committee already had that discretion.

After some further discussion Mr. Hampson withdrew the motion.

Appointment of Professors and Curator for the

Ensuing Year.

Professor Redwood was re-appointed Professor of Che¬ mistry and Pharmacy for the ensuing year.

Professor Bentley was re-appointed Professor of Botany and Materia Medica for the ensuing year.

Professor Attfield was re-appointed Professor of Practical Chemistry for the ensuing year.

Mr. Holmes was re-appointed Curator of the Society’s Museum for the ensuing year.

The Council Examination Prizes.

On the motion of the President, Mr. Borland, Kilmar¬ nock, and Mr. Gilmour, Edinburgh, were appointed to conduct the examination for the Council examination prizes in the present month.

Report of the Board of Examiners.

June, 1878.

ENGLAND AND WALES.

Candidates.

Major . . .	Examined. 5	Passed. 3	Failed. 2
Minor, 19 th . . .	1G	9	7
„ 20th ....	22	8	14
„ 21st ....	20	3	17
Modified ....	—68 2	— 20 0	-38 2
	05	23	42

Preliminary Examination.

Nine certificates were received in lieu of examination : — 3 College of Preceptors.

1 Royal College of Surgeons of England.

2 University of Cambridge.

2 University of London.

1 University of Oxford.

Admission of Reporters.

Mr. Hampson then moved according to notice —

“ That a reporter from the Chemist and Druggist be permitted to attend the meetings of the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society,”

He felt some confidence in bringing this forward, al¬ though a similar motion had been brought forward on more than one occasion before. He felt that the Council, taking into consideration the condition of the Society, would view with something like gratification the oppor¬ tunity that this motion would afford, namely, that the Council should decide to admit a reporter representing another journal. He could not help considering how other bodies had acted towards their members. From the House of Commons to the vestries, in every village almost, the proceedings were invariably reported by in¬ dependent reporters, and it was desirable that those interested in questions brought before the various bodies should receive a fair, impartial, and, where possible, an accurate report of what took place. It was known that an artist might paint his own portrait with very con¬ siderable success, but it was also known that when a portrait was to be painted it was much better that a person capable of painting the picture should paint it from a proper position, and it would be more fairly re¬ presented when done by an independent person. He

must say at the outset that he had nothing at all to complain of, and not a word to say against the reporter himself and the manner in which he did his work, but it was well known that he was surrounded by influences which acted upon him in a measure that he himself could perhaps scarcely understand. He gave such a report, per¬ haps, as was asked for, but when the report left his hands it passed into the hands of the editor. The editor of course was responsible for what was published, and, as he had stated before, members residing in London had the op¬ portunity of adding to or taking from the report which was ultimately published. He did not mean to say that this had been done in an unfair manner, but it was im¬ possible for any person having this opportunity, which country members did not enjoy, to act with perfect im¬ partiality. It was extremely important that the members of the Society should feel sure that they had an inde¬ pendent and accurate report ; that was certain to produce confidence in their minds, and not only would it produce confidence but it would give them a great advantage in considering any question which was brought before the Council. It would also produce much more interest in the minds of members when they had to vote for the election of members of Council. He would ask the Council to vote this motion because he believed it was necessary. The Society was no longer a private society, but represented most important public functions, and all other bodies found it necessary to adopt this plan. The Medical Council, for instance, had its independent re¬ porters. He would ask the members of that Council not to have anything like trade jealousy in the matter. They of course occupied a position as publishers of the Journal, but he hoped that fact would not bias the minds of any of them in voting on the question. The two journals which circulated in the trade should be placed on equal terms.

Mr. Atkins, in seconding the motion, said it was not necessary to repeat the arguments used by Mr. Hampson, but he wished to say he thought the application was a reasonable one. There could be no legal claim whatever, but he thought the moral claim was one which they as reasonable men could not ignore. He had no complaint whatever to bring against the report which already ex¬ isted, which as matter of condensation was admirable. He was disposed to think at times it was too much con¬ densed to satisfy the outside public. The reason he was disposed to advocate the admission of another reporter was that the Council was not a private body, but repre¬ sentative, and it was to the interest of the constituents who returned its members to know all that possibly they ought to know with regard to its transactions. It might be said that they could know this if they read the Journal, but unhappily they did not read the Journal to the extent they ought. This might improve, but at the pre¬ sent time it was very disheartening to find the indifference which existed amongst large numbers of provincial che¬ mists with regard to the action of the Council. Now, if the Council could stimulate a greater interest by printing more widely the report of its transactions, it would tend to dissipate that indifference which all felt so much. He went mainly on the ground that the Council was not a private body, and that it was desired to disseminate as far as possible the result of its proceedings, and he knew no better means than the admission of a reporter of a journal which had its own special function. It might represent what was called the trade section, whilst the Pharmaceutical Journal represented the scientific section, but unfortunately they were more trade than scientific at present. In his belief no prejudice would arise to the Society’s Journal, and no harm would ensue to the Society.

Mr. Sandford said he did not rise to propose an amendment, because he thought it would save time if the question were met with “ Yes ” or “ No.” He must say he failed to see that Mr. Hampson or Mr. Atkins had shown any reason why the Council should admit any

July 6, 1878.]

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

17

other reporter than its own. They said that if a report of the meetings went into another journal it would create greater interest and be more widely spread, cer¬ tainly not amongst the members, because the Journal went to every member and associate of the. Society, and it was the members and associates who were interested in what was said, not the outside members of the trade particularly. Then Mr. Hampson said he wished every¬ thing to be correct and impartial, but he added that he had no reason for saying that the present reports were not correct and impartial. Therefore that supplied no reason why the Council should admit another reporter. Then he said the members in London had an opportunity of adding to or taking from what they said in that room, but he would ask whether any member of the Council would add to or take from anything important he had said there. If he did Mr. Hampson or some one else at the next meeting would call him to ac¬ count for having altered the report, and he had never heard such a complaint made. Then it was said that the Council had an interest as publishers of the Journal. He did not think that as publishers they gained anything by keeping it to themselves. They had been told by the editor of the Chemist and Druggist that he did not look at it at all as a ti'ade question, or as a thing which would be attractive in his journal or increase its sale, therefore he did not think that could have any weight at all. Then it had been said that the Council must go into committee from time to time, and it was true it must. Taking the experience of that day, when one subject had been got half through it was proposed to go into committee, but what was the result ? Mr. Hampson did not wish some¬ thing he was going to say to be reported, and he simply turned to the reporter and expressed that wish, but if there had been a strange reporter present such a thing could not happen. He had received a letter from the editor of the Chemist and Druggist , as no doubt every other member had, saying he was going to ask not merely for the admission of a reporter, but of himself to watch their proceedings for editorial purposes, but the Council had never admitted even the editor of its own Journal.

Mr. Hampson said he did not ask that.

Mr. Sandford could not help thinking that the reports now sent out were so full that there really was no occasion to increase them, and that it would land the Council in great difficulties if there were a reporter present whom it could not control. It exercised no authority over its own reporter, but there was a usage or understanding as to what was proper to be reported, and he appealed to all members whether there had been any falsification or mystification of the reports, or whether there was any occasion to introduce a change. He should decidedly vote against the motion, and he hoped he should have a majority with him.

Mr. Mackay approved of most of what Mr. Sandford had said, and had intended to follow very much the same line of argument, but would not now do so. He could not, however, quite agree with all Mr. Sandford had said, because he had a certain amount of sympathy with this resolution, inasmuch as he knew that country members would like the reports of the meetings extended to a greater length then they were. It would be in the re¬ membrance of the Council that more than once this subject had been brought forward, and it had resulted in this, when the editor of the Journal was spoken to he said that if he were allowed a seat in the Council room during the discussion there would be more lengthened reports, but again and again that had been most positively refused. If the Council were now to relax the rule and admit a strange reporter, he thought it would be neither consistent or fair to its own editor. He also took excep¬ tion to what Mr. Hampson had said as regards the oppor¬ tunity given to London members of altering what they said in discussions so as to put another face on what was said. Mr. Sandford had given an answer to that, because it would not only be dishonourable but it would be soon

found out and other members would not submit to it. He could not conceive why the editor of the Chemist and Druggist should be so extremely anxious to come there. He had the same report furnished to him in the beginning of the month as the other members, and was at liberty to use it in any way he thought fit in his own Journal. He could not see the correctness of the argu¬ ment adduced by Mr. Atkins that because members to whom the Journals were sent failed to read them in the beginning of the month, they would read the report in the middle of the month in the Chemist and Druggist. The reports as a rule were very fair and impartial ; his own feeling was that perhaps they were a little too short, and if this discussion should be the means of lengthening them he had no objection to that, but he certainly had a strong objection to the motion.

