THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS 
[May 4, 1872 
-91 
/ Name 
Address 
Name _ 
Address 
Name _ 
Address 
Dated _ 
Three resident 
members of the 
Pharmaceutical f 
Society. 
PHARMACEUTICAL MEETING. 
Wednesday , May 1st, 1872. 
MR, A. F. HASELDEN, F.L.S., PRESIDENT, IN THE CHAIR. 
The following donations to the Library and Mu¬ 
seum were announced, and the thanks of the Society 
were voted to the donors :— 
Durham University Calendar: from the University,— 
Minutes of the Convention of Pharmaceutists and 
Druggists, 1851; Proceedings of the National Pharma¬ 
ceutical Convention, 1852 ; Proceedings of the American 
Pharmaceutical Association, 1855, 1867, and 1871: from 
the American Pharmaceutical Association, — Bark of 
Memecylon grandis , the KV.emboga or copper tree, of Java, 
from Ceylon; Bark of Cerbera Odallam of Ceylon; Essential 
■Oil of Chavica (Piper) betle; Essential Oil of Gaultheria 
punctata: all presented by Dr. J. E. De Vrij,—Oil of 
Eucalyptus globulus ; Oil of the pericarp of the (jashew- 
nut; Oil of Cashew, from the kernel; Eucalyptol, from 
Eucalyptus globulus: presented by Mr. G. Brownen,— 
Specimen of Crude Chloride of Potash, as imported 
from Saxony: presented by Messrs. Hodgkinson, Stead 
and Treacher, —A very fine specimen of one of the 
Vertebral Bones of the Whale: presented by Messrs. 
Hopkin and Williams. 
Professor Bentley made some observations on the do¬ 
nations of Dr. De A rij. He said he had understood 
that the bark of Memecylon grandis had been sent partly 
for analysis and partly because Dr. De Vrij had found it 
useful as an astringent. He thought it was very likely 
that it was so, because it belonged to a Natural Order, 
Melastomaceee , many of the plants of which have a slight 
^stringency. _ If there were any particular value to be 
derived from it, that would be shown when we get more 
particular information in connection with it. It was 
always a matter of great interest that such men as Dr. 
De Vrij should bring us specimens from different dis¬ 
tricts, because that was the only way to introduce new 
remedies into this country. 
Mr. Collins said that the specimen of Gaultheria 
punctata was in illustration of Dr. De Vrij’s article in 
the Journal. "W ith regard to the bark of Memecylon 
grandis , Dr. De Vrij thought it might also be used in 
tanning. The native name, Ki-temboga, is given on 
account of the very characteristic copper colour of the 
bark. 
Dr. Tilden said that at the last meeting there was 
laid upon the table a specimen labelled “ bisulphite of 
magnesia, and since then a paper had been written by 
Mr. Archbold, in which an account was given of the 
properties and composition of the salt, as well as details 
•of its analysis. Dr. Tilden’s attention had been directed 
to the subject, partly in consequence of the improbability, 
already pointed out by Mr. Carteighe, of the existence 
of such a compound, and partly, by what seemed to him, 
-the singular and incoherent style in which the paper was 
written. He was always happy to welcome any new 
worker in the field of science, but he thought Mr. Arch¬ 
bold was not very familiar with the kind of investigation 
he had undertaken. Dr. Tilden had analysed the speci¬ 
men which had been presented to the museum, and found 
it was no ‘‘bisulphite,” but simply the ordinary sulphite 
of magnesia, containing six molecules of water of crys¬ 
tallization, and which would be found described in 
many of the text books. The formula given by Mr. 
Archbold was an impossible formula. That a solution 
of an acid sulphite of magnesium might exist, and that in 
certain cases it might be a useful remedy, he did not 
dispute, but the specimen before the meeting was cer¬ 
tainly incorrectly named, and he thought it highly im¬ 
probable that any such compound could be produced in 
the solid form. 
Mr. Williams said that he had no special knowledge 
of bisulphite of magnesium in the crystallized form, and 
thought it would probably be very difficult to produce; 
with respect to the soluble bisulphites, especially those 
of potash and soda, the following test could be employed, 
to determine if they were bisulphites or simply sulphites, 
—it depended upon the fact that bisulphite of lime was 
soluble in water. A solution of chloride of calcium added 
to a solution of the bisulphite to be tested will produce 
no precipitate if the salt is perfect, but if a precipitate 
be produced (it may be sulphite or carbonate) the 
whole should be thrown on a filter, and the filtrate pre¬ 
cipitated by lime-water, by which means the excess of 
sulphurous acid would be neutralized, and from the 
amount of sulphite thus produced, the percentage of 
bisulphite originally present in the sample could be 
easily calculated. 
Pharmacy in Austria. 
[Mr. Greenish then read a paper on “ Pharmacy in 
Austria,” which is printed at p. 881, and gave rise to 
the following discussion.] 
Mr. Betty said they ought to be very much obliged 
to Mr. Greenish for the very exhaustive and practical 
essay which he had written. He had, in common with 
every pharmacist, been very much pleased with the 
contrast existing between the practice of pharmacy in 
England and on the Continent. He thought it ought 
to act as a warning to English pharmacists, and lead 
them to watch very zealously, lest the independence which 
attaches to the national institutions and the spirit of an 
Englishman should be in any way compromised or 
destroyed by that petty and over-legislation which so 
prevailed in foreign States. He hoped the Government 
of this country would never be afforded any pretext for 
commencing it. It was too often thought that the 
making up of a prescription was a mere mechanical 
action requiring no skill, and especially was this the 
case in foreign countries, as was shown by the amount 
paid for the skill in making up a prescription in Austria. 
In the instance given by Mr. Greenish, two-thirds of 
the price was paid for the mechanical operation of divid¬ 
ing the powders and for the box and gold label. He 
was glad to see that German pharmacists were trying 
hard to get rid of that over-legislation which had 
proved so irksome to them. 
Mr. Groves said that, although it appeared that in 
Germany 'pharmacists were harassed by unnecessary 
legislation, nevertheless, on the whole, benefit resulted to 
them from it. One thing he observed was that all young 
men who entered their names were required to pass a 
preliminary examination in arts. He thought that 
would be about the best thing that could happen in this 
country. It was highly absurd that a pharmacist here 
was compelled to undertake certain examinations before he 
could open a shop and conduct a business, and yet imme¬ 
diately after that he might engage any one he liked for his 
subordinate, and pay him as little as he liked. He 
thought that in this the public health and safety were 
not considered, and that no one ought to be engaged who 
was not thoroughly qualified. Referring to the remark 
of Mr. Greenish, that the young men in Austria had two 
hours a day to themselves, he said that he thought every 
master ought to allow that amount of time, and also 
afford access to a laboratory and other apparatus. He 
could not help remarking the prevalence of the objection 
