January 25,1873.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
593 
NORTHAMPTON PHARMACEUTICAL 
ASSOCIATION. 
A special meeting- was held in the room in College 
Street, on January 20th, 1873 ; Mr. Hester, President, 
in the chair. He first alluded to the loss the association 
had sustained through the conductor of the chemistry 
class (Mr. Branson), and the materia medica class (Mr. 
Lester), leaving the town, both of whom had been inde¬ 
fatigable in the service of the association, and he was 
sure canned with them the best wishes of all the mem¬ 
bers. He then called attention to the new fume cup¬ 
board which had been filled up, and a Siebold’s herbaria 
which had been purchased. He congratulated Messrs. 
Osborne and Gudgeon upon passing the Preliminary 
examination. Mr. Osborne had been chosen to conduct 
the materia medica class; the vacancy in the chemistry 
class had as yet been unfilled. He was very happy to 
say that the much talked of examinations would be held 
about the end of February, and he trusted that a spirited 
competition would ensue for the prizes. 
The Secretary (Mr. Druce) having read a list of dona¬ 
tions of prescriptions, etc., and called attention to a life¬ 
like portrait of Professor Attfield, then said that their 
President, Mr. Hester, had offered a prize for chemistry 
and pharmacy in the coming examination, and their 
Vice-President, Mr. Sutton, another for botany and 
materia medica, and himself another in which the com¬ 
petition would be limited to apprentices. 
Messrs. Osborne and Druce then exhibited two binocu¬ 
lar microscopes ; Mr. Osborne showing, among a large 
number of interesting objects, some good spiral vessels 
from rhubarb, and the glandular tissue of Wcllingtonia 
gigantea, and various hairs, parasites, starches, which 
proved extremely interesting to the members. Mr. 
Druce confined himself to polariscope objects, the princi¬ 
pal being the alkaloids strychnia, quinia, morphia, cin- 
chonia, quinidia, santonine, atropia and salicine, and 
various salts of picric and chrysammic acid. 
After the usual vote of thanks the meeting adjourned. 
Hwmiiings of SkMifte 
SOCIETE DE PHARMACIE DE PARIS. 
THE UNIVERSAL PHARMACOPOEIA. 
This society met on Wednesday, December 4th, under 
the presidency of M. Stanislas Martin. 
After some preliminary business, M. Adrian called 
attention to the project canvassed in other countries to 
draw up a universal pharmacopoeia. He read a transla¬ 
tion of the note of Professor Redwood upon this subject, 
taken from the report of the evening meeting of the 
Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in August last. 
M. Boudet said that the idea of a Universal Codex 
originated in Paris at the meeting of the delegates to the 
Pharmaceutical Congress of 1866. Unforeseen circum¬ 
stances had prevented the Paris Society from pursuing 
this question, but it ought, however, to be dealt with 
very shortly by the committee named for that purpose. 
The idea was entirely a French one, and it was important 
that it should bo reclaimed and put into execution with 
as little delay as possible. 
M. Planc-hon gave some explanations respecting the 
Pharmacopoeia Europrea. In 1867, M. Phoebus had 
asked him to assist in compiling this pharmacopoeia. 
He had thought such a work in which the articles pre¬ 
pared by each of the contributors would be revised by 
his colleagues belonging to other countries could not 
but be of great service to science; and, therefore, acting 
upon the advice of his friends he had accepted the pro¬ 
position of M. Phoebus. But he did not think that the 
committee of the European Pharmacopoeia could pretend 
to assume in any way a commission as the delegates of 
the various pharmaceutical societies to prepare a Univer¬ 
sal Codex. The work in question was a private one 
performed by private individuals, which had no official 
character, and which, far from hindering the drawing up 
of a universal codex, would furnish for it some good 
materials. 
M. Bussy said that a work compiled under the condi¬ 
tions indicated would not accomplish precisely the object 
proposed by the different pharmaceutical congresses, and 
particularly that of Paris in 1866, in promoting the 
publication of an international pharmacopoeia. There 
were two ways which might be considered of carrying out 
the compilation of such a work. The first would be to 
unite all the official and general formulae used in 
various countries; a work w r ould be so produced 
analogous to the Pharmacopee Universelle of Jourdan. 
Such a work would, doubtless, be more complete, and 
more abreast of modern practice, but it would have 
no greater authority among pharmaceutists than any 
other work compiled by a single individual or 
association of pharmaceutists not specially commis¬ 
sioned for that purpose. The second plan, which seemed 
to him to be more in harmony with the wishes of the 
congress and the progress of medicine, would be to bring 
the composition of the most used and most active medi¬ 
caments to a single type for each medicament, after dis¬ 
cussion and examination of the various formulae em¬ 
ployed at the present time. Such a work would present 
fewer difficulties than is commonly supposed. All the 
pharmacopoeias published during the past forty years- 
have had a tendency to simplify the composition, and 
consequently to lessen the differences between the 
various medicaments contained in them. Another cir¬ 
cumstance that would assist powerfully in the unification 
of the formula 3 was the extended use at the present day 
of the alkaloids, or, more generally, the tendency which 
exists to substitute the active and well-defined prin¬ 
ciples of vegetables for the whole pharmaceutical pre¬ 
preparations. A pharmacopoeia drawn up under such 
conditions would be presented for acceptation to European 
and other States, and would become legal and obligatory 
within such limits as should be determined by those 
adopting it. The result would be that in all the States 
taking part in such a union all the compounds designated 
under the same name would have exactly the same com¬ 
position, and a medical prescription dispensed at Paris 
or Berlin would be made up in exactly the same manner 
at London or St. Petersburg. But it must not be for¬ 
gotten such a project presupposes an accord between 
competent and sufficiently authorized men, such as a 
body of delegates from the different countries of Europe 
would be. 
M. Limousin did not think they could hope to obtain 
a Universal Pharmacopoeia; there would be too many 
difficulties to overcome in securing its adoption by all the 
States of Europe. 
M. Adrian having proposed that the number of mem¬ 
bers of the commission should be increased to nine, it 
was decided that M. Planchon should fill the place of M. 
Robinet so as to bring the number to five as originally 
decided, and the further increase was left to the consi¬ 
deration of the committee. 
M. Grassi thought it would be useful now for the- 
Society to put itself into communication with the English 
pharmaceutists upon the subject. This point also was 
remitted to the committee. 
The society then elected officers for 18/3 as follows : 
M. Regnauld as vice-president, M. Vigier as secretary, 
M. Desnoix as treasurer. 
CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 
Thursday, 19th December, 1872, Professor Frankland, 
D.C.L., F.R.S., President, in the chair. 
After the ordinary business of the society had been, 
transacted several papers were read. 
The first entitled “ Notes on various Chemical Reac — 