Mr. Frazer said he intended to vote for the introduc¬ tion of the reporter of the Chemist and Druggist, but he did not think the grounds upon which Mr. Hampson put his motion were very happy. The members of the Council had nothing to complain of in the reports, but he could not see that any harm would arise from an inde¬ pendent reporter being present. There was a feeling out¬ side, which it would be well to remove, that things went on which the Council wanted to conceal. The Council always had the power of going into committee on any matter which was not to be published. He thought him¬ self the editor of the Chemist and Druggist would gain nothing by his application being granted ; at the same time it would cost the Society nothing, and would do no harm.

Mr. Shaw endorsed the remarks of Mr. Hampson and Mr. Atkins. He had been always thoroughly desirous that the fullest information should be given as to every¬ thing which took place in the Council. It was a public body charged with the administration of the Pharmacy Act, and therefore everything which took place during its deliberations which could be published ought to be published. This was a progressive age, and if the cha¬ racter of the reports of the Council meetings were con¬ sidered during the whole of the Society's history, they had been progressing from one point to another. Was there any gentleman who wished to go back to the state of things at any former time ? At the time of the passing of the Pharmacy Act, what kind of reports reached coun¬ try members ? And as a consequence, very little interest was excited throughout the country. It had been said that the notes taken by the reporter were sent to the editor who published them at his discretion, but it had also been stated by another authority that what the editor received he could neither alter, lengthen, nor shorten, so that he scarcely knew how the matter stood with regard to the reporting at the present time. He could hardly under¬ stand if a full report were given why the editor should have made it a special point that if he were present him¬ self he would have given a more extensive report. With regard to what ought not to be reported, that was sur¬ rounded with quite sufficient safeguards. It was quite possible for the Council to go into committee at any moment, and he thought it was necessary that that rule shouldJ»e more strictly observed. If there were an indepen¬ dent reporter present, the standing orders, which at present were almost a dead letter, would be more strictly observed. He presumed that although the editor of the Chemist and Druggist had made an application to be admitted, that formed no part of the question before the Council then. It had been said that the Chemist and Druggist was more or less a trade speculation, but he should like to say that that journal was dependent entirely on the trade, and he could not imagine that the Chemist and Druggist would report anything which took place at the Council which would be detrimental in any way to the trade in general. His impression was that the Society did not include more than about one-third of the chemists and druggists on the register, and it would be politic to admit a reporter, so that a full report of anything which took place might be conveyed to them. If they looked at what occurred

18

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

[July 6, 1878.

in parliamentary and municipal proceedings there was quite as much reason for excluding reporters from those bodies as there was from the Council.

Mr. Betty said this was too important a matter to vote upon without fair and full discussion. It was a most radical change, the limits of which no man present could fully foresee. He did expect that the reasons given to induce the Council to take this step would have been of a far more decided character. The four principal reasons given by the proposer and seconder had been these. Not a word was said against the reports as they now appeared, but it was said the reports and the reporter were surrounded by influences not understood, and it was on this chimerical idea that the Council was asked to alter its proceedings. This was followed up by another idea that there was an undefined fear of an independent re¬ porter, but these were merely mythical arguments. Again, Mr. Shaw urged very strongly why in his opinion this change should take place. He asked certain ques¬ tions and founded his opinion on the answers to those questions which he supplied in his own mind. He said he did not know the mode of procedure at present, and yet he implied an answer, and stated he should record his vote in a certain way. He did not know whether the matter all got to the editor, and whether the editor was bound to publish everything, and yet on that ignorance he advocated this change. Mr. Atkins gave a cogent reason ; that the debates were not sufficiently read by the publication in one journal, that they did not excite sufficient interest, and therefore they should be published in a second, in other words, people who would not read one journal would read two. That might be the way people reasoned in the west, but it did not commend itself to his mind. If the reports in the Society’s Journal were not sufficient in importance when condensed as they were, could it be expected that a more watered report, which might be spiced up occasionally to suit the taste of casual readers, would excite sufficient interest to cause those reports to be more extensively read. When it was found that the four principal reasons given by gentlemen of great ability, who never left a point unnoticed when they urged a measure, were of this character, when there was this influence not understood, an undefined fear, and a question to which there was no answer, but on the answer to which the motion was supposed to depend, and the suggestion that people would read two papers because they would not read one, what was the value of such arguments ? Speaking of the question now de novo, he said the present system was not a failure, and he appealed to the experience of every gentleman who had spoken, was there any one who dared to say that the present system was anything but a fair and impartial one ? and if it was fair and impartial what more did they really want ? It might be proposed to admit the whole press, and if one member of the press were admitted, the Council would be bound in consistency to admit whoever chose to apply. If the proceedings were fairly reported, why was such a radical change desired ? If the reporter from the Chemist and Druggist were admitted, any one who spoke in the Council would not be speaking against a power which met him openly and combatted his arguments, but against an institution which stabbed him in the dark, a man whom he could not answer. Mr. Betty proceeded to give instances, which he did not wish reported, showing the style of comment adopted in the Chemist and Druggist, from which he argued that the editor of that journal had no claim to be admitted to hear the deliberations.

Mr. Hampson said he believed since the article quoted by Mr. Betty appeared in the Chemist and Druggist, that gentleman had himself moved a resolution similar to that he had now brought forward.

Mr. Betty replied that it was his impression he had brought forward the motion before the appearance of the article referred to; the article had helped to alter his opinion. He contended that if the resolution were car¬ ried it would result in crippling all freedom of debate ;

and concluded by asking members of Council to pause before voting for the motion, and to be guided by those who had had long experience at that Board and knew the practical difficulties which would arise.

Mr. Schacht thought Mr. Betty, whilst ostensibly giving reasons for voting against the proposition, had really supplied a strong argument in its favour. His chief objections seemed to be founded on the fact that the editor of the journal who now made application for the admission of a reporter did not deal kindly, generously, or fairly with the Council. He did not wish to defend everything he had read in the Chemist and Druggist ; if he did he should be stultifying himself, for he had several times fallen under the lash. He did not know that it had done him much harm, and he had always said there was some excuse for the editor, because he did not know what occurred in the Council. His feeling was that the true security against all those misrepresentations which had occurred or might be supposed to occur lay in the one principle now generally admitted, namely, the most thorough and complete publicity, by which all mis¬ representations were in the long run corrected and set right. The position to-day was simply like what it would be in the House of Commons if all reporting except Hansard’s authorized reports were forbidden. The idea that because a Conservative Government at the present moment ruled the country, the editor of the Daily News, for instance, should not be permitted to send a reporter to take the speeches in Parliament, because he had made vehement, and even, in the opinion of the Government, incorrect representations about the authorities was simply ridiculous. He would let the editors of all the journals in town send reporters if they pleased. The facts would speak for themselves. If his conduct deserved criticism let it have it, and he knew that in the long run he should be done justice to. Supposing the editor of the Lancet were to apply for permission to send- a reporter he should support it, or, being regarded as administrators of a certain law, if the Times thought right to seek admission for a reporter he should welcome the application. The Council was a public body, doing public work, and in his opinion it would be safe in the hands of those whose business it was to report the proceedings of public bodies. He believed the editor of the Chemist and Druggist would give a better report of what occurred than he had done if a reporter were sent, simply because he could be pinned to his own report. The fact could not be ignored that the Chemist and Druggist had a large circu¬ lation amongst those who did not take in the Pharmaceu¬ tical Journal. It was important that the proceedings of the Council should be reported widely. He should sup¬ port the motion because when a broader question came before the Council he had voted for admission of all reporters.

The President said he had had an amendment placed in his hands that the debate be adjourned, which he would at once put to the vote.

On being put the amendment was lost, and the debate therefore continued.

Mr. Greenish said there appeared to be a growing interest in the country with regard to the proceedings of the Council, and he really was not surprised at it when so many pressing questions were continually coming before them affecting the very existence of the trade. He thought it was a very good sign and a very hopeful sign, and he should not object to see the whole of one number of the Journal devoted to the proceedings of the Council. He had no objection to the proceedings as now reported, for it seemed to him they were reported with remarkable accuracy and great fairness, but if the members outside wished a reporter from another journal to be present, by all means let him be admitted. It would then be neces¬ sary for the President to keep the Council to the standing orders. It had been hinted that the Society’s own Journal would suffer, but he did not consider that that Journal was so inefficiently conducted or so artificially supported

July C, 1878.]

