502 
PROVINCIAL TRANSACTIONS. 
LIVERPOOL CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 
The Seventh General Meeting was held in the Royal Institution, on the evening of 
January 18th; the President, A. Redford, Esq., in the chair. Messrs. F. Bryan, A. Wil¬ 
liams, and H. Mossop were elected members. The President described a ready method 
of preparing Pil Ferri lodicli , that might be practised by members in case of emergency. 
Mr. Wright instanced a ready means by which he was enabled to obtain clear Liq. po- 
tassse. Dr. Edwards mentioned that he was present at the Council Board of the Phar¬ 
maceutical Society when the resolutions adopted at a former meeting of the Association 
were brought forward for consideration, and that he felt at liberty to say that the 
Council had every disposition to advance the views of the Association on all possible 
occasions, but in the case referred to the Council considered that it was inadvisable to 
take action in the matter. The President expressed the thanks of the Association to 
the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society for the courtesy and goodwill shown on the 
occasion. 
The President then introduced Professor Archer, F.R.S.E., who read the paper of the 
evening “ On the Sources and Uses of Starch.” The author dwelt more upon the many 
plants of tropical growth which secreted starch in such quantities as would prove profit¬ 
able of extraction, and the nature and properties of such starches. In the course of the 
paper he reflected upon the supineness of Englishmen in embarking upon new enter¬ 
prises of a commercial and manufacturing nature, unless the paths had been well marked 
out and leading to successful results. In this respect he considered we were a good way 
behind our French neighbours, whose activity in obtaining useful products from many 
sources of which Englishmen took little note might be emulated with much advantage 
to many branches of British industry. At the conclusion of the paper a vote of thanks 
was proposed from the chair, to be passed to the Professor for his instructive paper. 
This was accorded by acclamation, and the meeting concluded. 
The Eighth General Meeting was held on the evening of February 1st; the Vice- 
President, Nathan Mercer, Esq., occupying the chair. 
Dr. Edwards said that he was commissioned to offer a few descriptive remarks on the 
small French magnetic apparatus exhibited by the Vice-President. In the course of his 
remarks he passed a high eulogium on the constructive and adaptative talent of the 
French, who frequently placed before the public, and within the limits of what might 
be termed a “ toy,” apparatus which others regarded in the light of ponderous and com¬ 
plicated arrangements. This was especially the case with the instrument on the table ; 
for while to all outward appearance there was little indicative of the arrangements of 
the large electric batteries employed in many researches, yet its power was such as to 
give all the phenomena of electric discharges of the larger batteries in a remarkable 
degree. He declared his inability to conceive how electricity of the tension required 
was produced in the little pocket instrument under consideration, but that it was pro¬ 
duced was beyond question. He then proceeded to exhibit the varied effects by passing 
the spark through various rarified media, showing the stratification of the light, etc. etc., 
as usually seen when the large battery and coil were employed. The Chairman thanked 
Dr. Edwards for his remarks and illustrations, and then called upon Mr. Thos. Williams 
to read the paper of the evening “ On Maceration and Percolation in the Preparation of 
Medicinal Tinctures and Extracts.” Mr. Williams entered at once into the consideration 
of the practical requisites and conditions for effecting the exhaustion of medicinal matters 
of their valuable principles, also of the best forms of apparatus suited for percolation. 
With respect to the term “ displacement,” as applied to the exhaustion of certain bodies, 
he considered it a misnomer, as, instead of displacement, only a degree of dilution was 
effected in the adapted forms of vessels for this purpose. Maceration and certain forms 
of macerating vessels, including Redwood’s automatic macerator, were described, as also 
a modification of the latter apparatus, which the author found to give good results. In 
the body of the paper the author dwelt upon other matters of practical difficulty and 
suggested improvements which in many instances he found answered well. After the 
