May 11, 1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
015 
Six essays were received, and the Committee was pleased 
to find in Air. Sehacht, of Clifton, an agreeable collabo¬ 
rator, to whom the essays were forwarded for examina¬ 
tion. Mr. Sehacht’s report upon the merits of each 
paper was readily accepted by the Committee, and the 
prizes awarded as follows :— 
Cinchona Barks.Mr. West. 
The preparations of Iron... Mr. F. Walbran. 
Rhubarb.Mr. G. S. Highmoor. 
Magnesia.Mr. C. Smith. 
The essay upon Cinchona Barks and the preparations 
of Iron were then read by their respective authors. 
A discussion then took place as to the course to be 
adopted with reference to the other essays, the lateness 
of the hour preventing their being read, when it was 
resolved that the meeting be adjourned. 
Before the adjournment the President presented the 
prizes to each successful essayist, with some very ap¬ 
propriate remarks. 
Mr. Smeeton proposed that the thanks of the Society 
be given to Messrs. Harvey and Reynolds, and J. Day 
and E. Yewdall for their kind donation of the books 
just given as prizes, which was seconded by Mr. Wilson, 
Associate, and carried unanimously. 
The meeting was then adjourned to Wednesday, May 
1st. 
The adjourned meeting was held in the Clergy Room, 
Church Institute, on Wednesday, May 1st; Mr. E. S. 
Payne, Associate, in the chair. 
The Honorary Secretary read a letter received from 
Mr. Radley, of Sheffield, respecting Provincial Pharma¬ 
ceutical Education, after which Mr. Payne, Curator, called 
attention to specimens of crude and refined ozokerite, 
lineal or native borax, and apatite, presented to the 
Museum by Mr. Reynolds; after which Mr. G. S. High¬ 
moor, Associate, read his essay upon “Rhubarb, the his¬ 
tory and preparations of.” 
Mr. C. Smith, Associate, also read his essay upon 
“ Magnesia and its officinal preparations.” 
The President, who had entered the room during the 
reading of the last paper, explained that a letter ad¬ 
dressed to him was an apology from Mr. Reynolds, who 
was prevented by another engagement from being pre¬ 
sent. 
The Chairman announced that this was the concluding 
meeting of the present Session. 
LIVERPOOL CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 
The twelfth General Meeting was held at the Royal 
Institution on Thursday evening, the 2oth April; the 
President, Air. E. Davies, F.C.S., in the chair. 
Mr. T. F. Auraham, on behalf of Messrs. Herrings, of 
London, presented a specimen of Natal aloes for the 
museum. Several donations to the library were also 
announced. 
Dr. Symes made some remarks on the desirability of 
pharmacists making their own preparations,—not with a 
view to profit, as wholesale houses working on a large 
.scale would always be able to produce their preparations 
much cheaper than when made in smaller quantities, 
but as a means of instruction for those learning and 
■engaged in the business. 
The Hon. Secretary, Mr. J. Hallawell, then read a 
paper on 
Chemistry and Pharmacy in Brazil. 
He said that although chemistry was worthily repre¬ 
sented in two or three of the principal cities of Brazil, by 
medical men, and those connected with the universities 
and medical schools, yet everywhere practical or applied 
chemistry was in its veriest infancy, and could hardly 
be said to exist. Referring to the southern provinces in 
which ho had resided many years, he said that a larger 
<or more profitable field for a practical chemist did not 
exist anywhere ; for, while in the large slaughter-houses 
the waste of valuable material was great, the means of 
collecting and utilizing it on a large scale were most 
easy. Materials of all kinds are abundant and cheap, 
and the high duties paid on imported articles offer a 
large profit to any manufacturer. As an instance of the 
ease with which waste could be collected, he stated that 
in some slaughter-yards a great number of vats were 
worked, in which the bones were macerated in order to 
extract the grease. The gelatine, however, runs off down 
a trough right away into the river and is lost; about a hun¬ 
dredweight being thus thrown away from each vat every 
two days. By simply diverting the trough into cisterns 
several tons could be collected per diem without the least 
expenditure of labour. Its subsequent preparation for 
manufacture or export would bo easy. This was, how¬ 
ever, one of the least valuable of the wasted products, 
and only served as an illustration. Much of the beef 
was salted and dried, and shipped to the northern ports 
for food; but very often the whole carcass of the ox was 
thrown into the vats, for the sake of extracting the grease, 
the flesh being entirely lost. There had been many 
objections made against the process of preserving meat 
in use in Australia, though no doubt about the best hi¬ 
therto adopted ; but a good process, presenting the beef in 
a more acceptable form to the buyer in Europe, would be 
a great boon, and would be a profitable enterprise. 
He mentioned that some years ago Dr. Ubatuba, In¬ 
spector of Public Health for Rio Grande, had commenced 
the manufacture of extract of meat. For various reasons 
he had only been able to make it on a small scale, but 
now he was extending his plant, and hoped to be able to 
produce it in considerable quantity. This extract had been 
awarded the gold medal for its excellence and superior 
quality by the jurors of the Workmen’s International 
Exhibition, held in London in 1870. Messrs. Leao and 
Alves, two enterprising Brazilians, had also some years 
ago established a factory at Porto Alegro, for pressing- 
oils, and they had been most successful. Nearly all the 
castor oil used in the province was now pressed by them, 
from seeds grown almost on the spot; and they had 
added little by little to their establishment, until it had 
become a very large one, and a large quantity of other 
oils, as neats-foot, linseed, rape, and many other vegetable 
oils unknown here in general use, but used there by the 
pharmacist and for illumination, are now regularly pro¬ 
duced by them. These gentlemen had been aided by 
the Brazilian Government, which was always willing to 
help private enterprise by advancing money at a low 
interest; and this willingness to assist, after many 
instances of failure on the part of those helped, is 
most noteworthy. 
Passing on to pharmacy, Mr. Hallawell stated that 
there were two medical schools or colleges in Brazil; one 
in the city of Rio de Janeiro, another at Bahia. The 
studies and privileges of both were the same. A student 
in pharmacy usually, after spending a few years in 
service in some retail establishment, goes up to the 
school at one of these two places, and there he must 
study two years. The course of study is almost the 
same as that adopted in Bloomsbury Square, and the 
examinations likewise. After a satisfactory examination 
he is granted a diploma, and may begin business as a 
pharmacist when and where he likes; for, like England, 
in Brazil there is no limit placed on the number of 
pharmacies. A pharmacist is called a j Boticario; lie 
is exempt from serving on juries, or in the. National 
Guard, but ho cannot engage in any other business, nor 
have more than one pharmacy. By law medical men 
arc forbidden to dispense their own medicines ; there is 
therefore plenty for the pharmacist to do j and v hue 
they sometimes encroach upon the pro-\ ince of. the 
doctor by prescribing for casual and common complaints, 
they are protected by law from being encroached upon 
by the doctor. _ 
Prescriptions are written in Portuguese, the languago 