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

19

as to require such a monopoly. He had full confidence that it would hold its own. *

Mr. Woolley said one point did not seem to have been pressed, namely, that the Chemist and Druggist was a trade organ. The Pharmaceutical Journal did not get to all the members of the trade, and he thought it highly desirable that they should all have the means of knowing everything that took place in that room. Mr. Betty had alluded to some of the imperfections of the Chemist and Druggist, and he was not going to say it was perfect, neither was any one perfect, not even Mr. Betty, nor even the Pharmaceutical Journal , as witness, a letter that appeared on page 1019, which he considered a most dis¬ graceful production, and which ought never to have been published. He did not think anything worse had ever appeared in the Chemist and Druggist.

Mr. Fairlie said his object in asking for an adjourn¬ ment was that the matter might be gone into more fully. He came to the Council fully prepared to vote for the admission of reporters, and he should vote in favour of the motion, although he should be in favour of going a little further and admitting the editors of the two journals as well. In the meantime this was an instalment in the right direction. Mr. Sandford referred to people outside the Society taking no interest in the proceedings of the Coun¬ cil, but he fancied that was a mistake. At any rate if they did not the sooner they could be got to take an interest the better. The question of going into com¬ mittee had been talked of, and the objection had been made that if any gentleman wished to make a particular observation, which he did not want reported, there would be no opportunity of doing so. But even in public meet¬ ings, where reporters were present, members of Parlia¬ ment and others frequently made remarks with a previous intimation that they did not wish them recorded, and that was attended to. He thought they could trust any reporter who might be sent there. With regard to the correctness of the report he wished to mention one point with reference to the last number of the Journal, which he thought ought to be noticed, although no doubt it was done inadvertently. When he called attention to the position of the Registrar and Secretary, a remark was made by the President that by the bye-laws the two offices were combined. He called that in question at the time, though he did not wish to put his opinion against the President’s, and on looking again he did not see anything in the bye-laws uniting the two offices. The fact of the matter was the two offices, both in the Act of Parliament and bye-laws, were distinct and separate.

The President said the report exactly represented what occurred at the Council.

Mr. Fairlie said except that he called the President’s statement in question. Remarks had been made about the personal character of the Chemist and Druggist, but it was undoubtedly the representative of the trade outside the Society, and as such he thought it would be an advan¬ tage to the Council that the reporter should be present. He believed that members then would take more care what they said, and that they could keep their proceed¬ ings in better order. He had only been there a very short time, but he had been connected with other organi¬ zations, and he had never seen any such disorder in the conduct of any number of business men. They ought to keep closer to the standing orders if they were to get through the business in a proper and business-like way.

The President said when he heard that this resolution was to be proposed, he wrote to the editor of the Chemist and Druggist and told him he should oppose it, giving his reasons. And when he found it was to come forward he thought at first that though Mr. Hampson might move such a resolution, he would hardly obtain a seconder. However, he found that a great number of the Council took the extraordinary view, as he thought, that it was a perfectly reasonable request and a proper thing to ask. He could not help putting the question to himself, what was this gentleman going to be present at the Council

for ? He supposed he was not wrong in saying that the reporter would mean the editor himself, because his J ournal came out ten days after their own, and he would have the benefit of its report, which probably would be his pabulum, and then he probably intended to spice it, as he found the report of the last annual meeting of the Society was treated. He asked the gentlemen present whether they would deliberately allow themselves to be ridiculed and insulted in every way, and to be held up to derision before the whole trade. He should be sorry to do so, and would ask members to reflect before they voted for the motion. The question as put by Mr. Betty was whether the Council would give up all control over the report of the proceedings of the Council as it now appeared, which report, all agreed, was reasonable and proper, and leave it to an outside person who would not be answerable to anybody.

Mr. Bottle said he intended to vote against this motion very much against his own wish, for he felt that as the Society was advancing one would like to see its proceedings spread far and wide, fairly and honestly ; but he must confess, judging by the reports which had ap¬ peared in the Chemist and Druggist during the last year or two, reflecting on the Council and on the members, from the President downwards, that he had no confidence in the editor of the journal, and on that ground he should vote against the motion.

Mr. Hampson in reply said he should first call atten¬ tion to the remark of the President, who spoke of giving up control of the report, and Mr. Sandford also stated that the Council could not control this reporter if it admitted him. Did it wish to control him ?

Mr. Betty remarked that Mr. Hampson himself wished it when he asked, during that very debate, that certain observations of his own should not be reported.

Mr. Hampson said he was bound to utilize the present position of things. He was confident that if an inde¬ pendent reporter had been present he would be placed on his honour as a gentleman, and there would be less liability to those attacks which had been referred to than at present. It was quite possible the motion might not be carried, but he did hope that members of Council would hesitate before they voted against it. The report as at pre¬ sent issued, controlled by the Editor or by Mr. Sandford, or by the President, was not a free and independent report. He wanted the report to be such as would produce confidence in the minds of the members at large. If there were a report by an independent man it would do a great deal of good, and a little healthy criticism from the Chemist and Druggist would be no disadvantage. He did hope that at this time of the nineteenth century, when all bodies, high and low, were bound to conform to what was con¬ sidered desirable, equitable and right, that such a simple request as the one now made would not be refused.

The motion was then put with the following result : —

For — Messrs. Atkins, Fairlie, Frazer, Greenish, Hamp¬ son, Savage, Schacht, Shaw and Woolley.

Against — Messrs. Betty, Bottle, Cracknell, Hills, Mackay, Rimmington, Robbins, Sandford and Williams.

The numbers being equal, the President gave his cast¬ ing vote against the motion.

Election op Members of Council.

Mr. Frazer then brought forward the motion of which he had given notice as follows : —

“ That a Special Committee be appointed to consider the practicability of effecting a change from the present imperial mode of electing members of Council to one of district or territorial representa¬ tion, and to report at the Council meeting in October next.”

The President said when he saw the notice of motion he thought there was an illegality in it, and wrote to the solicitor for his opinion upon it. The reply was in effect that the proposed alteration could not be made without a special Act of Parliament.

20

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

[July 6, 1878

Mr. Frazer said he thought all that would be required would be an alteration in the bye-laws. His idea was that the question should be considered and that it should then be brought forward at the next annual meeting. If it required an Act of Parliament it might be intro¬ duced at any time the Society was going to Parliament for any other purpose.

Mr. Fairlie suggested that it should be remitted to a special committee to bring up a report at the next meeting.

Mr. Hills thought it would be better to refer it to the sub-committee of the Parliamentary Committee.

The President said he had no doubt that the question having been raised it would be considered by that sub¬ committee when the question of a fresh Act of Parlia¬ ment came up.

Mr. Bottle thought the principle should be settled by the Council before it was sent to a committee at all. He objected to it in toto, and thought the present mode was preferable.

Mr. Shaw also objected to the principle of the motion.

Mr. Hampson suggested the desirability of deferring the discussion, to which Mr. Frazer consented.

Proposed Grant to the Chemists and Druggists’ Trade Association.

Mr. Fairlie then brought forward the following motion, of which he had given notice : —

(i That the Treasurer be requested to pay to the Treasurer of the Chemists and Druggists’ Trade Association of Great Britain, the sum of One hundred pounds sterling (£100), for the purpose of assisting that association in its defence of the case 1 Apothecaries’ Company Shepperley,’ now pend¬ ing in the Law Courts.”

Some difficulty having been found in obtaining a seconder, it was suggested that as the case referred to was sub judice the matter should be discussed in committee.

This was agreed to, but after some discussion Mr. Fairlie withdrew the motion, saying he saw pretty plainly that he should not be able to carry it.

A report of a meeting of chemists and druggists at Hull was read, with resolutions, urging the Council to take steps to reverse the decision of the County Court Judge in the case of the Society v, the London and Pro¬ vincial Supply Association.

A letter was also read from the Local Secretary at Halifax, containing a resolution from the Chemists’ Association of that district, in reference to the right of chemists and druggists to prescribe in simple ailments, and urging the Council to give substantial pecuniary assist¬ ance to the Chemists and Druggists’ Trade Association in its efforts to defend and maintain that right.

The sitting was concluded at six o’clock.

*** No notice can be taken of anonymous communica¬ tions. Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenti¬ cated by the name and address of the writer; not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.

Violet Powder.

Sir, — In common, no doubt, with other analysts, I have received a great number of samples of violet powder for analysis, and without offering an opinion as to what the composition of articles bearing that name ought to be, I have considered it my duty to endeavour to allay any un¬ necessary alarm which recent lamentable accidents connected with the use of such articles have tended to produce. You have, I think, sufficiently indicated in your leader last week that the term “ violet powder” is applied to several pre¬ parations, differing greatly in composition, and not always used for the same purpose- I can fully confirm your state¬

ment that there are two principal varieties of so-called violet powder in commerce, starch forming the basis of one, and hydrated sulphate of calcium that of the other, while there are several sub-varieties produced by the addition of other ingredients. But while I admit the justness of your remarks in some inspects, I cannot agree with your implied objection on merely inferential grounds to the use of hydrated sulphate of calcium as a dusting powder. It has been long and very extensively used, without, as I am in¬ formed, any fault having been found with it, and in cases that have come under my immediate observation it has proved very beneficial, and in the estimation of those using it sometimes preferable even to starch.

