EDINBURGH MEETING. 399 
possessing the purgative properties, without the nauseous, bitter taste, of the 
sulphate and seme other salts of magnesia. 
Pepsine .—The medicine generally sold under this name in the form of powder, 
is a mixture of starch with a peculiar organic principle and acid salts obtained 
from the fresh stomachs of animals, principally pigs and sheep. A process for 
its preparation is given in the French Codex, and something of a similar descrip¬ 
tion might perhaps be introduced with advantage in our Pharmacopoeia. 
A cordial vote of thanks was then presented to Professor Redwood, and, 
owing to the lateness of the hour, the discussion upon the paper was adjourned 
till the next meeting, on the 5th of January. 
PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY, EDINBURGH. 
North British Branch. 
The Second Meeting of the present session was held in St. George’s Hall, on Friday 
evening, 17th December. There was a full attendance. Mr. Aitken, President, in the 
chair. 
Mr. William Gilmour read a paper “On Metrical Weights and Measures,” in which 
he remarked that the importance of the subject was shown by the interest it had long 
excited among scientific men, and by the fact that it had lately been the subject of a 
Royal Commission in our own country, while other countries had already adopted, or 
were about to adopt it. It was the more important to the chemist and druggist, as it 
might be expected from his acquaintance with scientific subjects that he would take a 
prominent part in bringing about any alteration that was found necessary or desirable 
in the system now in use. The present system, he said, was very defective, and as its 
defects were acknowledged in the Pharmacopoeia, it could scarcely be expected that it 
would be permanently retained, especially as the tendency of the day was evidently in 
favour of a universal system. In a British point of view the grain, as a unit, had much 
to recommend it, especially in its relation to pharmacy; but, as a whole, the system of 
weights and measures employed in pharmacy was that which in this country presented 
the most glaring defects. The Medical Council, in the compilation of the Pharmacopoeia, 
not only admitted the defects of the recognized system of weights and measures, but 
introduced the thin edge of the metrical system, as an alternative, and the only alterna¬ 
tive system. As the question seemed to rest between a further alteration of our own 
system and the adoption of the metrical system, it would probably be admitted that the 
former alternative would be quite as difficult although not so satisfactory as the latter. 
That the issue lay between these two systems appeared from the following considera¬ 
tions :—1st. That the metrical was the only alternative system alluded to in the Phar¬ 
macopoeia. 2nd. That it had received the approbation of most scientific men, and had 
been adopted by more countries than any other system. 3rd. That the Government 
had proposed its legalization, and gave it a permissive sanction. And Ith, that the 
Standards Commission had recommended its introduction and use. It would be found, 
on applying a few practical tests to the two systems, that the metrical had a decided 
advantage over the other. Thus with reference to weights, in the metrical system, 
taking the gramme for its unit, there was a regular ascent and descent by easy gradients 
of tens, whereas in the British system, taking the grain for its unit, it was quite otherwise, 
as there was no integer between the grain and the ounce, while the latter was not even 
a multiple of the former. In ordinary commercial transactions the inconvenience arising 
from this anomaly was not felt as it was in the more delicate operations of chemistry 
and pharmacy. With reference to measures of capacity also, in the metrical system not 
only was there a uniform and definite relationship between the different units, but also 
between these and the units of weight, whereas in our system such relationships did 
not exist, and confusion was even created by the application of the same names to 
measures of weight and capacity that bore no definite relationship to each other. This 
sometimes gave rise to uncertainties, and possibly to mistakes. He did not say that un¬ 
certainties might not. arise in the use of other systems as well as our own, and it might 
