December 9, 1871.] TIIE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS 
477 
quantity and length and coin, we were coming back to 
what was the simplest plan, and that by means of 
which we could measure, weigh and calculate with the 
smallest amount of trouble; and that was the decimal 
plan. Whether that decimal plan would prove to be the 
metric or any other modification he did not know, and he 
did not very much care: but in the conviction that it 
was a decimal method which we were all drifting to, 
whether we liked it or whether we did not like it, he 
thought that the proposal of Professor Redwood was 
not only an important step, but the step which the 
time demanded in that direction. He himself believed 
that we should eventually come to the metric system 
of weights and measures, because it was that decimal 
form of measures and weights which had been adopted 
by the leading countries of Europe. But we in Eng¬ 
land were all strongly conservative, and we might 
not liice to employ the Greek and Latin terms which 
were involved in the metric system of weights and mea¬ 
sures ; and it might be a generation, and perhaps more, 
before we should arrive at any desirable position in the 
matter. But ho could conceive no better method of 
reaching the goal to which we seem to be drifting than 
by the adoption of this method of Professor Redwood. 
With regard to what Dr. Tilden had said, he could 
strongly sympathize with him. He also had found that 
students, who knew necessarily nothing of chemistry,— 
who came, in fact, to that institution and others to learn 
chemistry,—had always had an impression that a formula 
meant a catalogue of substances to be mixed together, 
secundum artem. He had met with the difficulty which 
had been alluded to, but it seemed to him that that diffi¬ 
culty was not any argument in favour of the abolition 
altogether of chemical processes from the Pharmacopoeia, 
but rather one for the recasting of the language of the 
Pharmacopoeia in reference to chemical processes, for 
the educational value of the latter was considerable. He 
should be disposed, with a view of meeting that diffi¬ 
culty, to retain the form of language used in describing 
Galenical preparations, and to somewhat alteijthe;arrange- 
ment of paragraphs and sentences in those formulae rela¬ 
ting to chemical' preparations, so that there might be an 
obvious difference to the eye of those who knew nothing 
of chemistry, between a Galenical formula and a collec¬ 
tion of weights and measures of substances which are to 
be put together, and which, when put together, will act 
chemically upon each other. 
Mr. Allchin said that it appeared to him that the 
proposition made by Professor Redwood was open to no 
objection whatever ; but, with regard to the introduction 
of the metric system, there were many difficulties to be 
overcome. It was not a question for pharmaceutists 
only, but for the whole medical profession. Men who 
had been to college, and just passed their examination, 
did not expect to have to go to school again. There 
would be a strong opposition to any attempt to introduce 
the decimal system into the Pharmacopoeia. 
Mr. Lenton said that, with regard to the present 
grain and minim, they were really founded on nothing 
at all. There was no standard for them. But the me¬ 
tric unit was pretty much what Thomas Carlyle would call 
one of the “ eternal verities.” He (Mr. Lenton) believed 
that our calculations would and must at last come to the 
metric system. Students would find that they could 
divide by ten more easily than by any other numbers, 
nnd he believed that students would offer no opposition 
to the metric system on the ground of difficulty. 
Professor Redwood said that, although unwilling to 
detain the meeting from the hearing of other papers, yet 
out of respect for the speakers he must say a few w r ords 
in reply. He was very much obliged to Dr. Tilden for 
his suggestion as to the substitution of the two words 
“pond" and “ vol ” for part and measure ; but he (Pro¬ 
fessor Redwood) thought that words already in use in 
the sense in which he proposed to adopt them, were 
preferable to new terms. Some persons might be puz¬ 
zled by “pond" and “vol" and might think that they 
were some special quantities instead of terms applicable 
to any quantities. He entirely agreed with what Dr. 
Tilden had said with respect to chemical processes in the 
Pharmacopoeia, and he had opposed the introduction of 
some of those given in the last edition. Wherever 
a perfectly clear definition coidd be given of a che¬ 
mical product, he believed that definition would bo 
quite sufficient. He thought, however, that Dr. Tilden 
had fixed upon an unfortunate illustration in stating his 
objection to giving the chemical processes. He had 
mentioned digitalin, which was precisely a case in which 
there would be a difficulty in omitting the process. In 
that instance the process must be stated in order to de¬ 
fine what the digitalin was. There were two or three 
kinds of the substance, varying according to the pro¬ 
cesses by which it was prepared, and the digitalin of 
the Pharmacopoeia was not the simplest form of the 
active principle of digitalis. In that case, therefore, the 
process must bo described, as the digitalin could not 
otherwise be defined. Mr. Groves had objected to the 
weighing of fluids. Yv r ell, it was not part of his (the 
Professor’s) method that they should change from the 
measuring to the weighing of fluids, except in a very few 
special cases. He admitted that the habits of our British 
pharmaceutists were such as would not exactly agree 
with having to weigh in every case. Tho method of 
giving proportional numbers, as adopted in Continental 
Pharmacopoeias, was made very simple if everything was 
weighed. All that was needed was to give numbers which 
might represent grams or any other equal weight, 
the same denomination being applied throughout. He 
thought, however, that Mr. Groves would find that thoro 
was only a small number of cases (not a dozen alto¬ 
gether) in which they would have to weigh liquids ac¬ 
cording to his (Professor Redwood’s) proposition. Ho 
could not help thinking that there was a manifest ad¬ 
vantage in weighing the syrup in confection of opium, 
and having a product in which the active constituents 
boro a definite relation to the whole. He was much 
obliged to Mr. Groves for suggesting, with reference to 
spirit of camphor, that which certainly had not occurred 
to him (Professor Redwood) before; and ho certainly 
concurred that spirit of camphor should be made of such 
a volume that the camphor should bear a definite relation 
to the whole product, either weight to measure, or weight 
to weight. He must here, however, say in his own jus¬ 
tification, that his present object had rather been to 
elicit, from practical men, an opinion as to how far it 
was desirable to attempt to carry out in the completest 
manner a method which he had described only in its broad 
features. It would involve, if applied to the Pharma- 
conoeia, a great amount of calculation and reworking of 
all tho old processes; and he had not thought it ne¬ 
cessary or judicious to enter upon a work of that de¬ 
scription until he was able to ascertain how far such a 
method was likely to be received with favour and per¬ 
manently adopted. Otherwise, he might work for a 
year or two in the reconstruction of formula) accord¬ 
ing to the new method, and then find at last that tho 
method was not 'approved of and that all the time 
occupied by his calculations had been thrown away. 
There were many improvements which might be made 
in simplifying the processes, but what ho had done was 
chiefly to apply his method to the processes of the Phar¬ 
macopoeia as he found them. Some of the other points 
which had been raised had been already answered in tho 
course of the discussion. 
A paper by Mr. T. Miller, of Sheffield, u On a Method 
for tho Estimation of Morphia in Opium, was read by 
Professor Attpield. 
[This paper is printed at p. 465, and gave rise to 
the following discussion :—] 
The President said that this paper was a very in¬ 
teresting one, and the results given in the table cei- 