T. Redwood.

July 3, 1878.

The Recent Case of Poisoning by Strychnia.

Sir,— The case reported in the Journal of the 22nd ult. should scarcely pass without comment. Both jury and medical press attach the chief blame to the pharmacist who dispensed the medicine and we thus get verdicts from the public and medical points of view. Looked at pharmaceu¬ tically, however, the matter bears a different aspect, and tracing the evil to its source we find it arises from the pre- scriber ordering poisonous medicines in a concentrated form. Most of us dispense such prescriptions under a moral pro. test and with a feeling that no apparently reasonable charge compensates us for the responsibility ; therefore, when an accident such as that recorded does occur it can scarcely be regarded as just that the dispenser should bear the blame.

Charles Symes.

Liverpool.

The Admission of Women to the Society.

Sir, — I only know by hearsay that a controversy has been kept up in your columns upon the manner in which the recent annual meeting dealt with the claims of “ ex¬ amined ” women to the rights of membership of the Society. I have not read the correspondence, nor is it likely that my observations, which will abstain from collateral issues, will touch any of its points ; yet I believe they will be found to contain the most practical solution of the question.

The Society admits women to its examinations and has thereby rendered women as a class eligible to become “ mem¬ bers of the Society ” by the most honourable mode of quali¬ fication. Is it not absurd then to declare that as a class women shall not be elected ?

A speaker at the annual meeting stated his intention, in conjunction with others, to bring the case before the Courts for decision upon its legal merits, and I have no doubt that judgment would be given in favour of the women’s claims and against the hot and cold action of the Society.

It seems a pity that men, who have so unmistakably the best of it in the affairs of life, should grudge so small a grace to women, when it can only be withheld by a ques¬ tionable interpretation of their executive powers.

YlR.

G. S. — (1) Helmintliia echioides; -(2) Prunus communis.

“ Inquirer , Oxon .” — Such a sale would render the drug¬ gist liable to prosecution, as there is no legal exemption in his favour.

IF. A. Holmes. — Lyciumbarbarum , nat. ord. Atropaceae, commonly called “ tea-tree.”

H. ( Dartmouth ). — Arsenical Soap. — Carbonate of potash, 12 oz. ; white arsenic, white soap, and air-slaked lime, of each, 4 oz. ; powdered camphor, % oz. ; make into a paste with sufficient water (Cooley).

G. C. — See the article in the number for last week, page 1051.

Errata.— Page 1058, col. ii., line 12 from bottom, for *“ p. s. p. r. n.” read “ h. s. p. r. n ; ” and p. 1060, col. ii., in the answer to O. P. O .,/or <£ Eriger on Canadensis ” read “ Diervilla amabilis.,,

F. IF. Bennett. — You will find by reference to the Phar¬ macopoeia that three species are official.

Communications, Letters, etc., have been received from Messrs. Shaw, Springer, Kinninmont, Kleplar and Co., Chubb, Holmes, Draper, Macartney, Auge, Brown, Haydon, Langbeck, Shaw, Sandemann, Booley, Abraham, Williams, Branson, Landerer, Earle, Borgue, Egroeg, Beta, P. B., J. R. H.

July 13, 1878.1

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

21

THE PARIS EXHIBITION.

Crude Materials applicable in Medicine and

Pharmacy.

In the French department, as distinguished from the French colonies, the exhibit of crude drugs is remarkably small, and the specimens do not form a special collection but are intermixed with the che¬ micals and galenicals. As might be expected, Sene¬ gal gum is well represented, the specimens exhibited by Messrs. Rousin-Morel containing two fine tears about 5 inches in length by 3^ in diameter. The varieties here exhibited are very numerous, com¬ prising about fifteen different commercial kinds. Some fine specimens of tragacanth are also contained in the same case.

The show case of M. Coutela, Paris, contains very fine specimens of tonquin musk, and cantharides; also, specimens of castoreum, rose petals, Para rha- tany, yellow calisaya bark, and Ignatius beans, all of the specimens being evidently carefully selected. Some belladonna and jaborandi leaves are excellent examples of careful drying. The name at the foot of the case is tastefully made up of various blistering insects and their adulterations, among which are Spanish flies, Chinese cantharides, rose beetles (Ce- tonici aurata), Chrysomela fastuosa, 'and a small bril¬ liant pale blue insect, which was labelled Hophia brunipes in the collection of forestry products. The effect thus produced is remarkably pretty and effec¬ tive, and is well adapted to imprint the name of the firm on the memory.

In Class 46, which consists of agricultural products not used as food, may be found a few exhibits to which pharmacy may justly lay some claim. Among these are hops, wax, and honey, saffron, madder, lin¬ seed, and other oil seeds, and resin.

During the past ten years the cultivation of the hop has become considerably extended in France, especially in the Nord, Pas de Calais, Aisne, Meurthe- et-Moselle, Yosges and Cote d’Or departments, the total annual yield being now about 4,400,000 kilo¬ grammes. Nevertheless in 1876 hops were imported into France to the value of 28,381,914 francs, and, what is more singular, the exports of hops were about half that value during the same period. The exhibits of hops include specimens among which are compared side by side hops from North America, California, Kent, Belgium, Bohemia, Molsheim, Wis- sembourg, Burgundy, Lorraine, and the Cote d’Or. Of these the American and Californian are remarkable for their pale colour ; those from Belgium approach most nearly in appearance to Kentish hops, while all the other varieties have a decidedly green tinge.

Some very good specimens of saffron are exhibited in this class, notably those of Messrs. Chapellier and Marchenay. Here may be seen, compared side by side, saffron from the ordinary saffron crocus and from those of China and Greece. The specimens are also accompanied with dried specimens of the flowers and bulbs, and mounted specimens of the stigmas, as well as seeds and specimens of the colouring matter (polychroite), which thus forma valuable and instructive series. M. Chapellier attaches to his exhibit some remarks, from which the following in¬ formation is taken : —

The Greek saffron crocus was introduced into France in 1862, by Mons. Paul Chapellier, and at his suggestion a quantity of bulbs were imported from the Greek Archipelago by the Conseil General of the Loiret, and distributed to the various cultiva- Third Series, No. 420.

tors of saffron in the Gatinais. M. Chapellier has now ten thousand of these bulbs in cultivation. He gives as his experience that the Greek crocus exhibits a great tendency to sport and form varieties. The ordinary saffron crocus cultivated in the Gatinais appears to have lost the power of producing fertile seeds, and varies but little. It is, however, easily fertilized by the Greek plant, and M. Chapellier is at present engaged in selecting and cultivating the best hybrids so obtained, in the hope that a variety may result which will be more valuable than either of the parents, the Greek crocus giving a larger yield of saffron and the Gatinais plant saffron which is richer in colour and flavour. Other specimens of Greek saffron may be seen in the Greek department.

The Chinese saffron crocus was introduced in 1868 by the Societe d’Acclimatation, at the instance of the same enterprising gentleman, who has during the last thirty-five years paid considerable attention to the genus and for the purpose of experiment has in cultivation about forty species of crocus, as well as a great number of varieties. The general opinion of saffron cultivators appears to be that the Chinese saffron is superior to that of the Gatinias.

Other specimens of saffron from M. Grasas, of Mar¬ seilles, exhibit different qualities as used for colouring vermicelli, for baking, powdering, and dyeing.

The exhibit of resin by M. Lesca, of La Teste, Gi¬ ronde, is particularly interesting, since it not only shows the different products obtained from the fir tree, but the instruments used in collecting them. The resin is chiefly obtained from the "pin maritime’5 (Pinus Pinaster , Sol.), and the yield is said to have considerably increased since this species has been cultivated on the sand dunes of the shore of Gascony and the replanting of the hills of the southern dis¬ tricts. In 1874 the quantity collected amounted to 29,395,417 kilogrammes.

