1002 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[June 8, 1872. 
small places cannot complain, for at present they have 
no means of instruction, and this plan would bring it 
nearer their doors. 
“ Doubtless there is great indifference on the part of 
those who have to pass the examinations, or else they are 
not afforded time. Six for a course of chemistry lectures, 
two for practical chemistry, and seven for lectures on 
botany are not very encouraging figures, but we must 
remember that desultory efforts are rarely successful. 
“ Our session has not been quite as successful as I 
would have wished. I have from various causes been 
unable to do all that I wished and intended when I 
undertook the office of your President, and must hold 
myself responsible for some part of the lack of interest 
manifested. Still papers of considerable value have 
been read; and on the evenings when papers have been 
provided, the attendance had been good. I can only ex¬ 
press a wish that during the summer you may lay up, 
like bees, some honey for next winter. 
“ Dr. Carter has begun a course of lectures on botany, 
in the arrangements for which he showed the utmost 
liberality. Members may still join without losing much, 
as practically only one lecture has been delivered. The 
minimum number has not been quite reached, and, there¬ 
fore, the course is yet in danger; but I hope that this 
will not continue. Though I fortunately have no Minor 
or Major in view, from the love I have for botany, I have 
enrolled myself among the doctor’s pupils, and anticipate 
much pleasure and profit. And now I must say fare¬ 
well, with thanks for your kind consideration during 
my presidency. May we all remember that knowledge 
for the love of it should be our motive power, and then 
with open eyes, in the shop or study, in the crowded 
street or country lane, we shall not lack objects for pro¬ 
fitable consideration to make us wise and better men.” 
A vote of thanks to the President for his address and 
for his labours during the session, and also to the Hono¬ 
rary Secretary for his services, terminated the proceed¬ 
ings. 
SUNDERLAND CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 
The Annual Meeting of the above Society was held 
on Tuesday, May 28th, when the following officers were 
elected for the ensuing year:— 
President, Alderman W. Thompson ; Treasurer , Mr. R. 
Robinson; Secretary, Mr. J. J. Nicholson. Council, 
Messrs. J. Harrison, D. B. Sharp, H. Thompson, T. 
Nasbet, C. S. Lord, J. Mitchinson, H. Turnbull, T. Burn, 
and J. Priestly. 
The Secretary and Treasurer’s reports were read and 
adopted. 
Among other resolutions adopted was one proposed 
by Mr. J. Harrison and seconded by Mr. Hodgson, that 
a petition be forwarded to the House of Commons in 
favour of the Bill for exempting chemists and druggists 
from service on juries. 
It was announced by the Secretary that arrangements 
were in progress for a series of lectures during the next 
session ; and after cordial votes of thanks to the retiring 
officers the meeting separated. 
prliattmttos anir fato fmMtojjs. 
HOUSE OF LORDS. 
Friday, May 31. 
The following Bill was, on the motion of the Earl of 
Morley, read a second time and referred to a Select 
Committee:— 
A Bill to Amend the Petroleum Act, 1871. 
Whereas by Section 3 of the Petroleum Act, 1871, it 
is enacted as follows :—“ For the purposes of this Act 
the term ‘Petroleum’ includes any rock oil, Rangoon oil, 
Durmah oil, oil made from petroleum, coal, schist, shale, 
peat, or other bituminous substance, and any products of 
petroleum, or any of the above-mentioned oils ; and the 
term ‘ Petroleum ’ to which this Act ‘ applies,’ means- 
such of the petroleum so defined as, when tested in man¬ 
ner set forth in Schedule 1 to this Act, gives off an in¬ 
flammable vapour at a temperature of less than one- 
hundred degrees of Fahrenheit’s thermometer;” and it 
is expedient to substitute the test in the schedule to this; 
Act for the test in Schedule 1 to the Petroleum Act, 
1871: 
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, 
by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiri¬ 
tual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Par¬ 
liament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as 
follows: 
1. The schedule to this Act shall be substituted for 
and be deemed to be Schedule 1 to the Petroleum Act, 
1871, and “ 85 ” shall be substituted for “ 100 ” in Sec¬ 
tion 3 of the same Act; and the Petroleum Act, 1871, 
shall be construed accordingly. 
2. The Petroleum Act, 1871, as amended by this Act, 
shall be perpetual. 
3. This Act may be cited as the Petroleum Act, 1872, 
and this Act and the Petroleum Act, 1871, may be cited 
together as the Petroleum Acts, 1871 and 1872. 
4. Section 18 and Schedule 1 of the Petroleum Act, 
1871, are hereby repealed, provided that this repeal shall 
not affect: 
(a). Anything duly done or suffered before the passing 
of this Act under the Petroleum Act, 1871; or 
(5). Any penalty, forfeiture, or punishment incurred! 
in respect of any offence committed before the 
passing of this Act against the Petroleum Act, 
1871; or 
(c). Any investigation or legal proceeding in respect 
of such penalty, forfeiture, or punishment, and any 
such investigation or legal proceeding may be 
carried on as if this Act had not passed. 
5. This Act shall not come into operation before 
October, 1st, 1872. 
Schedule. 
Directions for testing Petroleum to ascertain the Temperature 
at which it gives off Inflammable Vapour. 
The apparatus to be employed in this test shall con¬ 
sist of— 
(a). An outer vessel of metal to contain water, about 
four inches in diameter and four inches deep, so con¬ 
trived that some source of heat, such as a spirit lamp or 
gas burner, can be applied to it to heat the water which 
it contains : 
(5). An inner vessel of thin metal to contain the 
petroleum to be tested, about two inches in diameter and 
two inches deep, provided with an external rim or flange, 
above which the edge of the vessel shall rise about one- 
fourth of an inch, and by which it may be supported in 
the outer vessel so that its contents may be heated 
through the medium of the water. 
The inner vessel for the petroleum shall be provided 
with a cover of thin metal fitting to the edge which 
rises above the rim or flange already described. This 
cover shall be about half an inch deep, so that its top 
may be half an inch above the surface of the petroleum 
to be tested. In the cover there must be fitted a Fah¬ 
renheit thermometer with a spherical bulb, in the scale 
of which ten degrees shall occupy at least half an inch 
in length; the thermometer must be placed in such a 
position that the bulb shall be just covered by the 
petroleum. 
Near the front edge of the cover there shall be a 
circular opening, and through this the petroleum is to be 
tested. This opening is to be provided with a small 
movable cover. 
In making the experiment with this apparatus the 
water in the outer vessel shall in every case be heated to 
eighty degrees Fahrenheit before the petroleum is put 
into the inner vessel. When the temperature of thei 
