August 7, 1919] 



NATURE 



455 



all who may be engaged in pure or applied science 

 or in industrial operations in which colloids play a 

 part. 



It is obvious, from the mere enumeration of the 

 subject-headings, that a very valuable amount of 

 material has been collected which, it is hoped, will 

 serve the purpose of emphasising the fundamental 

 iniportance of colloid chemistry for operations and 

 ;jrocesses which, at first sight,' might appear to be 

 wholly distinct. 



A number of sections remain to be dealt with, and 

 it is hoped that these will be included in the third 

 report which is now in preparation. 



W. C. McC. Lewis. 



THE BRITISH PHARMACEUTICAL 

 CONFERENCE. 

 ^^HE papers communicated to the British Pharma- 

 -*• ceutical Conference at the annual meeting on 

 July 22-23 attained an exceptionally high standard of 

 pharmaceutical and scientific importance. Summaries 

 of a few papers are subjoined. 



K. Samaan, in "An Experimental Study of Stro- 

 phanthus, Kombe, Seeds," clears up a former point of 

 controversy^ by showing that the fat extracted from 

 properly dried seeds by petroleum ether is devoid of 

 physiological activity. Comparisons of the determina- 

 tion of strophanthin, physiologically and bv various 

 quantitative methods, showed Barclay's, Fromme's 

 (19 10), and Lampart and Mueller's processes all to 

 give satisfactory results. For the preparation of 

 strophanthus tincture 65 per cent, of alcohol is recom- 

 mended. 



In a general account of " Recent Advances in Vac- 

 cine Therapy," H. E. Annett points out that one of 

 the greatest factors militating against success in vac- 

 cine treatment is the difficulty of ensuring that suffi- 

 cient antigen is introduced into the blood-stream to 

 overcome the effects of the infecting agents. Atten- 

 tion is directed to the importance of David Thompson's 

 method {Lancet, June 28, 19 19) for removing the toxins 

 from vaccines without damaging the "antigen," so 

 that quantities of such vaccines, ten to one hundred 

 times greater than were possible before, may with 

 safety be employed. The significance of this is illus- 

 trated by Dr. Wynn's striking discovery that, by 

 employing what previously would have been regarded 

 as enormous doses of suitable vaccines, cases of acute 

 pneumonia, acute influenza, and acute influenzal 

 bronchiopneumonia can successfully be treated. The 

 doses employed contained, for an adult, 30-50 millions 

 of B. influenzae and 50-100 millions each of Diplo- 

 coccus pneumoniae and Streptococcus. By prompt 

 treatment on these lines an attack of influenza can 

 definitely be aborted. 



E. Berry contributed an important paper on "A 

 Standardisation of Digitalis Preparations." The dis- 

 advantages of the physiological method of standardisa- 

 li tion by determination of the minimum lethal dose are 

 f that a vivisection licence is necessary, and that a large 

 ' number of frogs are required for each sample; further, 

 the M.L.D. method records toxicity only. The author 

 puts forward a colorimetric process which is a 

 development of that proposed by Martindale. ' Alcohol, 

 saponin, and digitoxin are first removed from' the 

 \ tincture to be tested, after which the residue is treated 

 [ with Frohde's reagent, and the significance of the 

 colour produced read off from a colour-chart. The 

 t result records the equivalent M.L.D. values for the 

 [ waters oluhle glucosides onlv, and is teimed the 

 l "therapeutic value" of the tincture, (A). A second 

 [ estimation carried out similarly, but in presence of 

 I 70 per cent, alcohol, and without removing digitoxin, 



NO. 2597, VOL. 103] 



etc., gives the M.L.D. equivalent of the total gluco- 

 sides, (B). The "toxic value " is given by (B-A), and 

 the comparative toxicity by the expression B— A/A. 

 Comparison of these values with those afforded by a 

 standard tincture gives a trustworthy evaluation of 

 the preparation. 



A. J. Jones, in "Purified Ether and the Variations 

 of Commercial Samples," records the examination of 

 nine samples prepared by different manufacturers. 

 He directs attention to certain differences which exist 

 between the "purified ether" of the British Pharma- 

 copoeia and "anaesthetic ether," and suggests that 

 both typ>es should receive official recognition, and a 

 distinction drawn as to the special adaptations of the 

 particular ether. This seems called for, as Dr. Cotton, 

 of the McGill University, has recently put forward the 

 view that absolutely pure ether is not anaesthetic in 

 the full sense of the term ; that it is narcotic, but 

 not analgesic, the analgesic properties of ethers being 

 due to traces of impurities — ethylene being suggested. 



In a paper dealing with the couch-grass of com- 

 merce, " Tnftcum repens t A Commercial Rarity," 

 Dr. James Small shows that the majority of a number 

 of commercial samples examined consisted of Cynoden 

 dactylon, or dog-grass, and not of the true couch- 

 grass, Triticum repens. 



T. E. Wallis, in "The Use of Lycopodium in 

 Quantitative Microscopy," directs attention to the 

 great value of this substance, which he shows to con- 

 tain 94,000 spores per milligram, for determining the 

 quantities of materials present in microscopic pre- 

 parations. 



In "Terebene and its Pharmacopoeia Standards" 

 B. F. Howard demonstrates the manufacturer's diffi- 

 culty in producing a product which complies with the 

 British Pharmacopoeia requirement of optical in- 

 activity and specific gravity, owing to the great 

 alteration in recent years in the character of American 

 turpentine. He suggests that main reliance should be 

 placed in a distillation standard. 



Miss L. K. Pearson describes "A Comparative 

 Studv of the Pungencv of Synthetic Aromatic Ketones 

 related to Zingerone." The substances considered are 

 of the type 



CeH,.CH = CH.COOR and C,H,.CH,.CH,.COOR, 



where one or more hydrogens of the benzene nucleus 

 are substituted by hydroxyl or methoxyl groups, and 

 where R represents a methyl, ethyl, or phenyl radicle. 

 The following are among the generalisations made : — 

 (a) The saturated ketones are less pungent than the 

 corresponding unsaturated ones ; (b) an increase in 

 weight of the side chain materially increases the pun- 

 gencv of the compound ; (c) the replacement of the 

 hydrogen of the phenolic hydroxyl group by an acyl 

 radicle has very little effect ; and (d) the replacement of 

 the tnetahydrogen of the benzene nucleus in /)-hydroxy- 

 phenyl ethyl ketone by a methoxy-group brings about 

 a decided increase in pungency, as does also the re- 

 placement by methyl of the hydroxylic hydrogen in 

 the rnetahydiroxy-group of 3 : 4-dihydroxystyryl methyl 

 ketone. The most pungent of all substances examined 

 was o-hvdroxystyryi methyl ketone. 



In "Notes on the Examination of Eosins and 

 Erythrosins." T. T. Cocking, J. D. Kettle, and E. J. 

 Chappel give a method of estimation, and show the 

 inferioritv of the best pre-war German samples to 

 those now being produced in England. 



S. B. Tallantyre directed attention to the general 

 applicability of the formaldehyde process for estimating 

 bismuth, by which the preparation, after a preliminary 

 decomposition with hydrochloric acid, is reduced by 

 formaldehyde and sodium hydroxide to metallic bis- 

 muth. 



