THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[February 1, 18?1. 
<33 J 
cncc regard water as a very undesirable beverage. That 
•of the Lambeth Company displayed pre-eminence of a 
bad kind; that of the Kent Company was by far the 
clearest; the West Middlesex Company stood second in 
order of merit, and among the rest there was little to 
choose. With a reticence more eloquent than words, 
the lecturer avoided expressing opinions about the dirt 
that he exhibited; and he also expressly mentioned that 
pellucidity was no proof of the absence of soluble im¬ 
purities. He also showed that to cleanse water from 
suspended dirt was a very difficult matter; and exhibited 
four specimens of distilled water, a specimen once filtered 
by Mr. Lipscombo, a specimen that had gone through a 
silicated carbon filter, and a specimen four times filtered 
through bibulous paper in the Royal Institution La¬ 
boratory. These were clear when compared with the 
water of the companies, but the track of the beam was 
plainly visible in all. A specimen of water from the 
Lake of GeneA r a was then exhibited in illustration of 
great natural purity, and here a faint blue line only could 
be seen. This brought Professor Tyndall to the practi¬ 
cal conclusion at which he had been aiming, namely, to 
an account of the water supply yielded by the English 
chalk formations. He characterized this as being of the 
greatest attainable purity, inexhaustible in quantity, and 
•easily accessible for the supply of the Metropolis. He 
described its natural hardness as being such as to render 
it unfit for domestic use, but explained that by Clark’s 
process this hardness could be entirely removed at the 
central works, and that the water might bo delivered in 
London at a uniform temperature, free from organic im¬ 
purity or suspended particles, and so soft as to be per¬ 
fectly adapted for all household purposes. He described 
Clark’s process, and illustrated it before the audience, 
and finally showed actual results by producing a bottle 
of water from Canterbury, derived from the chalk, and 
softened in the manner described. By the side of this 
was a similar bottle containing the water supplied to the 
Institution, and the two were illuminated together by 
way of contrast. The difference was like that between 
pea-soup and crystal. Professor Tyndall then read a 
portion of the report made some years ago by the late 
Professors Graham and Miller, 'and by Professor Hof¬ 
mann, upon the admirable qualities of this chalk-water, 
when artificially softened, upon its fitness for the supply 
of the Metropolis, and upon the impolicy of allowing it 
do pass into private hands, and concluded by saying that 
every word that he had read ho desired fully and cor¬ 
dially to endorse.— Times. 
PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY. 
A special meeting of the College was held on Monday, 
Dec. 5, to receive the report of the Committee appointed 
to consider the business interests of the American Jour¬ 
nal of Pharmacy. The following recommendations of 
the Committee were, after consideration, adopted (1) 
That the business pertaining to the journal shall be trans¬ 
acted at the College building; (2) that the journal shall 
be published monthly ; (3) that a business editor be ap¬ 
pointed to attend to the advertisements, the distribution 
and the accounts; and (4) that the treasurer of the pub¬ 
lishing committee be authorized to draw on the treasurer 
•ot the College for the prime cost of the journals supplied 
to members. 
On Tuesday, Dec. 27, the ordinary meeting of the 
College was held. The following communication was 
xead:— 
TO THE PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY. 
Fellow Members,—It is now thirty-four years since 
my connection with the American Journal of Pharmacy 
.as a contributor commenced, and about twenty-five years 
ns co-editor and editor. 
During this period time and labour have been freely 
gh'en to make the work a continuous record of the pro¬ 
gress of pharmacy at homo and abroad. For many years 
it was a labour of love, and despite the great sacrifice of 
time occasioned by contributing to its pages, the labour 
was cheerfully given. Of latter years a change has oc¬ 
curred in this respect: the work has been continued re¬ 
gularly as a matter of duty, but it has ceased to be a 
pleasure. Under these circumstances, I desire to carry 
out an intention entertained for several years, and with¬ 
draw from the editorship. 
In order to give the College time to select a successor, 
I haA'e deemed it best to offer this my resignation at this 
meeting, to take effect at the annual meeting in March, 
when the .stated time for electing an editor arrives. 
Meamvhile e\ r ery effort will be made to introduce the 
new order of things adopted at the special meeting of the 
present month, and to start the journal as a monthly in 
its three first numbers, hoping that the College will then 
be ready to release me from further duty. 
I need hardly say that it has required some effort on 
my part to thus voluntarily resign a position fraught 
with so many pleasant memories, and which has brought 
me in contact with a large number of professional bre¬ 
thren beyond the pale of our College, yet after deliberate 
consideration I beliec’e duty to myself requires the step 
to be taken, not doubting that under the auspices of a 
new editor the Publishing Committee will be able to re¬ 
port a flourishing condition of the journal at the end of 
the coming year. 
Respectfully, 
December 27th , 1870. William Proctor, Jun. 
The resignation of Mr. Proctor caused great regret 
among the members. A Committee was appointed to 
report to the next meeting the name of a suitable person 
to succeed him in the office of editor. 
Frames for the engraving of Jacob Bell and the pho¬ 
tograph of the Plough Court Laboratory, received from 
Mr. Daniel Hanbury, were presented by Mr. W. Proc¬ 
ter, jun. 
MEETINGS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. 
Monday . Medical Society, at 8 p.m. 
London Institution, at 4 p.m. —“The First 
Principles of Biology ” (Educational 
Course). By Prof. Huxley. 
Tuesday . Eoyal Institution, at 3 p.m. —“The Nutri¬ 
tion of Animals.” By Professor Foster. 
Wednesday ...Society of Arts, at 8 p.m. —“'Ornamentation 
considered as a ‘ High Art.’ ” By Dr. 
Christopher Dresser. 
Microscopical Society, at 8 p.m. 
Thursday . Royal Society, at 8.30 p.m. 
Royal Institution, at 3 p.m. —“Davy’s Dis¬ 
coveries in Chemistry.” By Professor 
Odling. 
London Institution, at 7.30 p.m.— “ The Ac¬ 
tion, Nature and Detection of Poisons.” 
By F. S. Barff. 
London Chemists’ Association, at 9.30 p.m.— 
“ Remarks on Structural Botany.” By 
J. H. Jessop. 
Friday . Royal Institution, at 9 p.m. —“Fallacies 
connected with Ships and Guns.” By 
E. J. Reed. 
Quekett Club, at 8 p.m. 
Saturday . Royal Botanic Society, at 3.45 p.m. 
The following journals have been received:—The ‘British 
Medical Journal,’ Jan. 28 ; the ‘ Medical Times and Gazette,’ 
Jan. 28; the ‘Lancet,’ Jan. 28; the ‘Medical Press and Cir¬ 
cular,’ Feb. 1; ‘ Nature,’ Jan. 26; the ‘ Chemical News,’ Jan. 
27; ‘Journal of the Society of Arts,’ Jan. 26 ; ‘Gardeners’ 
Chronicle,’ Jan. 28; the ‘Grocer,’ Jan. 28; the ‘Produce 
Markets Review,’ Jan. 28; the ‘ English Mechanic,’ Jan. 27; 
the ‘American Journal of Pharmacy’ for January; the 
‘Western Gazette,’ Jan. 27; the ‘Macclesfield Courier,’ 
Jan. 28. 
