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THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[April 13, 1872. 
April 6tli, of the last meeting of the Council held on 
April 3rd, where this subject was again brought under 
discussion. I presume not to make any remark on, 
hut leave it to them to form their own opinion of the 
rspeeches then made. I do not wish to say one dis¬ 
respectful word of any of the members of the Council, 
for many of them are eminent in their own profession. 
Hut I think at the next election that it is desirable that 
many of them should give place to others, holding 
broader views, better ideas of their duties and responsi¬ 
bilities, and deeper sympathies with the interests of the 
•country members of the Society on this subject.” 
A long discussion ensued, and on the motion of Mr. 
Myers, seconded by Mr. Baynes, the best thanks of 
Ihe meeting were accorded to Mr. Pickering for his 
paper. 
LIVERPOOL CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 
The ninth General Meeting was held at the Royal 
Institution on Thursday evening, February 29th; Mr. 
Charles Jones (Vice-President) in the chair. 
The Hon. Secretary exhibited a new spirit-lamp, of 
French invention, which was much admired. 
Mr. J. T. Armstrong exhibited specimens of artificial 
butter and milk, the same as used by the inhabitants 
during the siege of Paris, and read a short paper on its 
composition. The following is an abstract:— 
The saying that it is an “ ill wind that blows no one 
any good” was fully shown in many ways during the 
■siege of Paris. This can be fully seen on looking at 
the great success attained by the thoughtfulness and 
skill of some of our French chemists in producing 
articles of food from very unpromising sources. They 
weut to work scientifically, not. with the view of pro¬ 
ducing the materials themselves, but chemical imitations ; 
starting in their researches by ascertaining the com¬ 
ponent parts of the material wanted, and mixing in the 
same proportion as in the natural article, and so pro¬ 
ducing the artificial, and this with very excellent 
results. 
Among the articles produced by them, were what was 
called “siege butter and milk,” and the following is the 
way in which they were made :— 
For the milk take 47 grins, of finely-powdered sugar, 
30 grms. of the white of an egg, or a sufficient propor¬ 
tion of gelatine, add one part of warm water, and about 
one grm. of carbonate of soda. These are to be mixed 
with 60 grms. of a pure and tasteless oil, or fat obtained 
by frying; well agitate the whole; a pasty liquid is 
obtained, which, when diluted with about an equal bulk 
of water, has the same nutritive value and chemical 
-composition as milk. 
The butter is obtained by what is called the frying 
process, which has been known to a few in England for 
.•some time. By it some of the most disagreeable smell¬ 
ing and tasting oil may be rendered quite pure and taste¬ 
less, and also of the same consistency as ordinary butter. 
Mr. A. H. Saunders exhibited an improved tincture 
press, manufactured for Messrs. Austin and Co., by 
which an enormous pressure can easily be brought to 
hear upon the product to be extracted, the main advan¬ 
tages appearing to be its simplified action and cheap¬ 
ness. 
Mr. A. H. Mason, F.C.S., exhibited a specimen of 
ferri citras et quini e (syrupy), a convenient form for 
•dispensing: one fluid drachm equal to 60 grains by 
weight of ferri cit. et quini;e, B. P. scales. 
Mr. Mason read a paper upon Xylol (C 8 H 10 ), one of 
the hydro-carbons homologous with Benzol, said to have 
been employed successfully in Berlin as a remedy 
.against smallpox. 
On the motion of Mr. A. H. Saunders, seconded by 
the Chairman, a unanimous vote of thanks was awarded 
to the contributors of the miscellaneous communications, 
and the meeting adjourned. 
The tenth General Meeting was held on Thursday 
evening, March 14th ; the President in the chair. 
Mr. H. Hiscock was unanimously elected an associate. 
Mr. Shaw called attention to the repeated errors in 
the administration of the Pharmacy Act by coroners 
and magistrates, in different parts of the United King¬ 
dom, and instanced the two cases recorded in the 
Pharmaceutical Journal of March 2nd. 
He thought it very desirable that every chemist and 
druggist should make himself fully acquainted with 
the Phai'macy Act of 1868, more especially with respect 
to the schedule of poisons, and those portions having 
reference to the sale of poisons, so that he may be 
enabled not only to fulfil all the requirements of the 
law, but at the same time (the circumstances demanding 
it) defend himself against any erroneous interpretations, 
and consequent damage to his interests by those in 
authority. He thought there was no excuse for such 
errors being committed, considering that a copy of the 
Pharmacy Act was sent annually by the Government to 
every coroner and also to every County Court through- 
the country. 
BRISTOL PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION. 
On Friday, April 6th, a lecture was delivered by 
W. A. Tilden, D.Sc. Lond., on “Water and Ice as 
Geological Agents.” 
The following memoranda indicate the order in which 
the subject was treated:—Circumstances influencing the 
character of scenery. Action of water upon the con¬ 
stituents of soils—mechanical—chemical. Evaporation 
from the ocean—watery vapour in the atmosphere — 
condensation of aqueous vapour—rain—hail—snow — 
accumulation of snow upon mountain peaks—avalanches 
—glaciers. Evidences of ancient glaciers in the British 
Isles. 
The lecture was illustrated by experiments, photo¬ 
graphs and diagrams, shown by a strong light upon a 
screen. 
At its conclusion the lecturer received the compliment 
of a cordial vote of thanks. 
of Scientific Societies. 
CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 
On Saturday, the 30th of March, the Anniversary 
Meeting of the Society was held, when the President 
delivered the customary address, congratulating the 
Fellows on the increase of their numbers, but pointing 
out at the same time the comparatively small number of 
papers communicated to the Society. The apathy and 
lethargy from which chemical science in this country is 
at present suffering he believed to be due to a great 
extent to our system of university education. After the 
officers and Council for the ensuing year had been 
elected, and the usual votes of thanks proposed, the 
meeting was adjourned. 
The following is a list of the officers:— 
President —E. Frankland, D.C.L., F.R.S. 
Vice-Presidents who have Jilted the office of President — 
Sir B. C. Brodie, F.R.S.; Warren de la Rue, Ph.D., 
F.R.S.; A. W. Hofmann, D.C.L., F.R.S.; Lyon Play¬ 
fair, Ph.D., C.B., F.R.S.; A. W. Williamson, Ph.D., 
F.R.S.; Col. P. Yorke, F.R.S. 
Vice-Presidents —H. Debus, Ph.D., F.R.S.; II. M. 
Noad, Ph.D., F.R.S.; W. Odling, M.B., F.R.S.; J. 
Stenhouse, Ph.D., F.R.S.; and W. J. Russell, Ph.D., 
and Maxwell Simpson, Ph.D., F.R.S., in place of J. H. 
