April 12, 1873.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
817 
in herring brine, it would be more simple to prepare that 
ammonia direct by means of methylic alcohol. The method 
proposed is to transform the methylic alcohol into iodide 
of methyl ; to heat the ether so obtained under pressure 
with ammonia which would give crystals of iodide of tetra- 
methylammonium, nearly insoluble in cold water. These 
crystals are then to be washed with distilled water to 
carry off any iodide of ammonia which may have formed, 
afterwards decomposed by lime, and the gas collected 
in water. The solution so obtained could be titrated in 
the same way as an ordinary ammoniacal solution, and 
therapeutics would have at its disposal a product of con¬ 
stant composition. 
But the reporters consider it would be better to replace 
the alkaline solution, which from its disagreeable odour is 
repugnant to a patient, by the hyclrochlorate of the base, 
which is nearly inodorous and has a saline taste, if it 
should prove that the effects of the salt are the same as 
those of the pure alkali. So far the experience of M. Beau- 
metz with this salt is satisfactory, and it is probable that 
such a substitution will be possible. 
M. Petit said that he had examined various specimens 
of commercial “ propylamine,” containing from 2 to 52 
centigrams of alkaloids or ammonia per cubic centimetre, 
and he had come to the conclusion that the greater part 
of them were much richer in ammonia than in propylamine, 
monoethylamine or diethylamine. 
' M. Lefort read a paper upon the preparation of pure 
protoiodide of mercury. 
SULPHOVINATE OF SODA. 
M. Bussy said that he had recently had occasion to 
examine various specimens of sulphovinate of soda and 
that a certain proportion of them were mixtures in various 
proportions of sulphovinate of soda and bisulphate of soda. 
The presence of the latter salt, sometimes in large quan¬ 
tity, was not, in his opinion, the result of a fraud, but of 
a defect in its preparation, probably the prolonged action 
of a high temperature, especially in the presence of water. 
M. Limousin remarked that the sulphovinate of soda is 
a very hygroscopic salt, and that when in order to drive 
off the humidity taken up from the air it is dried at a 
temperature exceeding 100° C. or 120° C., it is partially 
decomposed into bisulphate of soda and alcohol. 
M. Jungfleisch said that in evaporating large quantities 
of sulphovinate of soda, water favoured the decomposition 
of the salt. The liquor became more acid as the tempe¬ 
rature rose and the operation was prolonged. This de¬ 
composition could only be prevented by employing an 
excess of alcohol. 
In the discussion which followed it was agreed that 
sulphovinate of soda is decomposed by simple prolonged 
contact with water, especially when heated. It then be¬ 
comes acid and precipitable by chloride of barium. Such 
a decomposition is to be feared in lemonade or draughts 
prepared with it and kept for some time. 
M. Boudet remarked that the danger would be the 
greater because sulphovinate of soda is usually prescribed 
in considerable doses. 
The Society decided that these observations upon the 
ready decomposition of sulphovinate of soda during its 
preparation, or when kept in solution or in a humid state, 
merit the attention of pharmacists because of the danger 
that might result from the presence of bisulphate of soda 
both to the patient and the pharmacist. 
Serious Charge against a Chemist. 
At the Chester Assizes on Tuesday, April 1, Edwin 
Eastwood, described in the calendar as a druggist,. of 
Dukinfield, was arraigned on the charge of administering 
to Ann Jones a certain noxious drug, with intent to pro¬ 
cure a miscarriage. A bill charging the prisoner with 
wilful murder had been previously ignored by the grand 
jury. The nature of the evidence has already been de¬ 
scribed in this journal (pp. 338 and 355). The jury re¬ 
turned a verdict of “ Guilty,” and the judge, after com¬ 
menting on the gravity of the offence, sentenced the 
prisoner to ten years’ penal servitude .—Stalybridge lie- 
porter. 
Prosecutions of an Unqualified Practitioner. 
At the Lanchester Petty Sessions on Thursday, March 
27, Mr. Percival Hall, of Holmside, near Lanchester, was 
charged with wilfully and falsely using the name or title 
of surgeon, contrary to the provisions of the Medical Act. 
It was stated that the defendant had practised for many 
years, and the men of a neighbouring colliery paid 6d. a 
fortnight to him. His name was not on the Medical 
Register, but he had signed a certificate of death as a 
surgeon. Several technical objections were taken. The 
Bench considered the offence proved, and imposed a 
penalty of 5s. and costs. 
On Thursday, April 3, a similar charge against the 
same defendant was heard at the Chester-le-Street Police 
Court. The Bench again decided against the defendant, 
and fined him 20s. and costs .—Durham County Advertiser 
and Durham Chronicle. 
Half-yearly Abstract of the Medical Sciences ; 
being a Digest of British and Continental Medicine, and 
of the Progress of Medicine and the Collateral Sciences. 
Edited by William Domett Stone, M.D., etc. Vol. 
LYI. London : Churchill, 1872. 
Progress in legal or theological science is as slow as 
that of a glacier ;—in medicine it is as rapid as the 
stream to which the glacier gives birth. To keep pace 
with it the student or the practitioner must either devote 
himself entirely to reading, or must rely on some such 
periodical abstract as Dr. Domett Stone endeavours to 
supply. If well done, a half-yearly summary of the 
progress of medical science would be invaluable ; but, on 
the other hand, if imperfect, it is of rather less "worth than 
a weekly periodical like the British Medical Journal , or the 
Lancet. Dr. Domett Stone’s performance comes within 
neither of these extremes. It cannot honestly be called 
satisfactory; neither is it so perfunctory as to deserve 
absolute condemnation. It is a tolerable bit of compilation, 
corresponding to Homer’s description of the drugs with 
which it so largely deals :— 
IIoAAa /jl\v eV0Aa /xeyiyixera, 7roAAa 8e At jypa. 
Much of his volume is occupied with matters for which 
no competent medical man would thank the purveyor. 
There is a tone of mediocrity over a considerable part of 
the extracts, which implies little progress” in the science 
which they are adduced to illustrate. Far too much space 
is devoted to native and colonial research ; far too little to 
continental; while in the latter the French are laid under 
contribution nearly three times as often as the German 
savants —a ratio which, if science be held to guide the se¬ 
lection, should simply be reversed. Again, even in the 
English or colonial part of the volume, credit is given to 
the wrong person as the originator of this or that method 
or preparation or suggestion. For instance, in the mode 
of distinguishing creosote from carbolic acid the C cvnada 
Medical Journal is quoted as the first source of the inno¬ 
vation, whereas it was primarily suggested in our own 
columns. Moreover, the sins of omission are as flagrant 
as those of commission. The signal success of Leube in 
sustaining the nutrition of invalids by injections of minced 
pancreas per anuni, when the ordinary channels of food- 
inerestion were closed, receives not a word of notice, al- 
O 7 
