734 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[March 15, 1873. 
the Pharmaceutical Society, called ‘Hints to Students,’ 
which you would find very useful, and which can he got 
hy applying to the secretary here, Mr. Kinninmont. 
Dy way of encouragement to those who are in business, 
J might mention that two druggists have been fined for 
want of qualification, and others are beins* looked 
after. 
Many faces here to-night we would like to see at our 
monthly meetings; their presence would cheer those 
who have the work to do. The association is much in¬ 
debted for the interest taken in all our work, and for the 
aid which frequently comes to us, to the noble chief at the 
•head of the firm to which I have the honour to belong—a 
right noble one he is of the clan McDonald. I wish all 
the employes under that chieftain would follow his ex¬ 
ample by giving us their countenance; then we might be 
able to make a pull, a strong pull, a pull alltogether. 
The last festival we had, Mr. McDonald said the time 
would soon come when all druggists would close at eight 
o’clock; that has now almost been accomplished, a very 
few keep open after that hour. Before I sit down, allow 
me to say that two prizes will be presented this evening 
to two members of Sir. Currie’s class. 
At the close of the meeting the President presented to 
Mr. Wm. Cleghorn, Bentley’s ‘ Manual of Botanv,’ for 
excelling in exercises on B.P.; and to Mr. Rob." Wal¬ 
lace Squire’s ‘ Companion to the British Pharmacopoeia,’ 
for excelling in exercises in Latin. 
The concert was effectively carried out by a lady (pro¬ 
fessional) and several gentlemen (amateurs); the latter, 
with one exception, being chemists. 
An assembly followed the concert. 
The fifth general meeting of the Glasgow Chemists 
and Druggists’ Association was held in Anderson’s Uni¬ 
versity on 5th March, 1873. 
Owing to the absence of the President (through illness) 
and Vice-President, Mr. Arch. Paterson was called to 
the chair. 
The Secretary was then called upon to read the minutes 
of last meeting, also minutes of meeting held on 19th 
February, for the purpose of forming an assistants’ branch 
of the association. He afterwards read a brief report of 
the “ Annual Festival,” held on 27th February, 1873, 
and stated that a full statement of income and expendi¬ 
ture had not yet been made out, but he felt warranted 
in saying that there appeared every probability of a fair 
surplus being left after paying all expenses. 
A vote of thanks was then accorded to the committee 
for their labours in connection with the festival. 
Mr. James M. Fairlie read a paper on “Artificial 
Silicates,” in which he gave an interesting account of 
the history and manufacture of glass. In passing he 
briefly alluded to the process of etching upon glass,°and 
said he thought that the names on pharmacists’ bottles and 
-drawers might be etched instead of painted as at present, 
which, although likely to cost more at first, would in 
the end be found to be the more economical method. 
On Mr. Fairlie resuming his seat, a little discussion 
■ on the paper, by Messrs. Brodie, Fenwick and Paterson, 
took place. 
Mr. Fairlie was awarded a cordial vote of thanks for 
ihis paper. 
Mr. Cassels was then elected a member. 
A vote of thanks to the chairman brought the meeting 
to a close. 
MANCHESTER CHEMISTS AND DRUGGISTS’ 
ASSOCIATION AND SCHOOL OF PHARMACY. 
, The last ordinary monthly meeting of the session was 
tield m the rooms of the association, 37, Blackfriars 
Street, on Friday evening, March 7th; Mr. W. Scott 
Brown, president, in the chair. 
Mr. F. B. Benger delivered a lecture on “ Telegraphs,” 
treating the subject under the following heads :— 
Early Modes of Transmitting Intelligence—Static or 
Frictional Electricity—Various more or less unsuccessful 
Attempts to use it as a means of Communication—Cur¬ 
rent or Voltaic Electricity — Batteries — Conductors— 
Three effects produced by the Electrical Current taken 
advantage of in instruments now used:—1. Its power 
to decompose chemical salts. 2. To deflect the magnetic 
needle. 3. To convert a bar of soft iron into a temporary 
magnet. These effects were shown, and working models 
of the following instruments used to illustrate the sub¬ 
ject :—Bain’s chemical telegraph; single needle do. 
mirror or reflecting do.; alphabetical do. ; type print- 
ing, do. Electrical fire- frost- and thief-alarms were also 
shown in action and their construction explained. 
The Chairman announced that it was the intention of 
the association to make considerable additions to the 
museum, and urged those present to use their influence 
to obtain new members, as it was the desire of the as¬ 
sociation to remain entirely self-suppoi'ting. 
It was also stated that the examination for prizes in 
the chemistry class would be held on the following 
Thursday evening, at eight o’clock, and that in the 
materia medica and botany classes on Thursday, March 
20th, at the same hour. 
MANCHESTER CHEMISTS’ ASSISTANTS’ 
ASSOCIATION. 
The tenth ordinary meeting of the session was held on 
Monday evening, March 10th, in the class room, 37, 
Blackfriars Street. 
Mr. Broughton read a very instructive paper on 
“ Spectrum Analysis,” illustrated with numerous experi¬ 
ments, diagrams, etc. 
_A hearty vote of thanks was awarded to Messrs. J. 
V oolley, Sons and Co., for their kindness in provi din g 
the apparatus used on the reading of Mr. Broughton’s 
paper, also in replenishing about fifty new specimens for 
the materia medica cabinet. 
Ir.o'mMwjs of jMtntifit Gradies. 
PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY. 
At a pharmaceutical meeting, held January 21st, 1873, 
William McIntyre in the chair, Mr. Remington presented 
samples of some of the fluid extracts made according to 
the new U.S. Pharmacopoeia. He said that he had found 
in several cases that the quantity of menstruum reserved 
for moistening the powder was insufficient for this pur¬ 
pose. The extract of rhubarb left nothing to be desired, 
laving the characteristic features of the root. Buchu 
was also of very superior quality. Calumba, so very 
difficult to obtain clear, was spoken of as being almost 
always cloudy when diluted. Professor Maisch sug¬ 
gested that the precipitate contains a considerable amount 
of ^ berberina, and that the glycerine recommended in 
;his fluid extract tends to prevent the precipitation. 
In the case of colchicum seed, Mr. Remington did not 
Rink the menstruum strong enough to dissolve the essen¬ 
tial oil which floats upon the preparation, and prefers 
the use of strong alcohol to take up the oil. 
As a class the preparations containing alcohol with¬ 
out glycerine were considered beautiful preparations and 
representing fully the medical properties of the drugs 
used. 
The preparation of ergot was exhibited, and presented 
the characteristics fully, having the odour of the fresh 
ergot. Mr. Remington’s experiments with ipecac were 
not successful; there remained a considerable amount of 
undissolved resin which glycerine will not dissolve; the 