To obtain the resin, incisions are made into the tree with a kind of curved axe, and the resin is allowed to run into vessels which bear some resemblance in shape to a flower pot. For removing the resin which adheres to the bark another instrument called a racloir, which reminds one of a hoe, appears to be used. The products obtained are the barras or crude turpentine which dries on the tree, answering to what is known in England as gum thus ; the galipot which is the same pr Dduct but of better quality ; the gomme or liquid turpentine as collected ; and the essence de terebinthine, the colopliane and the resine jaune , ob¬ tained by distilling it ; brai gras (pitch), and gou- dron (tar). A fir tree 60 to 70 years old is said to furnish 6 to 8 kilogrammes of crude turpentine, equal to 2 kilogrammes of barras or galipot. The home consumption of these products amounts to about nine millions of francs, and that exported to Belgium, England and Germany to another six millions.

Other specimens of these products, of excellent quality, are exhibited in the building devoted to agriculture and horticulture, near the banks of the Seine, by Mons. Dive, pharmacien, Mont de Masson.

In this class (46) also the herbalists are well repre¬ sented. The specimens of dried coltsfoot, violet, red poppy and camomile flowers exhibited by M. Le- monnier, are remarkable for the brightness of their colour, and in the collection sent by the Association General des Herboristes, the cowslip, daffodil, and marigold flowers seem scarcely to have been altered during the drying process. The rhubarb root will not, however, bear any comparison with that pro-

22

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

[July IB, 1878,

duced in England. To see the perfection to which it is possible to carry the drying of flowers the visitor should go to the Belgian department, where those exhibited by M. Cornelis, of Diest, must carry off the palm. At the first glance it is difficult to say whether the flowers are real or artificial, so beauti¬ fully are the colours and form preserved, while the colour and odour of the powders, preserved in the bottles containing lime in their stoppers, leave nothing to be desired.

To return to the French department, a collection of exotic drugs by M. F. J. Key, contains several Brazilian remedies which have of late years attracted attention. One of the most striking and amusing specimens of advertisement to be seen in this group is a glass jar of about three pints capacity full of cock¬ roaches, said to have been killed in one night by the insect powder sold by the exhibitor.

Not far off from this exhibit is the Zoster a marina, which is used instead of wicker-work for protecting glass bottles, stone jars, steam tubes, etc., besides many other uses which pertain rather to upholstery than pharmacy.

Some excellent specimens of dried herbs com¬ pressed into packets are exhibited in the agricultural building by M. J. Gautier, pharmacien, of Clermont- Ferrand, a carefully dried specimen of each plant being placed in front of but under the glass of each glazed box.

Other well prepared specimens in bottles are from M. Olivier, pharmacien, of Chalons-snr- Marne. In this department also may be seen, labelled “ roses papales,” the malvaceous flowers (apparently the dark variety of Althcea rosea ) which are said to be used extensively to colour wines.

In Class 45, which includes products of hunting and fishing, may be seen a collection of seaweeds and their products, exhibited by M. Stenfort, including specimens of the Eucheuma spinosa, used in Australia for making jelly (specimens of which occur also in the West Australian department), Geliclium spin- osum, used in Eastern Asia for making Chinese and J apanese “ isinglass,” and edible swallows’ nests. Artificial leather for binding books, purses, boxes, artificial flowers, pastilles, dragees, size, and numerous applications bear witness to what account it is possible to turn even seaweeds. One of these, a powder made in France from indigenous algoe, in imitation of Chinese isinglass, has been used at Rouen with considerable success as a dressing for calico, etc. A description of this article is deferred until the thao in the Cochin China and Japan collections is alluded to.

The exhibit of sponges in this class (45) is very good, and comprises an infinite variety of forms. Some remarkably fine specimens are exhibited by Messrs. Cresswell and Hersent, which are from one to two feet in diameter. The natural mode of growth is shown by specimens in situ on old vases, coral and shells, which are tastefully displayed by these exhibitors. Messrs. Coulombel Freres and Devismes, who also show some magnificent specimens, have rendered their collection especially interesting by exhibiting a sponge preserved in liquid, exactly as it grows before the soft animal matter has been destroyed. The appearance of the sponge in this state is by no means attractive, being apparently of a dark greenish colour. Messrs. Leroux and Fedit exhibit sponge mounted for various purposes, such as for washing the interior of the ear, for washing plants, for cau¬ terizing ; also compressed in cones, pencils, and

cylinders, in flat sheets for grooming, etc. The im¬ ports of sponges into France amounted in 1876 to 257,878 kilogrammes, about one- third of which was afterwards exported.

In Class 44 are numerous exhibits of cork, both raw and manufactured. The Societe Anonyme des- Lieges de l’Edough shows an instructive series of sections of trees of various ages, demonstrating the thickness of the Layers of cork at the different stages of growth. The various applications of cork, such as covers for glass stoppers, and cork dust made into a coating for bottles or steam pipes, are well represented by several firms. The manufacture of corks in France is stated to occupy the population of about forty parishes. F ormerly a workman could only make 1200 to 1500 corks a day, but since the intro¬ duction of machines 4000 to 6000 can be produced, ac- according to the' size required. The cork trade appears- to be increasing considerably in France, the importa- - tions of the bark having risen during the last twenty years from 257,000 francs to 2,940,000 franGS. The bark collected during the first twelve or fifteen years of the growth of the cork tree is used for life buoys and ornamental gardening, or burned in close vessels to form Spanish black, the superior kind used for corks being obtained from the sixteenth to the twenty-sixth- year of its age, during which period it is softer and of finer grain. In the left annex mavbe seen cork-cut- ting machines in action, and in the Algerian house, near the Trocadero, the advantages and disadvantages of hand and machine cutting may be compared to¬ gether, a native man being employed there constantly to cut them by hand, while a woman cuts them by machinery.

The building devoted to the exhibits of the Administration of Forests contains much that is interesting and instructive. Here are numerous herbaria containing specimens of trees and plants having medicinal and economical uses, each specimen having notes attached as to the geological formation in which it grows, the limits of latitude, longitude, and altitude to which it is confined, its rate of growth, average height and age, the time of appearance of the leaf, flower and fruit, and the proportional importance of its distribution and uses, thus giving at a glance a condensed natural history of the plant.

The collection of insects useful and injurious in forests also claims attention, since it comprises bees and their products, wax and honey, cantharides and gall insects. A very interesting specimen exhibits the influence exerted by insects on the growth of trees.. This consists of a transverse section of an oak trunk in which every third ring is much narrower, and evidently points to a starved condition of the tree during the year of its formation. This is attributed to cockchafers stripping the tree of leaves, it being well known that the larva of this insect takes three years to comedo perfection.

Among the galls are exhibited the knoppem gall, the Medusa’s head gall, and a large gall very similar in appearance- and size to the Bussorah gall, but not red or polished like that kind; it is produced hjCynips argentea. These galls are rarely if ever seen in- England, growing chiefly on Quercus Cerris and Q. pubescens. The common English oak gall ( Gynips Kollari, Hart) and the artichoke gall are also noticeable;

These are the principal crude materials interesting to the pharmacist in the French court, but a much richer harvest awaits him in the section devoted to the

July 13, 1SY?.]

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

23

FRENCH COLONIES.

Under this head it is purposed to describe the speci¬ mens of drugs exhibited from French Guiana, Mar¬ tinique,. Guadeloupe, Senegal, the Gaboon, Cochin China, the French colonies in India, and the islands of Reunion, Tahiti and New Caledonia. The collection is arranged in a long room at the end of the Exposi¬ tion near to the Ecole Militaire, and comprises many hundreds of specimens neatly arranged on rectan¬ gular stands furnished with shelves. The specimens are mostly contained in stoppered bottles, and are carefully labelled.

Algerian products will be afterwards treated of, as these are contained in a separate building near the Trocadero. The exhibit of drugs in the French colonial department may be considered, both for number, arrangement, excellent preservation of the specimens, and value, one of the best in the Exhibi¬ tion. An excellent descriptive catalogue of the products, which greatly enhances their value, has been published, for an early copy of which the reporters are indebted to the kindness of M. Aubrey Lecomte, the able commissioner of this department.

French Guiana.

From this colony several well known drugs, such as citronelle, sarsaparilla, grains of paradise, curari poison and darts poisoned with it, from Rio Negro and Cayenne, Cissampelos Panira , lime juice, and Bimaruba, Quassia amara (called here “quinquina de la Guiane”), are exhibited. The bark of the tamarind tree is used as an astringent. Balsam of copaiba is said to be procurable in large quan¬ tity in the neighbourhood of Oyapock, especially on the mountain Racaoua. Guarana is rather scarce. The root of Abuta amara , which is called in 1 Pharmacographia ’ yellow pareira brava, is exhibited in this collection as a remedy not for diseases of the bladder, but for obstruction of the liver, a use to which its yellow colour has probably served as an indication. Under the familiar name! of centauree the Coutoubea spicata is used as a stomachic and febrifuge.

