792 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[March 30, 1872. 
to attempt next session the consolidation of existing 
sanitary laws; that in lieu of the division of local 
authorities into urban and rural, there should he one 
local authority under one law in each sanitary district; 
that there should he one uniform higli-cjass sanitary 
authority, in whom should he vested (subject to Local 
Government Board supervision) the power of direct¬ 
ing and overlooking the administration of medical 
relief, establishment of dispensaries, the arrangement 
of districts, etc.; that such authority should he em¬ 
powered to appoint one or more medical officers of 
health in chief, whose whole time shall he given to 
their official duties, and who may act as deputies to 
the chief officers of health; that sickness returns 
should pass through the hands of the chief medical 
officer for summary and local utilization, and that a 
moiety of the expenses should he borne by the Im¬ 
perial exchequer. It was decided that an interview 
with Mr. Stansfeld should he sought before it was 
decided whether the Associations should oppose 
the Bill on the second reading, or whether the 
amendments should be moved in Committee. 
The last evening meeting of the present session 
will he held on Wednesday next, April 3rd, at half¬ 
past eight o’clock. The papers to he read on that 
occasion are, “ The Weights and Measures used in 
Pharmacy,” by Mr. C. H. Wood, F.C.S.; “Phar¬ 
macy in Austria,” by Mr. T. Greenish; and “The 
Occurrence of Copper in Cajuput Oil,” by Mr. 
Edward Histed. 
M. Lefort has been nominated a member of the 
Paris Academy of Medicine iii the section of phar¬ 
macy. 
inrtjmtM franmtioro. 
MANCHESTER CHEMISTS’ ASSISTANTS’ 
ASSOCIATION. 
The ordinary Fortnightly Meeting of the above As¬ 
sociation was held at Mitre Chambers, March 12th; the 
President in the chair. 
A very able and interesting paper was read by Mr. 
Cooper, on the “Salts of Mercury;” some of the pro¬ 
cesses and tests being given practically. Afterwards a 
lively discussion of the subject was maintained. 
The next meeting was to be held on March 26th, when 
a paper was to be read by Mr. Fewster on the “ Prepara¬ 
tions of the Natural Order Fapaveracecc.” 
NOTTINGHAM AND NOTTS CHEMISTS’ 
ASSOCIATION. 
The Fifth General Meeting was held in the Society’s 
rooms, Britannia Chambers, on Friday, loth March ; the 
President, Mr. J. H. Atherton, in the chair. 
The minutes were read and confirmed, and the follow¬ 
ing donations were announced :—A complete collection 
of the medicinal barks of the Pharmacopoeia, from Mr. 
Fitzhugh ; a series of microscopic slides, from Mr. Wool- 
rich; the Pharmaceutical Journal, from the Society. 
A letter was read from the President of the Sheffield 
Association, respecting the inadequacy of the aid given 
to provincial educational societies by the Council of the 
Pharmaceutical Society. 
Resolutions were passed cordially approving of the 
action of the Sheffield Chemists’ Association in the 
matter, and the President and Vice-President were ap¬ 
pointed delegates to represent the Nottingham and Notts 
Association at the proposed conference of provincial 
societies. A paper was then read by Mr. Mayfield, on 
the “ Adulteration of Drugs,” of a very practical and in¬ 
teresting nature; after the discussion—in which the 
President, Mr. W. H. Parker (Vice-President) and Mr. 
Rayner took part —a cordial vote of thanks was unani¬ 
mously accorded to Mr. Mayfield. 
GLASGOW CHEMISTS’ AND DRUGGISTS’ 
ASSOCIATION. 
The Meetings of this Association have been held at 
intervals throughout the winter. At a recent meeting 
Mr. Archibald Paterson read a paper on “ Our Writing 
Fluids,” in the course of which he contrasted the ink 
used by the ancients with those of the present day, 
showing that the former was more durable on account of 
the carbon it contained. He then proceeded to describe 
the mode of preparing ink, and gave the proportions of 
ingredients found most suitable in its preparation. He 
gave a number of formulae for different inks, amongst 
which was that recommended by the late Professor 
Penny, and manufactured on the large scale by Messrs. 
Duncan Flockhart and Co., of Edinburgh. Mr. Pater¬ 
son drew attention to some of the peculiarities of this 
ink —1st, the excess of galls; 2nd, the small proportion 
of iron; 3rd, the absence of gum; 4th, the presence of 
free sulphuric acid; oth, the colour, blue, becoming 
black; and 6th, the process of exhaustion, viz. the cold- 
water maceration. Its chief fault, however, was the pre¬ 
sence of free sulphuric acid, which, he said, must, in 
course of time, injure the paper upon which it was used, 
demonstrating his remarks on this point by experiment. 
Mr. Paterson afterwards drew attention to the so-called 
sympathetic inks, which he also illustrated by examples, 
and concluded by referring to the beauty and variety of 
colour possessed by the products of coal-tar, when used 
as writing fluids. 
On Wednesday evening, March 20th, Mr. William 
M‘Kenzle read a paper on “Hither Sulphuricus.” He 
referred at the outset to the ethers which are producible 
from alcohol by distillation with acids, and explained 
how ethyl (C 2 H 5 ), or Et 2 , can assume the properties of 
a base, and showed that it was the base of a system of 
compounds, viz. oxide of ethyl (Et 2 0), common ether; 
nitrite of ethyl (EtN0 2 ), which when dissolved in spt. 
vini rect. forms the spt. eth. nit. of commerce; acid sul¬ 
phate of ethyl (EtHS0 4 ), generally met with iru the 
preparation of ether; the iodide (Et I) ; the hydride 
(EtH); the acetate (EtA), and other salts of consider¬ 
able chemical interest, but not used in medicine or phar¬ 
macy. He then went on to explain how other sub¬ 
stances formed compounds with ethyl, stating that wines 
owe much of their bouquet or rich flavour to the pre¬ 
sence of what is termed oenanthic ether. The flavour of 
whisky, he said, was due to pelargonic ether. He under¬ 
stood that this was now being manufactured by a secret 
process, and sold at a high price, for the purpose of im¬ 
parting the fragrance of old whisky to new. Mr. 
M'Kenzie then referred to the flavours of fruits and the 
odours of flowers, all of which he said could be produced 
artificially by mixing these ethereal salts in different 
proportions. He then described the process of ma¬ 
nufacturing the oxide of ethyl, or sulphuric ether, 
pointing out the great care required in its preparation, 
