December 23, 1872.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
that everything should he done through the inspector. 
In the case of an inspector buying and bringing an article 
to the analyst, he must designate the article by a number, 
enter in a memorandum-book all the circumstances re¬ 
lating to the purchase, and secure and seal samples of 
the articles, so that in case of dispute a further investi¬ 
gation might be made. The duties of the analyst were 
to witness the sealing of the articles, to conduct the 
analysis, and to give the certificate. As to the manner 
of conducting the analysis, he ought first to make a phy¬ 
sical examination with reference to the appearance, 
colour, smell, or taste of the thing, then a microscopical 
examination to discover the structure of the substance, 
and, lastly, a chemical examinatiom Dr. Letheby 
strongly dwelt on the importance in all analyses of the 
incineration of the article, which, he said, was perhaps the 
greatest “ tell-tale.” He observed that the analyst was 
bound to give a certificate to an ordinary purchaser, but 
there was nothing to compel him to give one when the 
inspector himself bought the article. He advised his 
colleagues so to frame their certificates that they might 
not be used as trade “puffs,” and he submitted a form of 
certificate which met his view on the subject. They 
must sign and write their certificates in the presence of 
the inspector, and those certificates would be then legal 
evidence, and there was no necessity for the analyst to 
appear in a court of law at all. By the Licensing Act, 
where the analysts were appointed by the Inland Re¬ 
venue, it was provided that they should attend the Court 
for the purpose of cross-examination if need be, but 
there was no such provision in the Adulteration Act. 
The analyst, therefore, he contended, had finished his 
work when he had given the certificate on which the 
proceedings were founded. The difficulty in the Act 
was how to deal with articles which were debased, but not 
adulterated, such as skimmed milk, spices from which all 
the volatile oils had been extracted, tobacco and other 
things which by keeping had lost their active principles, 
and drugs produced in climates which did not bring out 
those principles, and he confessed he had not been able 
to solve it. He added that the Act should not be put 
into operation without due notice of all its provisions to 
the public, and he handed in a circular which was about 
to be issued in the City. 
Dr. Liddle, in the name of the association, thanked 
the president for his interesting remarks, and for his 
very valuable advice and assistance. 
Dr. Tripe disagreed with Dr. Letheby as to his opinion 
about general suspicion, and observed that the analysts 
were only required to give a qualitative and not a quan¬ 
titative analysis. 
Dr. Sarvis and Dr. Woodforde remarked that, to their 
great surprise, Mr. Bushby, a metropolitan magistrate, 
had held that any one was competent under the Act to 
give an analysis, that the inspector was not bound to 
receive the article from the purchaser and hand it to the 
analyst, and that all that was necessary was that the 
thing should be proved not to have been tampered with. 
Dr. Hardwicke and Dr. Ross spoke strongly against 
the assertion made by members of their own body that, 
as a rule, medical officers of health were not qualified 
for appointment as analysts. 
The meeting, after some further discussion, adjourned. 
PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY. 
At the pharmaceutical meeting held on Tuesday, 
November 19th, Mr. Remington made some remarks 
upon cercsin as a substitute for white wax. It is ob¬ 
tained by distilling ozokerite at between 250° and 300 J 
C., to separate liquid oils, and treating the residue with 
Nordhausen sulphuric acid to separate impurities, and 
afterwards refining. It differs from paraffin by its 
greater opacity, its not being unctuous to the touch, 
and its behaviour with ether, boiling alcohol, turpentine 
513 
ard benzine. Chloroform dissolves both ceresin and 
paraffin to some extent, but upon the cooling of a warm 
solution, paraffin is deposited unchanged on the sides of 
the vessel, while ceresin forms a heavy flocculent preci¬ 
pitate. Mr. Remington also drew attention to a modi¬ 
fied form of crystallized permanganate of potash, in 
which the ordinary needle-like character wa3 entirely 
wanting, the crystals merely showing the pyramidal 
summit common to the usual salt. The modified form 
had led to suspicion of an adulteration; but it was 
thought to be probably due to the interference of salts 
of greater solubility present in the solution from which 
the specimen had been crystallized. 
Professor Maisch exhibited some musk pods, obtained 
from Mr. Cramer, an importer. The following details 
from records kept by Messrs. Cramer and Co., were fur¬ 
nished to illustrate the yield of musk :— 
Weight- of bags Weight of Musk 
No. of bags. 
(troy). 
(troy). 
oz. 
dr. 
gr. 
oz. 
dr. 
gr. 
2 . . 
1 
3 
0 . 
... 0 
5 
0 
3 . . 
2 
3 
15 . 
... 1 
2 
0 
6 . . 
4 
3 
10 . 
... 2 
2 
10 
4 . . 
4 
1 
0 . 
... 1 
1 
30 
12 . . 
10 
0 
0 . 
... 3 
2 
40 
1 . . 
0 
5 
40 . 
... 0 
3 
0 
1 . . 
0 
6 
23 . 
... 0 
3 
23 
29 
23 
6 
28 
9 
3 
43 
Average for 
each 
bag— 
0 
6 
34 . 
. . . 0 
2 
36 f 
Professor Maisch also exhibited a sample of South 
Carolina opium. It is considered by persons engaged 
in producing opium in that State that the plants can be 
grown there with considerable profit. The sample sent 
had not been analysed; it was gathered when the plant 
was green and in its luxuriance of growth. In the dis- 
cusion which followed, opinions were expressed that 
with care opium might be produced in the warmer States 
of the Union equal in quality to that obtained from the 
usual sources. 
CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 
Thursday, 19th December, 1872; Professor William¬ 
son, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair. 
After the ordinary business of the society had been 
transacted, several interesting communications were 
read. The first entitled “Analyses of Water of the 
River Mahanuddy,” by Mr. G. Nicholson, gave the 
results of the author’s examination, from which he finds 
that the water of this river contains less dissolved matter 
than that of any other river in India. The next paper, 
“ Researches on the Polymerides of Morphine and their 
Derivatives,” by Mr. G. Ludwig Mayer and Dr. C. R. A. 
Wright, gave an account of the various derivatives ob¬ 
tained from morphine by acting on it with zinc chloride, 
hydrochloric acid, and sulphuric acid respectively, and 
also of the physiological properties of the compounds 
produced. Three communications by Dr. H. E. Arm¬ 
strong, from the laboratory of the London Institution 
were then read. No. VIIL “ Derivatives of /5-dinitro- 
phenol.” No. IX. “Note on the Action of Bromine in 
the Presence of Iodine on Trinitrophenol (picric acid).” 
No. X. “Preliminary notice on Iodonitrophenols.” The 
last paper, by Mr. C. E. Groves was “ On the Formation 
of Naphthaquinone by the direct Oxidation of Naphtha¬ 
lene,” which the author effects by means of chromic 
anhydride. 
The meeting was finally adjourned until Thursday, 
16th January, when papers will be read “On Several 
Vanadates of Thallium,” by T. Carnelly; “On the 
Heptanes from Petroleum,” by C. Schorlemmer, and 
“On Ethylamyl,” by Mr. Grimshaw. 
