512 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [December 33 , lass. 
tartaric acid, citric acid, malic acid, oxalic acid, gallio 
acid, mucic acid, lactic acid, uric acid, prussic acid, and 
glycerine. In the department of inorganic chemistry, 
he discovered molybdic acid, tungstic acid, arsenic acid, 
and baryta; he conducted series of valuable investiga¬ 
tions upon fluorspar and black oxide of manganese, and 
discovered chlorine and (a short time after, but quite 
independently of, Priestley) oxygen. 
This list is a marvellous monument of genius and 
industry, and we are sometimes tempted to speculate as 
to what Scheele might have done, with wealth, social 
influence, and long life. But the peculiarities of 
Scheele’s work, its independence and directness, his 
confidence in Nature and distrust of authority, were no 
doubt greatly owing to the conditions of his life, which 
appear at first sight so unfavourable ; and it is not im¬ 
possible that with greater advantages he might have 
done less, as it is certain that scarcely any chemist had 
fewer advantages, and that none has done more. 
Scheele’s work was almost purely practical; towards 
the close of his life he published, in connection with his 
discovery of oxygen and. of chlorine, important specula¬ 
tions on Air and Combustion, but it is with his dis¬ 
coveries of methods and facts that his name will always 
be associated. 
There will always be pharmacists as poor and as 
unaided as Scheele, though we can scarcely hope that one 
of them will rival him as a discoverer; but all, what¬ 
ever may be their circumstances, can imitate his industiy 
and thoroughness, his quiet self-respect and devotion 
to the truth of nature, and by doing so each will make 
the most of whatever genius he may happen to possess. 
At the close of the lecture a hearty vote of thanks 
was proposed by the chairman and seconded by Mr. 
Gilmore. Professor Crum Brown replied, and the 
meeting thereafter separated. 
Mtinxial Inrasitfitirais. 
BRISTOL PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION. 
The usual monthly evening meeting of the association 
was held on Friday, December 13th; the President, Mr. 
Townsend, briefly opened the proceedings. 
Mr. Giles exhibited a modified form of copper siphon 
for the more convenient transference of spirits of wine or 
other liquids. 
The suction tube was differently arranged (being 
placed at the top of the arch) so as to enable the operator 
to put the instrument into action with a less violent 
effort of the lungs than is necessitated by the usual 
vintners’ siphon, and also to avoid the inspiration of 
strong spirit which almost necessarily attends the use of 
the old siphon for that liquid. 
A lecture was then delivered “ On the Processes em¬ 
ployed in the work of Organic Chemistry ” by Thos. 
Coomber, Esq., F.C.S., upon the following outline :— 
(1) Fractional distillation, with experimental illustrations 
of the process at work ; (2) Pressure tube operations— 
illustration of the mode of conducting these operations. 
Collection and examination of ethyl; (3) Limited oxida¬ 
tion—working illustration of the process, and examina¬ 
tion of the product; (4) Processes of Organic Analysis— 
Methods of Liebig, Will and Varrentrapp, and Dumas, 
in operation, with experimental illustrations of the prin¬ 
ciples on which these operations depend. 
CARLISLE CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 
The monthly meeting of this association was held on 
Friday evening, the 20th inst., in the class-room, 
Barwise Court. Votes of thanks having been passed to 
Messrs. Maw, Son and Thompson, London, for their gift 
• of several useful articles of chemical apparatus, and to 
Messrs. Barron, Harvey and Co. for their present of 
fifteen remarkably fine specimens of drugs, a very 
interesting paper on “ Water and Water Analysis” was 
read by Joseph Pattinson, Esq., and illustrated by several 
experiments. 
There was a moderate attendance of members and 
associates; Mr. A. Thompson, President in the chair. 
On the conclusion of the reading of the paper, a vote 
of thanks was unanimously passed to Mr. Pattinson for 
his kindness. 
pmtfijkfs of JJtittttifif 3m\m. 
ASSOCIATION OF MEDICAL OFFICERS OF 
HEALTH. 
On Saturday, Dec. 21, Dr. Letheby, the Medical Officer 
of Health and public analyst for the City of London, 
presided at a meeting of the Association of Medical 
Officers of Health, held at the hall of the Scottish Cor¬ 
poration in Crane Court. He opened an important dis¬ 
cussion on the working of the new Adulteration Act, 
premising that he had transmitted to Mr. Stansfeld the 
suggestions of the association as to the effective working 
of the Act, and especially that in which they urged that 
the appointment as analysts of persons having compe¬ 
tent medical, microscopical, and chemical knowledge 
should be strictly carried out. He had received a reply 
to the effect that the suggestions should receive the at¬ 
tention of the Local Governing Board, and that the 
Board would require satisfactory evidence of the qualifi¬ 
cations of the appointed analysts. What that “ satisfac¬ 
tory evidence ” was to consist of he was not yet aware. 
He contended that it was advisable that the Act should 
be carried out with uniformity all over the metropolis, 
and he, therefore, proposed to suggest to his fellow- 
analysts what should be the mode of procedure. First, 
he said, it was necessary that the articles should be 
“ suspected to be adulterated,” and that suspicion might 
be either special or general. If special, and the suspi¬ 
cion was directed against one particular article or one 
particular man, he had ordered in his own district that 
forms should be kept in which any one could enter a 
complaint, and hand it for private retention to the in¬ 
spector. They must not keep a book of complaints, be¬ 
cause tradesmen and others in such a case could see who 
were the persons complaining and act accordingly. The 
suspicion ought to be a well-recognized and well-grounded 
one, and not mere idle gossip. If general, and the sus¬ 
picion was directed against all the dealers in a certain 
article, say milk or coffee, in a particular district, the 
analyst would clearly be justified in directing the in¬ 
spectors to purchase samples of such suspected article 
from each and all of them. There would be, in such a 
proceeding, no invidious selection made, and besides, the 
analysis, directed as it would be to one particular article, 
would be more conveniently made. The Act next pro¬ 
vided that the purchaser or inspector must prove to the 
satisfaction of the justice that the article in question was 
delivered to the analyst in the same condition in every 
respect as it was when he received it from the seller. 
How was that to be accomplished ? In the case of an 
ordinary purchaser, he must give notice at the time to 
the dealer of his intention to submit it for analysis, so 
that he might either put his seal to it, or at once accom¬ 
pany the purchaser to the inspector. But in the case of an 
inspector purchasing an article no such form need be gone 
through, for it was obvious that if once the officer declared 
himself he would never be able to purchase again. After 
a purchase, the purchaser wishing to have the article 
analysed would hand it to the inspector, and on payment 
of a sum to be fixed in each district, varying from 2s. 6d. 
to 10s. Gd., an analysis would be made and a certificate 
given. The analyst had no business to receive any 
articles direct from the purchasers, for the Act provided 
