264 
PHARMACEUTICAL MEETING. 
stances ; and probably some such change takes place in this instance, for, if the 
yellowed ointment be rubbed up on a slab with a few drops either of liquor of 
ammonia or potash, it speedily becomes greyish-black,—thus showing either that 
some reducing action has taken place, or that the organic acids of the fat em¬ 
ployed have entered into combination with the metallic base, forming a mer¬ 
curous salt. 
I incline to the latter view, seeing that similar changes or combinations of 
the organic fatty acids with the metallic base take place, through time, in the 
ointments of oxide of lead, zinc, and acetate of lead, and probably also in the 
Emplastrum Plumbi Iodidi of the new Pharmacopoeia.* 
The elucidation of these chemical points I leave to those better able and more 
fortunately situated for time than I am. I simply desire to direct attention to 
the omission which seems to me to have been made by Mr. Barnes in his excel¬ 
lent paper, and to the trifling, but yet important, alteration which should be 
made in the test for this substance in the next edition of our national Phar¬ 
macopoeia. 
Kilmarnock , October 17 th, 1867. 
Mr. Barnes said he had not found so large a proportion of the samples he 
had examined to be fusible as the author of the paper had. He believed that 
only two or three out of fifty of his samples consisted of the fusible variety. 
The President observed that it was gratifying to find the more serious adul¬ 
terations were no longer practised,—an improvement brought about in a great 
measure by the Pharmaceutical Society, which afforded frequent opportunities 
for drawing attention to and discussing such matters. 
Dr. Redwood thought the subject, as brought under their notice by Mr. 
Borland, was important, as it seemed not improbable that the old method of 
making the preparation would be continued by some manufacturers unless it 
were complained of, as the product so obtained contained a much smaller pro¬ 
portion of the most expensive ingredient, namely, the mercury. 
Mr. Bottle thought it very desirable to know whether there was any differ¬ 
ence in the medicinal value of the two preparations. 
Dr. Redwood said they were hardly in a position to deal with the medical 
part of the question, which must be decided by medical men. He was not 
aware that the relative values, medicinally, of the two preparations had been 
determined. 
PREPARATION OF SUPPOSITORIES AND MEDICATED 
PESSARIES. 
BV MR. BARNARD S. PROCTOR. 
This communication was intended as a supplement to a paper on the same 
subject inserted in the previous number of the Pharmaceutical Journal. It was 
accompanied by a large number of specimens illustrating the apparatus used and 
the products obtained. 
The author stated :— 
With regard to the samples in illustration of this paper, I wish it to be 
noticed that they are not sent for comparison with the productions of any other 
maker, but simply to illustrate what I have been saying. The apparatus is in 
the rough and ready condition which alone could show the truth of what I have 
asserted. Several of the suppositories have been removed from their foil-mould 
* If this plaster is to be kept prepared, and not made extemporaneously as required, there 
must be some change effected in the formula given in B.P. It rapidly loses its bright yellow 
colour, in consequence, I think, of the soda of the soap plaster decomposing the iodide, and 
forming, pro tanto , an iodide and iodate of soda, and oleate or stearate of lead. 
