DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES. 
265 
CHEMISTRY AND PHARMACY. 
Dr. Redwood said he had the honour of reporting the result of the exami¬ 
nation in Chemistry and Pharmacy. He had now been, for more than twenty- 
five years, in the habit of thus annually presenting himself as one of the pro¬ 
fessors of the Society, and had therefore had an opportunity of tracing the pro¬ 
gress which had been made in successive years by the students attending the In¬ 
stitution, and it was no small commendation of the proficiency of some of the 
students in the late session that he should be able to say, as he did most em¬ 
phatically, that on no former occasion had the answers given by the successful 
competitors possessed a higher value than on the present occasion ; he might 
even go further, and say that never before had the answers been of so high a 
value. On a retrospect of the experience of past years in reference to the re¬ 
sults of the teaching afforded, it was gratifying to be able to say that there had 
been a gradual but certainly progressive improvement manifested by the stu¬ 
dents. For instance, in early years it was found necessary to be less exacting 
in the answers required and more indulgent to the students, but, as time pro¬ 
gressed, they had become more stringent, and more searching questions were 
set for the students in each successive year ; and, while this had been the case, 
the answers given had fully kept pace with the requirements of the questions. 
At the last examination a list of questions was prepared, calculated to elicit 
from the more advanced students the full amount of knowledge which they 
possessed upon a number of important points in chemistry and the allied 
branches of science, and the answers which were furnished were of an unusually 
excellent character. Putting the total value of complete answers to all the 
questions at one hundred, the least value he had been able to attach to either 
of the sets of answers furnished by the successful competitors was ninety, the 
highest being ninety-six. Upon his report, the Council decided upon awarding 
a medal to two gentlemen, the values of whose answers were very nearly the 
same,—one being ninety-six, and the other ninety-five, and to another com¬ 
petitor, whose answers were really not very far short in value, an honorary 
certificate had been awarded. In conclusion, he could only say that he felt it 
an honour to have had in his class three gentlemen who had manifested so pre¬ 
eminently the good use which they had made of the time they had spent in the 
Institution ; and he had no doubt that their future career would fully justify 
the expectations which had been formed concerning them. The following were 
the questions and the names of the successful competitors :— 
1. Explain the leading features of the metric system of weights and measures. Give 
the values of the gramme and kilogramme in grains, and of the metre in inches. 
State the relationship of the litre to the kilogramme. 
2. A solid substance (a), which weighs 225 grains in air, when suspended in water 
weighs 195 grains, and suspended in a liquid ( x) weighs 192 grains. What are 
the specific gravities of a and x ? 
3. Explain how solution of dextrine affects a ray of light. What is the meaning of the 
term ‘‘fluorescence”? 
4. Describe the method of producing nitrous oxide, pointing out the precautions to be 
taken to ensure its freedom from impurity, and giving its composition and pro¬ 
perties, and the reaction which occurs in its production. 
5. Describe the Pharmacopoeia processes for the preparation of Calomel and White Pre¬ 
cipitate , referring at the same time to other processes for the production of these 
medicines, and pointing out differences in the nature of the products obtained by 
such processes. 
6. Give the formulae, according to the new notation, for Wafer, Alcohol , Ether, Acetic 
Ether , and Glycerine, and show the supposed relationship which these bodies bear 
to each other. 
7. Describe the artificial production of Urea. 
8. How is Lactic Acid produced, and what is its composition? 
