BRITISH PHARMACEUTICAL CONFERENCE, EXETER. 427 



of repute (and what I examined had been purchased long "before 1869. 

 attention had been called to the subject) had precisely those 

 properties which are characteristic of the true alkaloid. The 

 chemistry of aconite, a most difficult subject, is now occupying 

 the attention of some of our best pharmacologists, and their 

 labours cannot fail to make plain some points in its history 

 hitherto obscure. 



In the suggestive list of Subjects for Papers which our secre- 

 taries do not fail annually to bring before us, there has been for 

 years included a catalogue of vegetable alkaloids each of which 

 for one or several reasons, requires further investigation. One 

 of these, Buxine, is the subject of a very interesting memoir by Buxine. 

 our esteemed member Dr. Fliickiger, an abstract of which, with 

 some new matter, he has been good enough to prepare for our 

 meeting. I shall be glad if some other of our members will 

 undertake to reduce this list. 



The adulteration of olive oil is a subject that has often Olive oil. 

 claimed the attention of chemists, and the diversity of the tests 

 proposed indicates how difficult it is to detect the sophistication 

 of this important production. The increase in the manufacture 

 of soap in some of the cities of southern Europe has led to the 

 importation of a variety of oils and oil-seeds which have pre- 

 sented strong temptations to tamper with the oil shipped as 

 olive oil to foreign countries. For the benefit of any of our 

 members who may feel disposed to work on such a subject, I 

 may mention that a prize of 600 is offered by the Chamber of 

 Commerce of the Department of the Alpes Maritimes for a 

 prompt and easy method, not involving a chemical process, of 

 recognizing the mixture of seed-oils with olive-oil. 



Our indefatigable colleague Dr. Attfield has during the past 

 year communicated many practical and useful observations on 

 pharmaceutical subjects, one of which I will here briefly recall 

 to your memory. 



PEECIPITATED SULPHUE. Notwithstanding that attention has 

 been repeatedly called to the desirableness of supplying this 

 drug in a pure form, it appears that the calcareous Milk of 

 Sulphur, consisting of about 34 per cent, of sulphur with 66 per 



