G30 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [February 4,1871. 
^nrmMngs af gltaimteutital Sraefg* 
MEETING AT EDINBURGH. 
The Second Meeting of the present Session of the 
North British Branch of the Pharmaceutical Society was 
held at Edinburgh on Monday, 23rd January; Mr. W. 
Aitkex, President, in the chair. 
Professor Balfour deliyered a lecture on ipecacuanha 
root {Cephaelis Ipecacuanha). He referred to it as a valu¬ 
able remedy in disorders of the mucous membrane, of the 
bronchial tubes, etc., but more especially in dysentery. 
In India it formed, when combined with opium, as valu¬ 
able a remedy in cases of dysentery as quinine in fevers. 
He stated that, owing to the careless manner in which 
the natives collected the root, the plant was rapidly de¬ 
creasing in Brazil, and that the British Government 
were now taking active steps to have it introduced and 
cultivated in India. For this purpose a great number 
of young plants are being propagated at the Royal 
Botanic Garden under the care of Mr. M‘Nab. There 
are evidently two varieties of the plant; one has been 
growing in the garden for at least forty years, while 
the other was only sent to the garden in a living state 
about a year ago by Dr. Gunning, from the neighbour¬ 
hood of Rio Janeiro. The old plant is that which was 
described and figured by Sir William Hooker in the 
Botanical Magazine , as having been sent to him from 
Mr. Makoy, Liege. The leaves of this plant are more 
leathery in their texture; their form more elliptical or 
oval; their apex less pointed and their edges wavy; 
there are fewer hairs on the surface and the stem is 
more shrubby than in Dr. Gunning’s recently-imported 
plant. It also flowers readily after a year’s cultivation 
from slips and the style is short. The Rio de Janeiro plant 
has not yet produced flowers at the garden, and there¬ 
fore a full description cannot yet be given. The Pro¬ 
fessor then gave a history of the ipecacuan plant from 
its earliest mention by Michael Trestram, who called it 
Igpecaya or Pigaya, up to the present time. He de¬ 
scribed the mode in which the root was collected and 
dried. The gatherers of the poaya (the name applied 
by the natives to all roots used as ipecacuan) are called 
poayeros, and a skilled poayero can gather in the course 
of a day about thirty pounds of root. Under the name 
Ipecacuan many plants arc mentioned belonging to dif¬ 
ferent genera, or even to different natural orders. All 
of them, however, agree in possessing more or less emetic 
qualities. A figure of the ipecacuan plant was given by 
Piso in the ‘ Travels in Brazil,’ undertaken by himseif 
and Marcgrave, but it was not such as to enable botanists 
to determine the genus and species. At that time all 
annular emetic roots got the name of ipecacuan, and the 
different kinds were distinguished by their colour: thus 
we had brown, grey, red, black and white ipecacuan. 
The first accurate scientific description of it was by 
Brotero, in the Linnean Society’s ‘Transactions’ for 
1800, and subsequently a full account was published by 
Achille Richard in his thesis on the ‘ Natural History of 
Ipecacuan.’ Professor Balfour gave a full botanical 
description of the true ipecacuan plant and showed its 
relation to other plants in the same natural order. He 
also gave descriptions of the following plants, used in 
different parts of the world as ipecacuan:— Psychotria 
emctica (striated ipecacuan), Pichardsonia scahra (white 
ipecacuan), Ionidmm ipecacuanha (false Brazilian ipeca¬ 
cuan), Manettta cordifoha, Euphorbia ipecacuanha , Polygala 
poaya and Ty lop her a asmatica. 
The lecture was illustrated by a beautiful series of 
large water-coloured drawings, executed by Mrs. Bal¬ 
four, of the various plants referred to and their struc¬ 
ture ; by sections under microscopes, prepared bv Mr. 
Sadler; by dried specimens from the University"Her¬ 
barium, and by living plants from the Roval Botanic 
Garden. 
On the motion of the President, seconded by Dr. A. 
M‘Donald, a cordial vote of thanks was given to Pro¬ 
fessor Balfour for his interesting and instructive lecture. 
|tol)mcial Shmsattions. 
LEEDS CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 
The Second Meeting of the Session was held on Mon¬ 
day evening, November 14th, 1870 ; Mr. William Smee- 
tox in the chair. 
Messrs. George William Highmoor, Thomas Edward 
Parkinson, and George William Roberts were duly 
elected Associates of the Society. 
A vote of thanks was unanimously passed to Messrs. 
Southall, Son and Dymond, of Birmingham, for their 
valuable present to the Association of a box containing, 
specimens of the organic constituents mentioned in the 
British Pharmacopoeia. 
After an alteration of Rule number 4, Mr. Edward 
Thompson was elected Vice-President. 
Mr. Smeetox, the President, then favoured the meet¬ 
ing with an address. He strongly urged and inculcated 
upon Associates the duty of acquiring information, and 
of laying in a solid stock of knowledge, so as to be able 
to pass their examination with credit. Several phases 
of education were touched upon, and after a free conver¬ 
sation a vote of thanks was passed to the chairman. 
The Third Meeting of the Session was held on Thurs¬ 
day evening, December 22nd, 1870; Mr. E. Thompson, 
the Vice-President, in the chair. 
Mr. Samuel Jefferson, F.C.S., was duly elected a mem¬ 
ber of the Association, and Messrs. George Iredale and 
Frederick Plint were elected Associates. 
The paper of the evening, on “The History of a 
Fungus,” was then read by Mr. James Abbott. The 
lecturer explained the views of botanists and mycologists' 
with regard to the cell-formation and reproductive cha¬ 
racteristics of fungi, and then proceeded to enlarge 
upon the latest accepted theory of botanists on the for¬ 
mation of ergot in rye. The medicinal and poisonous 
properties of ergot were also remarked upon. The lec¬ 
ture was amply illustrated by diagrams and specimens, 
and after an animated discussion a vote of thanks was 
passed to Mr. Abbott for his highly useful discourse. 
The Fourth .Meeting of the Session was held on Wed¬ 
nesday evening, January 2oth. Owing to the absence of 
the President and the Vice-President, Mr. Johx Day 
was called to the chair. 
Mr. John Henry Wright was elected an Associate. 
The Secretary then introduced the subject, “Dis¬ 
pensing; or, Who ought to do it?” The reader of the 
paper first endeavoured to define the terms dispensing 
and medicine, and then assumed that two classes only 
could be supposed equal to the duties of dispensing, viz. 
the medical and pharmaceutical professions. He after¬ 
wards entered into certain abstract and practical argu¬ 
ments to prove that chemists were better qualified to 
dispense than surgeons. The Secretary also brought 
forward facts and arguments to prove that the public 
interest and safety would be materially advantaged by 
placing the dispensing of the whole country in the 
hands of the chemists. During a friendly discussion, it 
was proposed to appoint a deputation from the Associa¬ 
tion to wait upon the officers of the Leeds Medical 
School, to point out to those gentlemen the desirableness 
of dispensing duties being performed in the future by 
chemists and druggists alone. 
It was ultimately proposed by Mr. E. Browx, seconded 
by Mr. E. F. Atkinson, supported by Mr. Crosby, and 
carried, that the Secretary be desired to lay the subject be¬ 
fore the Committee, and that the Committee be requested? 
to report upon the matter at the next monthly meeting. 
