142 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION B. — SUB-SECTION, PHARMACY. 



but they are not difficTilt to overcome. Other alkaline bismutho- 

 tartrates are easily prepared by substituting alkaline hydroxides or 

 carbonates for the solution of ammonia in the above formula. None 

 of these compounds appear to possess any particular advantage over 

 the bismutho-citrates, and are never likely to take their place in 

 medicine. 



Alkaline Bismutho-racemates. — Kacemic acid, as would be supposed 

 from its relation to tartaric acid, readily forms alkaline bismutho- 

 racemates. They are, of course, only of interest in the laboratory. 



Other Organic Bismuth Compounds. — Bismuth Malate, Bismuth 

 Succinate, Bismuth Phthalate, Bismuth Camphorate, are all easily 

 prepared compounds of bismuth, but in no case do they form soluble 

 compounds with alkalis. The behaviour of Bismuth Malate towards 

 alkalis is interesting, as its relationship to tartaric add would lead one 

 to anticipate the formation of soluble compounds similar to the 

 tartrates. 



6.— MODERN METHODS OF ANALYTICAL CONTROL. 

 By J. H. E. Evans. 

 (Communicated by R. C. Cowley.) 



During recent years, perhaps, no department of the business of 

 a manufacturer and wholesale distributor of the requirements of the 

 drug trade has been more prominently before his mind than the 

 necessity of adequate analytical control. The day when a good nose, 

 a good eye for colour and shape, a sensitive touch, and a general 

 commercial knowledge of the quality of material handled were con- 

 sidered sufficient is past ; the medical man and the pharmacist 

 demand, and rightly so, a guarantee of purity and quality which can 

 only be conscientiously given after an adequate scientific examination 

 of the material in question. The researches into the constituents of 

 our crude materia medica which have followed the general advancement 

 of science in all directions, is the first cause which has led up to this 

 demand. In the case of many products, we know now what we are 

 dealing with — why a certain drug gives a certain result, and to what 

 active principle or principles in that drug the effect is mainly due. 

 We know how such active principles can be best extracted and preserved 

 in the preparations thereof. We know that certain impurities may exist 

 in certain chemicals, and that by improved methods of manufacture 

 they can be eliminated. We know, in the case of many natural products, 

 their chemical constituents and their physical reactions, and it is right 

 and proper that those who rely on them when sick should obtain the 

 full benefit of the researches and investigations which have resulted in 

 the knowledge we possess. 