Several .plants used in British India are also to be found here. Among these may be noticed a species of Plumbago , of which the leaves and roots are used us a vesicant ; Ocymum basilicum and 0. sanctum , em¬ ployed in the form of tea as a sudorific ; the purgative seeds of Jatropha multifida ; and the astringent leaves and roots of Psidium pomiferum, and P. grandijiorum. P. aromaticum , a nearly allied species, which, from its name of “ citronelle grand-bois,” might be sup¬ posed to have a citronelle odour, is used in the form of infusion of the leaves as a stimulant and anti- spasmodic. The leaves of Ayapana ( Eupatorium ayapana ) appear in this list under the name of “ the de l’Amazone.” Among the remedies for worms are Chenopodium anthelminticum and the seeds of the papaw tree ( Carica papaya).

The drugs apparently peculiar to this colony are us follows > .

Anona muricata , natural order, Anonaceee (Coros- solier). — The leaves are used as a valuable anti- spasmodic ; the seeds as an emetic.

Astrocaryum vulgar e, natural order, Palmaeese. — Under the name of Aouara the root is used as an antisyphilitic remedy.

Boerhavia diandra, natural order, Nyctaginaceae. Used as an emetic and cathartic under the name of “ ipecacuanha du pays.” In Martinique it is known us “ ipeca de Guiane.”

Bignonia copaia , natural order, Bignoniacece.— The bark is used as a purgative, and the leaves as a remedy for the yaws or pian.

Bignonia alliaceci, called “the garlic shrub” from its powerful odour, is used as a febrifuge.

Carapa guianensis, natural order, Meliacese. — Bark used, and also in Martinique, as a bitter tonic and astringent, and the oil from the seeds for healing wounds. (This oil will be further alluded to under British Guiana.)

Cedrela guianensis, natural order, Cedrelacese. — Bark used as a tonic and febrifuge.

Coccocypselum tontanea, natural order, Rubiaceae. — Used for congestion of the liver. The entire plant is used. It might perhaps be worth a trial in this country.

Eryngium foetidum, natural order, Umbelliferoe (Azier la fievre). — Used as a sedative in asthma, and in Martinique the roots are used as an emmena- gogue and diuretic under the name of “ chardon etoile ” or “ benit.”

Guarea Aubletii, natural order, Meliacese.— Root- bark possesses powerful emetic and purgative pro¬ perties.

Hypericum lactiferum. — The resinous juice is pur¬ gative.

Hyptis capitata, natural order, Labiatse (Melisse indienne).— Used as a pectoral and sedative.

Justicia pectorcdis, natural order, Acanthacese. — A tea made from the leaves is used as an aromatic pectoral.

Lonchocarpus Nicou. — Used to intoxicate fish.

Mucuna urens, natural order, Leguminosse. — The seeds of this plant, commonly known as “ asses eye bean,” are used in French Guiana for haemorrhoids. They are slightly diuretic, but have a considerable hold upon popular estimation, both in French Guiana and in Martinique.

Myristica sebifera. — The bark is astringent. .

Potalia amara (Grand Mateve). — The infusion of the leaves is used as an emmenagogue and anti¬ syphilitic ; in large doses it is emetic.

Valeria guianensis , natural order, Leguminosae. — The seeds are rasped, and mixed into a paste with vinegar as a tropical remedy for ringworm, hence the tree is, known as “ bois ti dartres;”

A CONTRIBUTION TO OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE ALKALOIDS OF ERGOT.*

BY T. BLUMBEEG.

I. Ecboline and Eegotine.

Under the title, “On the Active Constituents of Er¬ got,” Wenzell published in 1865 the results of his work, having for its object the isolation of the active substance of ergot. His investigation led him to the discovery of two alkaloids, one of which he named “ecboline,” the other “ergotine.” The action of ergot he attributed to ecbolme. His method of procedure was as follows: —

An extract of ergot prepared with cold water was pre¬ cipitated with sugar of lead, dissolved lead was removed with sulphuretted hydrogen, and the clear liquid after separation from the resulting precipitate was treated successively with equal parts of a concentrated solution of mercuric chloride and a similar solution of potassium carbonate. The precipitate formed was washed, sus¬ pended in pure water, decomposed with sulphuretted

* Inaugural Dissertation presented by the author upon attaininglhe grade of Magister of Pharmacy at the Imperial University at Dorpat.

24

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS,

[July 13, 1878.

hydrogen and the mercuric sulphide removed by fil¬ tration.*

One portion of the filtrate deposited upon slowly evaporating small cubic crystals. Another portion when heated gave off an odour of trimethylamine. Phosphorus molybdate produced in it a yellow flocculent precipitate. The residue from the evaporation of the filtrate yielded upon stronger heating a sublimate of trimethylamine hydrochlorate, besides free hydrochloric acid and a coaly mass.

A portion of the filtrate was treated with potash in excess, heated until all the trimethylamine was driven off, again acidified with hydrochloric acid, and phospho¬ molybdic acid added. A flocculent precipitate resulted, which pointed to another alkaloid.

To separate the two bases a watery extract prepared from 250 grams of ergot was saturated with potash, pre¬ cipitated with barium chloride, filtered, the filtrate de¬ composed with 15 grams of potassium bicarbonate and again filtered. This filtrate was decomposed with 120 grams of a concentrated solution of mercuric chloride, allowed to stand twelve hours, the precipitate collected, and, after washing, decomposed with sulphuretted hy¬ drogen. The liquid filtered off from the mercuric sulphide had an acid reaction. It was freed from sulphuretted hydrogen by heating, and then fractionally decomposed with solution of mercuric chloride. In this way six pre¬ cipitates were obtained, of which the first three were greyish-white and voluminous, the last three were dense and almost white. The liquids obtained by the decom¬ position of the first and second precipitates with sulphu¬ retted hydrogen were of a sherry wine colour, had an acid reaction, yielded no crystallization upon evaporation, and, in Wenzell’s opinion, gave off no trimethylamine when warmed with potash. They contained ecboline with a little ergotine. The solution from the third pre¬ cipitate had the same colour and reaction, but became dark upon evaporation. It gave off no trimethylamine and contained no ecboline, being principally ergotine. The solutions obtained from the fourth, fifth, and sixth precipitates consisted of hydrochlorate of trimethylamine, ergotine, and much free hydrochloric acid.

Wenzell considered that by these fractional precipita¬ tions the presence of two new bases, besides trimethyl¬ amine, had been demonstrated. He effected their com¬ plete separation by treating a fresh quantity of aqueous extract of ergot with sugar of lead, removing excess of lead from the filtrate with sulphuretted hydrogen, con¬ centrating the liquid and adding powdered mercuric chloride as long as a precipitate was produced. The precipitate was removed by filtration, washed, suspended in pure water, and decomposed with sulphuretted hy¬ drogen. After filtering off the mercuric sulphide the liquid contained only ecboline as a hydrochlorate. The filtrate from the mercuric chloride precipitate was decom¬ posed with phosphomolybdic acid which threw down the ergotine. This precipitate was suspended in water, di¬ gested for some time warm with barium carbonate, and the solution of alkaloid, after filtering, carefully evapo¬ rated. In this way the ergotine was obtained in a pure state.

The solution of hydrochlorate of ecboline was treated with freshly precipitated silver phosphate, the silver chloride filtered off, lime added to the filtrate to fix the phosphoric acid, again filtered and carbonic acid gas passed in to separate excess of caustic lime. The calcium carbonate being removed by filtration, the alkaloidal solution was evaporated to dryness at a moderate tem¬ perature.

Both alkaloids formed, when dry, an amorphous brownish varnish, having a slightly bitter taste and an alkaline reaction, and dissolving in water and in alcohol. They were insoluble in ether and in chloroform, and difficultly soluble in methylic alcohol. With acids they formed amorphous deliquescent salts. When boiled with potash

* Vierteljahressckrift f. prakt. Pharm. (1865), xiv., 18.

solution they gave off no ammonia, but yielded it abun¬ dantly when heated with soda-lime. When heated they puffed up, carbonized, and finally burnt without leaving any ash.

The ecboline was said to be distinguishable from ergo¬ tine by its behaviour towards a group of reagents. When isolated they both gave with mercuric chloride a precipi¬ tate, the ergotine precipitate being slightly soluble in water. Ecboline gave with platinum chloride at once an orange-yellow amorphous precipitate, but ergotine only upon the addition of ether-alcohol. Potassium cyanide precipitated ecboline, but not ergotine. Tannic acid gave with ecboline a flocculent precipitate, soluble in alcohol, but gave with ergotine a precipitate only in concentrated solutions .

