132 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[August 12,1871. 
appear to "be very marked. Dr. Michael Foster finds 
that the above bodies produce in cats a peculiar excite¬ 
ment of the nervous system and paralysis of inhibitory 
fibres of the pneumog'astric. Dcoxycodeia and deoxy- 
morphia salts produce also convulsions of an epileptic 
• character. In case these properties should ever cause 
the substances to be used in medicine, probably a pill 
would be the most convenient form of exhibition, as the 
-sparing solubility of their salts in water, and the com¬ 
paratively large dose requisite, would preclude the use 
of hypodermic injections. 
On treating codeia with hydriodic acid (55 per cent. 
HI) and a sufficiency of phosphorus, methyl iodide is 
-evolved, and a series of products obtained which much 
resemble one another in physical characters, being amor¬ 
phous, brittle or tarry bodies. If the action takes place 
-at 100°, 110 c -llo°, or at higher temperatures up to 130°, 
the following three substances appear to be produced :— 
I. C cs H sc ToN 4 0 12 ,4 HI . at 100° 
II. C G3 H 82 LN 4 O 10 ,4HI • at 110°-llo° 
III. C gs H 8 :DN.O g , 4HI . up to 130°. 
On boiling up with water, these bodies part with the 
elements of hydriodic acid, and either lose or take up 
those of water. Thus, the following substances have 
•been procured:— 
IV. C cs H 81 IN 4 O 10 ,4HI . from II. 
V. C G8 H 80 NjO 10 ,4HI . . from both I. and II. 
VI. C cs H ss N 4 O 10 ,4HI. . from III. 
A similar reaction also appears to take place by preci¬ 
pitating the solutions of I., II., III. with sodium carbo¬ 
nate ; in this way the free bases of the compounds IV. 
and V. have been obtained from I. 
Lastly, on treating with hydriodic acid the com¬ 
pounds IV., V., VI., the elements of hydriodic acid and 
water are taken up, forming compounds not losing the 
.added water even by long-continued exposure to a tem¬ 
perature of 100°. Thus,— 
VI. C fi8 H 107 1 3 N 4 O.-.c, 4 HI . from both IV. and V. 
VIII. C C8 H 83 IN 4 O 10 ,4HI. . from VI. 
While, on treating I. with hydriodic and phosphorus, 
the following compound (containing the elements of hy- 
•driodic acid and water more than III.) was produced:— 
IX. C es H 103 I 3 N 4 O ls ,4HI. 
The physiological action of the foregoing compound* 
has not yet been examined particularly, but it does no^ 
. appear to be marked, no ill-effects having been observed 
while working with the bodies. Names have not yet 
been given to these substances, owing to their com¬ 
plexity. 
The codeia used in the experiments briefly described 
above formed part of a large supply exceeding twenty 
ounces, most liberally presented for the purpose by the 
eminent manufacturing chemists, Messrs. Macfarlane, of 
Edinburgh. 
The President said that the subject had been very 
clearly explained by Professor Wright, and he considered 
it was a paper well worthy of being read at the Con¬ 
ference. 
Mr. Brady said he would like to make one remark 
. about Professor Wright’s paper, not that he was going 
to discuss any point, but as it boro on a little experience 
he had had, it came with a peculiar force in Edinburgh, 
which was very much the seat of the morphia manufac¬ 
ture, but it was not so much that as the liberality of the 
manufacturers of the morphia alkaloids in helping scien¬ 
tific men with materials. Some years ago, when Mr. 
Deane and himself were making experiments in the 
morphia alkaloids, in an experimental sense, Messrs. T. 
and H. Smith and Messrs. Macfarlane assisted them by 
furnishing materials ; and he could not sit there without 
testifying to their extreme kindness, not in matters of bu- 
.-siness only, but also to their interest in scientific research. 
Professor Wright said that Mr. Brady had called to 
his mind what he ought to have mentioned before, though 
it would bo seen that it had not been overlooked in his 
paper. He most sincerely returned thanks to the 
Messrs. Macfarlane, not only for a supply of codeia, but 
many other alkaloids. The codeia given by Messrs. 
Macfarlane weighed upwards of twenty ounces. 
BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCE¬ 
MENT OF SCIENCE. 
The President’s Address. 
(Concluded fromp. 117.) 
Sir William Thomson next spoke of the success 
of the Kew Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory 
as affording an example of the great gain to be earned 
for science by the foundation of physical observatories 
and laboratories for experimental research, to bo con¬ 
ducted by qualified persons, whose duties should be, 
not teaching, but experimenting. Whether we look 
to the honour of England, as a nation which ought 
always to be the foremost in promoting physical science, 
or to those vast economical advantages which must 
accrue from such establishments, we cannot but feel that 
experimental research ought to be made with us an 
object of national concern, and not left, as hitherto, to 
the private enterprise of self-sacrificing amateurs, and 
tire necessarily inconsecutive action of our present Go¬ 
vernmental Departments and of casual Committees. 
He referred to a memorial presented by the Council of 
the Royal Society of Edinburgh to the Royal Com¬ 
mission on Scientific Education and the Advancement 
of Science, in which occurred the following words:— 
“ On the Continent there exist certain institutions, fitted 
with instruments, apparatus, chemicals and other ap- 
pii ances, which are meant to be, and which are made 
available'to men of science, to enable them, at a moderate 
cost, to pursue original researches,”—which he said 
was corroborated by information he had received from 
Germany, to the effect that in Prussia “ every university, 
every polytechnical academy, every industrial school 
(Realschule and Gcicerbeschule), most of the grammar- 
schools, in a word, nearly all the schools superior in 
rank to the elementary schools of the common people, 
are supplied with chemical laboratories and a collection 
of philosophical instruments and apparatus, access to 
which is most liberally granted by the directors of those 
schools, or the teachers of the respective disciplines, to 
any person qualified, for scientific experiments. In con¬ 
sequence, though there exist no particular institutions 
like those mentioned in the memorial, there will scarcely 
be found a town exceeding in number 5000 inhabitants 
but offers the possibility of scientific explorations at no 
other cost than reimbursement of the expense for the 
materials wasted in the experiments.” 
The physical laboratories which have grown up in 
the Universities of Glasgow' and Edinburgh, and in 
Owens College, Manchester, show the want felt of Col¬ 
leges of Research; but they go but infinitesimally 
towards supplying it, being absolutely destitute of 
means, material or personal, for advancing science ex¬ 
cept at the expense of volunteers, or securing that 
volunteers shall be found to continue even such little 
wmrk as at present is carried on. 
The wdrole of Andrew's’ splendid work in Queen’s 
College, Belfast, has been done under great difficulties 
and disadvantages and at great personal sacrifices, and 
up to the present time there is not a student’s physical 
laboratory in any one of the Queen’s Colleges in Ireland 
—a want which surely ought not to remain unsupplied. 
Each of these institutions (the four Scotch Universities, 
the three Queen’s Colleges, and Owens College, Man¬ 
chester) requires two professors of natural philosophy— 
one who shall be responsible for the teaching, the other 
for the advancement of science by experiment. The 
