LIVERPOOL CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 
7 
necessary for the production of ammonia or nitric acid. The writer also explained by 
diagram the action of hydrochloric and nitric acids in producing the compound “ aqua 
regia,” and the active principle thereof. 
The Secretary, in bearing witness to the accuracy and ability of the author of the 
paper, offered a tew practical remarks as the result of his own experience in an alkali 
works. 
Mr. Colby described some remarkable facts connected with the manufacture of sul¬ 
phuric acid, as the deposition of sulphuret of arsenic in the flues, and the formation of 
“chamber crystals” at the doors of the furnaces when the draught was bad. 
The President proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Fraser, and urged the younger 
members to follow his example, and bring forward any new facts, or the results of their 
studies in short papers. 
The vote was carried unanimously. 
Fifteenth General Meeting, held May 23rd, 1867; the President, Mr. R. Sumner, in 
the chair. 
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and passed. 
Donations to the Library were announced by the Secretary, and thanks were unani¬ 
mously voted to the donors. 
The Secretary described Dr. Clapham’s process* which consists of the employment 
of light petroleum spirit. 
Mr. Shaw mentioned a letter which he had received from Dr. Edwards, and pro¬ 
phesied a very successful future to him in Montreal, as an expositor of science. 
The President then called upon Mr. Charles Sharp to read a paper on “ Ancient and 
Modern Physic Gardens.” 
After some introductory remarks, Mr. Sharp referred to the cultivation of medicine- 
plants amongst the earliest nations of the world; he then described physic gardening as 
it existed in the times of Theophrastus and Pliny, alluding also to many fantastic 
vegetable remedies used by the Romans. The next period was the Saxon or Monkish, 
in which medicine was almost entirely in the hands of the monks, the physic gardens 
being attached to monasteries. This was followed by the Galenical war, which resulted 
in the introduction of chemicals into medicine, and a consequent less frequent use of 
vegetable remedies. Mr. Sharp then described the physic gardens of the Elizabethan 
age, and referred to the labours of Gerarde, Parkinson, Salmon, and also to the influ¬ 
ences upon the Pharmacopoeias of the works of Culpeper. A sketch of the botanic 
gardens and the progress of medical botany in the eighteenth century, included some re¬ 
marks on the popular medical delusions of the time. 
The paper concluded with sketches of modern physic gardens in England, on the 
Continent, and the United States, with an expression of the author’s belief, that the cul¬ 
tivation of medicinal plants in England deserved more attention than had hitherto been 
paid to it. 
The President proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Sharp for his clever, witty, and in¬ 
structive paper. 
Messrs. Robinson, Shaw, and Redeord spoke in terms of the highest commendation 
of the paper, and the vote was carried by acclamation. 
This being the concluding meeting of the session, the President then read his Vale¬ 
dictory Address:— 
We have now arrived at the close of our session, when of late years it has been cus¬ 
tomary with my predecessors to bid you farewell. To me the sound of the word ‘ adieu ’ 
is far from pleasant, whatever the event which calls for it, and were it not confined now 
to my office, and not to myself, I have few associations which would cost me so much 
as to use it to members of the Liverpool Chemists’ Association. 
We are, however, as a body about to take our flight, only for a little while, to return 
again, I hope, in due time to our old location and our old vocation. 
Like other birds of passage, our season has afforded us an increase of numbers, but 
how far our young ones will allow us to run the parallel must be left for the future to 
unfold; with regard to some we may plume ourselves in the prospect they encourage 
us to anticipate of their efficiency. 
To help both young and old members, the Council have drawn out a list of some sub¬ 
jects for our next session, which I hope will be readily taken up and fully exhausted. 