Manassewitsch* obtained through fractional precipita¬ tion with mercuric chloride four precipitates, which after decomposition with sulphuretted hydrogen all yielded solutions that gave off trimethylamine upon boiling with solution of potash. The solutions of the first two pre¬ cipitates were yellowish and had an acid reaction, and upon evaporation left a dirty-brown residue soluble in water and alcohol. Phosphomolybdic acid gave with this a precipitate. Platinum chloride produced in the aqueous solution no precipitate, one forming first on the addition of ether-alcohol. Manassewitsch compared the reactions of pure ergotine with those of this residue and came to the conclusion that they were identical.

The third and fourth precipitates yielded after decom¬ position with sulphuretted hydrogen solutions which he could not in any way distinguish from the first and second.

Wenzell obtained ecboline from his first two preci¬ pitates, but found no trace of trimethylamine. Manasse¬ witsch was unable to accept the existence of ecboline, because though it should have been precipitated by potassium cyanide, he never observed any such a precipitation.

Manassewitsch says further that he did not succeed in preparing ecboline ; he obtaining on each occasion, in¬ stead of that alkaloid, a brownish-black substance in¬ soluble in alcohol, which when ignited with soda-lime gave off no ammonia.

Manassewitsch prepared ergotine by precipitation with phosphomolybdic acid, obtaining 25T3 grams from about 1^ kilos. An elementary analysis of this body gave figures corresponding with the following percentage com¬ position C = 82-60 ; H = 7’25 ; N = 3‘98; 0 = 617; agreeing with the formula C50H52N2O3. To the platinum salt was attributed the formula C60H52N2O3HCl+PtOl2 ; but he obtained 9‘81 per cent, of Pt, instead of 10 '5 per cent.

Manassewitsch also obtained ergotine, as he believed, in a pure condition by the following process. Ergot was macerated during three weeks in water acidulated with hydrochloric acid. The extract was filtered and evapo¬ rated at 35° R. The residue was diluted with -water, filtered, the filtrate treated with phosphomolybdic acid in excess, the precipitate dried at a moderate temperature, then mixed with caustic baryta, and the mixture ignited in a retort connected with a vessel containing hydro¬ chloric acid. Upon increasing the temperature trimethyl¬ amine was volatilized. The residue in the retort was boiled with 90 per cent, alcohol, the baryta removed with carbonic acid, and the filtered alcoholic solution evapo¬ rated. The residue formed a brownish-black varnish-like substance, which gave off ammonia when ignited with soda-lime. It was soluble in water and in alcohol, but insoluble in ether.

In 1869 Wenzell’s statements with respect to ecboline w^ere confirmed by Hermann .f A year later ecboline and ergotine were prepared by Ganser. J

* Pharmaceutische Zeitung f. Russland, vi., 387. t Pharmaceutische Vierteijahresschrift , vol. xviii., p.481. X Arcliiv der Pharmacie, 1870, vol. 144, p, 195.

July 13, 1878.]

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

25

Hermann modified Wenzell’s method somewhat. From the ergot extract purified with lead acetate he removed excess of lead with sulphuric acid, neutralized this with sodium carbonate, and precipitated the ecboline with mercuric chloride.

Hermann digested one part of the precipitate with lead oxide, dried the mixture and exhausted it with alcohol. The alcoholic extract left upon evaporation only a small residue which was not bitter, but tasted strongly of sub¬ limate. Another portion of the precipitate was dried with basic lead carbonate and exhausted with 90 per cent, alcohol This time the residue from evaporation formed a brownish varnish having a disagreeable smell and a bitter taste. Mercuric chloride was no longer recognizable, but probably some lead chloride was present, only 90 per cent, alcohol having been used. The product possessed all the reactions described for ecboline. The remainder of the mercuric chloride precipitate Hermann decomposed with sulphuretted hydrogen, and treated the alkaloidal solu¬ tion according to Wenzell’s method. He mentions that the platinum chloride precipitate did not form directly.

Ganser prepared ecboline and ergotine according to Wen- zell's method, the results only differing slightly. Boiled with caustic potash both alkaloids gave off ammonia, and developed in contact with hydrochloric acid a smell resembling that of Chenopodium Yvlvaria. The ecboline prepared by Ganser had a bitter taste ; the ergotine on the contrary tasted saltish, and did not act so energeti¬ cally as ecboline, which in small doses excited nausea and eructations. According to Ganser the hydroclilorate of ergotine crystallizes in long needles.

In 1872 Wenzell published an appendix to his previous memoir. He maintained the correctness of his opinion that in ergot there are two amorphous alkaloids, and gave instructions for their preparation essentially differ¬ ing from his former method. It consisted in exhausting a pound of coarsely powdered ergot twice with dilute alcohol ; separating the potash salts from the extract by treatment with a little tartaric acid, filtering, and evapo¬ rating the filtrate to dryness with caustic lime and animal charcoal in a water-batli. The dry mass was exhausted with 24 ounces of boiling absolute alcohol, and this was evaporated to one-fourth of its original volume, by which a small quantity of mycose was separated. This was filtered off and the solution treated with an equal volume of ether. This precipitated the ecboline, which formed at first a white flocculent mass, but after the evaporation of the ether quickly melted and became brown. The ecboline so obtained had an alkaline reaction, and was pre¬ cipitated by mercuric chloride and phosphomolybdic acid. The filtrate from the ecboline was heated until all ether was driven off, then evaporated to one-twelfth its ori¬ ginal volume, and treated with two volumes of ether. The ergotine was thus precipitated in a semi-fluid con¬ dition. In aqueous solution it was precipitated by tannic and phosphomolybdic acid but not by mercuric chloride.

At the end of Wenzell’s communication, published in 1865, was a chapter treating of the physiological action of the two alkaloids, the experiments having been carried out by Wenzell upon himself. In his opinion 0‘03 gram of ecboline had an action equally strong with 2 grams of ergot. This dose is said to have exercised a kind of in¬ toxicating influence on the brain, which was communi¬ cated to the muscular system, causing involuntary con¬ tractions of the muscles. This was followed soon by nausea, loss of appetite, a feeling of heaviness and shifting pains in the head, irritation of the muscles, a creeping sensation along the spine and general weakness. The ergotic action lasted about three hours. When the dose was doubled the excitement did not last so long, but it was followed by a greater weakness, accompanied by trembling of the limbs and pains in the chest. The ergotine was stated not to act upon the spine or muscular system.

Quite different results were obtained by Haudelin.* According to his experiments, which were carried out upon cats, both the alkaloids behaved indifferently. He was also unable to distinguish the reactions with potas¬ sium cyanide and platinum chloride described by Wen¬ zell, Ganser and Hermann.

Dragendorff and Podwissotzky found both ecboline and ergotine, prepared according to Wenzell’s method, without action on frogs. Both alkaloids were obtained by them from the filtrate after the precipitation of scle¬ rotic acid. They also isolated ecboline and ergotine direct from ergot and found that the products could scarcely be distinguished.

I have prepared Wenzell’s alkaloids only from the above-mentioned filtrate. This was concentrated in Rostock, where the preparation of sclerotic acid is carried on upon a considerable scale, and sent in the form of extract to Professor Dragendorff, who kindly placed it at my disposal. This extract was treated with warm water, which left undissolved flocculent masses, consisting prin¬ cipally of phosphate of lime that was removed by filtra¬ tion. The extraction with water was continued as long as the water was coloured. The filtrates were united, slightly concentrated, *and treated with neutral acetate of lead, which produced a plentiful precipitate. From the filtrate from the precipitate excess of lead was removed by sulphuretted hydrogen and this driven off by heating. The liquid was then evaporated to a small volume and treated with mercuric chloride in powder and in strong solution. After standing some time a precipitate formed, which was so finely divided that it passed partially through the filter and the filtration had to be repeated several times before the liquid was obtained quite clear. This precipitate would contain Wenzell’ s ecboline, whilst the filtrate would contain Wenzell’s ergotine. It was freed from mercuric chloride by sulphuretted hydrogen and further evaporated. From the concentrated liquid mercuric chloride threw down a further precipitate, but in smaller quantity than the first. Both of the precipi¬ tates, after being washed, were decomposed with sul¬ phuretted hydrogen and the mercuric sulphide filtered off ; this was boiled in 70 per cent, alcohol so as not to lose any alkaloid that might be retained in it mechanically.

The filtrate from the mercuric sulphide, which con¬ tained the hydrochlorate compound of the alkaloid, was evaporated to a small volume at not too high a tempera- ure, and then dried in vacuo over sulphuric acid. In the dry varnish-like residue there were scattered numerous transparent cubical crystals having a salt taste.

