October 8, 1870.3 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
297 
should be; and, considering the large demand for it, 
there is ground for supposing that some samples are not 
quite all they should be. It is a preparation, too, that is 
not easily judged by the senses. Samples are sometimes 
met with of such intensely deep colour that suspicion is 
excited. Other samples appear to have a greater consis¬ 
tence, and sometimes the taste of licorice is stronger than 
it ought to be. Now, all these appearances may be fal¬ 
lacious ; some data upon which to enable the mind to 
form a judgment are required. Sarsaparilla itself has 
nothing very distinctive in it. There are no alkaloids to 
estimate, and the only datum is the amount of extractive 
afforded by a given quantity of root. All this uncer¬ 
tainty I have experienced, and have attempted to fix a 
standard of comparison. 
I assume, from my personal experience, that the spe¬ 
cific gravity of a liquor made with good root, in the 
proportion of a pound to a pound of fluid and 10 per cent, 
of spirit, ought to have a gravity of from 1-045 to 1-055. 
But as the specific gravity alone is insufficient as a test, 
as it may be affected by several circumstances, but, taken 
in connection with the amount of extractive contained in 
a given volume, it is of some value. But as the amount 
of extract may be influenced by the addition of other 
extracts, and sometimes salts are added for the purpose 
of increasing the colour and amount of extractive; con¬ 
sequently, it is necessary to estimate the amount of ash. 
These three tests together will, I think, be a pretty good 
guide to the judgment as to the quality and purity of the 
article. I have been unable to obtain sufficient samples 
to make a long table, but the following, I think, are suf¬ 
ficient to show the value of the plan I suggest. 
I may add that the decoction has always a strongly 
acid reaction, and effervesces with carbonates. 
"NTn 
Specific 
Extract 
Ash in 
gravity. 
in 1 fl. oz. 
ditto. 
1 
1-055 
64 grs. 
10 grs. 
2 
57 „ 
9-7 „ 
3 
1-027 
50 „ 
9-0 „ 
4 
1-034 
52 „ 
9-5 „ 
5 
1-017 
33 „ 
7-5 „ 
6 
1-049 
67 „ 
13-7 „ 
7 
1-048 
64 „ 
) The amount of ash not taken, the 
8 
1-048 
75 „ 
> experiment being made before 
9 
1-010 
34 „ 
) this paper was contemplated. 
Bradford. 
The President spoke as to the difficulty of obtaining 
the extract in a uniform state of dryness. 
A Member stated that common salt was used by some 
makers to preserve the essence and to reduce the amount 
of spirit. 
Mr. Groves (Weymouth) had found the deposit 
formed in the compound decoction to consist mainly of 
a compound of glycyrrhizin with acetic acid. 
Wednesday , September \^th. 
The Conference reassembled at 10 a.m. The spacious 
Lecture Theatre of the Royal Institution again exhibited 
a numerous attendance throughout the day. 
At the commencement of the proceedings, Professor 
Attfield announced that an answer had been received 
from the American Pharmaceutical Association, in con¬ 
ference at Baltimore, to the telegram sent on Tuesday 
evening across the Atlantic from the Adelphi Hotel. It 
was as follows:—“ From Professor Maisch, Baltimore, 
to Secretary of Pharmaceutical Conference, Liverpool. 
—Fraternal greeting of American Pharmaceutical Asso¬ 
ciation.” 
After the transaction of the usual business, the follow¬ 
ing paper, an abstract of which is given, was read. 
A Century of Old Books 
Relating to Pharmacy and Kindred Subjects. 
BY JOSEPH INCE 
Member of the Royal Society of Literature. 
The design was to exhibit one hundred volumes illus¬ 
trative of the Pharmacy of the fifteenth and sixteenth 
centuries. Some of these were of great rarity and ex¬ 
cellence—the object contemplated will best be explained 
by the preface which we subjoin. 
A few rare old books are here presented for inspection. 
I have to thank those who have so largely contributed 
from their stores, and also to acknowledge the skill and 
promptness with which the descriptive writers have exe¬ 
cuted their task. This collection was begun, finished, 
catalogued, and on its way to Liverpool, within the space 
of one month. It is hoped that a great town such as this 
manufacturing centre, with its trade activity and its 
wonderful mercantile intelligence, will not disdain to 
read these records of the past. Some possess special in¬ 
terest, such as Gerard’s ‘ Herbal,’ remarkable for noble 
type and quaint illustrations, which at this moment are 
copied by modem artists ; Prosper Alpinus, the Secrets 
of Alexis, Pomet, and many others. I regret exceed¬ 
ingly for the sake of the members of the Conference that 
I have had to stand alone, and that I have been deprived 
of the aid of one whose power of accurate analysis, lit up 
by a graceful fancy, would have lent an added charm to 
these pages. Accept them as an earnest of goodwill; 
they have received as much care as other pressing occu¬ 
pations and anxieties would permit. It is right sometimes 
to live in centuries not our own; and as men trace out 
the sources of the Nile, so we may take pleasure in learn¬ 
ing the springs from which our present information has 
been derived. To study these productions is to love 
them. No man ever yet could decipher a black letter in 
the spirit of a fossil. None can hold converse with the great 
dead, and have a mean, ignoble mind ; and these ancient 
tomes hold in their hands the gift of rest. I would fain 
say one other thing. Should any writer wish to escape 
fee oleness of style, and gain manliness of expression, let 
him become, first, a diligent student of the Bible, spe¬ 
cially of Isaiah, the authorized translation of which is 
the grandest rendering of the English language extant. 
Secondly, let him be a reverent admirer of men, the com¬ 
position of whose works has been and will remain a con¬ 
stant theme of admiration. I congratulate whoever lie 
may be to whom this exhibition may prove his first in¬ 
troduction to a literature much of which seems inspired. 
What can exceed in stateliness or beauty the dedication 
to King James ? What can surpass many sentences 
which these recondite treatises contain ? This statement 
is not upset by knowing that several have no other re¬ 
commendation than the date they bear. This. class of 
research moreover may induce a healthy dissatisfaction 
with ourselves ; for while chemistry has advanced with 
giant steps, and botany has shaped itself into a definite 
science, and is excellently taught, I entertain the hete¬ 
rodox belief that we have altered many things in Phar¬ 
macy without improvement. After which dreadful de¬ 
claration I fall back on Francis Lord Bacon (1597): — 
“Reading maketh a full manconference a ready 
man; and writing an exact man. And, therefore, if a 
man write little, he had need have a great memory; if 
he confer little, he had need have a present wit; and if 
he read little, he had need have much cunning to seem 
to know that which he doth not.” 
The chief contributions were received from Provincial 
Associations and Pharmacists: the collection of the 
Pharmaceutical Society was included, while a few private 
gentlemen sent valuable additions. 
It is obvious that books forwarded without description 
would fail to be of service; eight writers therefore united 
to supply explanatory notes. 
There was a certain man having great authority, for 
he had the command of all the treasures in Ethiopia, and 