I dissolved a portion of the hydrochlorate in water, supersaturated the solution with potassium carbonate, and tried to obtain the alkaloid by agitation. Ether and chloroform however took up so small a quantity that I had to abandon this method of obtaining the pure alkaloid. In order to remove the hydrochloric acid I dissolved the brown varnish in water, and allowed the solution to stand with lead hydrate at the ordinary temperature. After about twelve hours the mixture was exhausted with absolute alcohol. This was distilled off and the residue examined with silver nitrate, which gave a precipitate insoluble in nitric acid. Also upon heating it with potash solution I could detect the smell of trimethylamine that had passed into the alcohol in which the hydrochlo¬ rate of that base is easily soluble. The residue from the distillation I dissolved in water and hoped to be able to separate the alkaloid from the trimethylamine by repeated precipitations with mercuric chloride ; but still, after the decomposition of the precipitate with sulphuretted hydro¬ gen trimethylamine could be detected, and I also observed that the whole of the alkaloid was not precipitated by mercuric chloride, showing that the mercuric precipitate is not very insoluble.

(To be continued.)

* Ein Beitrag zur Kentniss des Mutterkoms in phy- siologisch chemischer Beziehung. 1871.

26

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

[July 13, 1878.

THE PREPARATION OF SAPO VIRIDIS.*

BY E. B. SHUTTLEWORTH.

During the past two or three years several formulas have been published for the preparation of substitutes for green soap, but, as far as my own experience goes, none of them give satisfactory results. A so-called green soap, used until lately in the hospitals here, consisted of a partly saponified, yellowish and almost odourless mass, formed by boiling together, for a considerable time, a mixture of two parts spermaceti and one of solution of potash, sp. gr. 1*300. Another formula, much nearer the mark, directs the saponification of one part of linseed oil by an equal weight of solution of potash, sp. gr. 1*130, The quantity of potash is, however, insufficient, and as one of the the¬ rapeutical essentials of the preparation is that the alkali be in slight excess, the effects realized are not always those which are anticipated. Lastly, we have a recipe given in a short paper by Mr. Herman Betz, in the American Journal of Pharmacy , from which it has been reproduced in most of the pharmaceutical serial publica¬ tions of the time — this journal among, the rest.!

On first looking over this formula, I did not notice that the solution of potash — presumably that of the U. S. P. — is ordered in only about one third the quantity required for saponification, and consequently any attempt to follow this recipe strictly would certainly end in failure and disappointment. Druggists are not always skilled soap boilers, and though the operation is simple it requires considerable experience. I have, therefore, taken the liberty of correcting this error and also beg to add a few plain and practical directions regarding the process.

In a clean pot or dish, preferably of iron or copper, and capable of containing at least three times the quantity, put one part, by weight, of linseed oil ; heat gently and add in two portions, three parts in all, by measure, of liquor potassse, U. S. P. or B. P., providing either come up to the standard requiring 5*8 and 5*84 per cent, of hydrate of potash. Boil quietly and stir frequently until the mass becomes clear, which, with four ounces of oil and twelve fluid ounces of liquor, will require about an hour, and with ten pounds of oil about five hours. If, during the process, the mass becomes too thick to stir easily, add a little water. Allow the soap to become cool, but before it sets, work in the colouring matter, which must be previously prepared by boiling finely powdered indigo with water until the colour is formed into a thin paste. Twenty grains of indigo, boiled with one and a half ounces of water, until the mixture is reduced to about one drachm, will answer for the soap from four ounces of oil. The soap must not be too hot, nor must it be reboiled after adding the colouring, or the green will be destroyed. Mr. Betz’s statement that nothing answers so well as “ the green colouring matter precipitated from a solution of indigo by lime,” is, to say the least of it, very | vague. The method I have given is that pursued by continental makers of green soap J and works well. A Berlin ware or Wedgewood dish may of course be used instead of iron or copper, but as the boiling point of the mixture is high, there is great liability of fracture, and cold water must be added very cautiously, and the stir¬ ring must be almost continuous.

The proportions of oil and alkali given above are such as will turn out a satisfactory article, with most samples of linseed oil, and with ley of the proper strength. I think these definite directions regarding quantities advisable for those who have not had much experience in saponification. The best guide in soap making, where the strength of the ley is not known, is that afforded by applying a very small portion of the soap to the tip of the tongue. The sharp taste of the alkali indicates more boiling, or more oil, or perhaps more water. This test, thoffgh not very scien¬

* From the Canadian Pharmaceutical Journal, June, 1878.

t See Pharm. Journal , [3], vol. viii., p. 853.

X Ure’s Dictionary, Yol. ii., p. 669.

tific, is eminently practical and is very generally employed.

The product will be about twice the weight of the oil used, and should be of a dull bottle-green colour, and in consistence at least not thicker than lard or butter at moderate temperatures, jnst so that it will retain its form, and might be carried on paper.

Genuine green soap should be made from hempseed oil, and is largely used in France ( savon vert), Germany ( grune seife), and other continental countries, where it is almost universally employed in the household. It is not, how¬ ever, always made from this stock, but often from other vegetable and, perhaps, animal oils, and is then coloured in the manner I have indicated. Under the name Sapo Viridis it is official in the German Pharmacopoeia, but this authority does not afford any other information than that the soap is “ a lubricous, soft, yellowish -green mass, of a nauseous smell.” A tincture, or solution in spirit, is used in some parts of Canada, but I am not aware of the exact strength.

THE DETECTION OF MERCURY IN URINE.

The Schneider-Ludwig method of detecting quick¬ silver in animal tissues and liquids, by the electrolytic process, and amalgamation with copper or zinc filings, subsequent reduction of the amalgam by heat, and pro¬ duction of a combination of mercury and iodine, has been modified, and, for clinical purposes, greatly simplified and improved by Dr. Paul Fuerbringer, of Heidelberg. His proceeding, as described in the Berlin Klin. Wochenschrift (No. 23, 1878), is as follows : In 500 to 1000 c.c. of urine, previously acidulated by some mineral or strong vegetable acid, and heated to 60° or 80° C., 0*25 or 0*5 gram of fine brass shavings or brass wool (messingwolle), as he calls it, are immersed, and stirred for about ten minutes. The urine is poured off, and the brass shavings, which have taken up and amalgamated with the mercury, washed in succession with hot water, absolute alcohol and ether, to remove all organic matter. Albumen and glucose in such urine do not at all impede the electrolytic extraction of the mercury, but the presence of purulent and mucous deposits necessitates previous filtration. After the ether has evaporated, the spongy metal is thoroughly dried by squeezing it in filter paper, and then pressed into a solid spindle-shaped mass, which is put into a capillary glass tube of 0*8 ctm. interior diameter, and 15 ctm. length. Both ends of the tube are to be drawn to a thinner volume, of at least 0*1 ctm. diameter, the amalgam remaining inside the wider middle part of about 4 ctm. length. By rotating the latter cautiously over a Bunsen's lamp, and not allowing the temperature to ex¬ ceed the beginning of a dark red heating of the metal,

! the amalgam becomes reduced, and annular deposits of quicksilver formed in the narrow capillary tube ends, generally also some deposits of zinc oxide will be formed, but they always appear as rings inside the quicksilver. The yellow and red combinations with iodine are pro¬ duced by putting a few grains of this metal inside, and heating slowly over a very small flame. The red rings of biniodide'that form will show for years, and quantities down to 0*00025 gram of mercury have shown distinct reactions in a course of several hundred urine examina¬ tions. With quantities of only 0*0001 gram the test sometimes failed, no red rings made their appearance, but this happened to the author likewise with the more cir¬ cumstantial examination by Ludwig’s method. Dr. Fuerbringer promises to adapt his method for testing other animal liquids, and it is to be hoped he will improve it for the purposes of qualitative tests. It need not be remarked that it applies to all pharmaceutical prepara¬ tions of mercury, and will be of especial interest and value in determining the quantities of excreted metal in courses of bichloride treatment, inunction, mercury baths, and in cases treated by large calomel doses. In cases of

July 13, 1878.]

THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS.

27

acute poisoning by corrosive sublimate, the secretion of urine is either scanty or altogether suppressed, so that attempts to ascertain the presence of mercury in the kidney secretions would be, very likely, unsuccessful.

CHILIAN SALTPETRE.*

For some time past, frequent mention has been made of the rich deposits of nitrate of soda and guano, and of mines of silver and copper which were supposed to exist at the northern extremity of the Chilian territory. A few adventurous explorers had attempted and accom¬ plished expeditions of discovery into those parts, and some daring capitalists had based speculative projects for working the country. But all these attempts which were made by private individuals were met by considerable obstacles in a barren desert, separated from the sea by an almost continuous chain of mountains, called the Cordil¬ leras of the Coast, where means of communication are rare and transport costly, and where even water fit to drink cannot