O 'O 
204 
PHARMACEUTICAL MEETING. 
BOTANY AND MATERIA MEDIC A. 
1. Describe the general characters and structure of starch granules. 
2. State briefly the characteristic distinctions between the stems of acotyledonous, mono- 
cotyledonous, and dicotyledonous steins. 
3. Distinguish between epiphytical and parasitical plants. 
4. What is the botanical source of scammony ? Describe its physical characteristics, and 
the tests of its purity ? 
5. What are the botanical sources of the officinal and Sumatra camphors , and how may 
they be distinguished from each other ? 
G. What are the officinal plants (Brit. Pharm.) of the Natural Orders Ranunculacece, Com¬ 
posite, and Liliacece ? 
CHEMISTRY AND PHARMACY. 
1. What is the composition of Rochelle salt, and how is it prepared ? 
2. What is the proportion of anhydrous hydroc} r anic acid in the diluted hydrocyanic acid 
of the London Pharmacopoeia ? 
3. What is the difference in composition between hard and soft soap ? 
4. What are the proportions of rectified spirit and water in proof spirit, and what is the 
specific gravity of proof spirit ? 
. What is the composition of muriatic acid, and from what is this acid made ? 
. How is Mistura Ferri Composita of the London Pharmacopoeia made ? What is the 
nature of the change which occurs during the process, and also of that which 
occurs when it has been kept for some time exposed to the air ? 
The President, after distributing the prizes and certificates to the success¬ 
ful competitors, addressing Mr. Watts, congratulated him, and hoped that on 
going forth to the world to utilize the knowledge he had obtained he would be 
as successful as in acquiring it. His great practical education was now to 
commence; the encomiums passed on him that evening must not dazzle and 
divert him from his course ; it was to him, and such as him (speaking generally 
to the prize-men), that the Pharmaceutical Society must look for credit and 
support, and he trusted the connection between them would long continue a 
source of mutual honour and pleasure to both parties. 
A CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OP BALSAM OF PERU. 
BY J. ATTFIELD, PH.D., F.C.S. 
DIRECTOR OF THE LABORATORIES OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
There are still some links missing in the history of Balsam of Peru. To 
Pereira we owe the first precise information as to the localities in which the 
drug is produced, the tree which yields it, and the method by which it is ex¬ 
tracted. Warszewicz, Bailey, Le Nouvel, and Dorat have given their testi¬ 
mony as eye-witnesses to the process by which the balsam is collected ; while 
Hanbury has gathered many historical particulars, which have rendered our 
knowledge of the subject more exact. To the last-named writer is due the 
introduction of the tree to the botanical gardens of Europe, as well as to the 
islands of J amaica, Trinidad, and Ceylon. 
The process which is now followed, in the State of Salvador, for the extrac¬ 
tion of the so-called Balsam of Peru is, as we are told, simply this :—the bark 
of the tree is somewhat loosened and bruised by the blows of a mallet or 
other blunt instrument. It is then charred by the flames of torches ; this 
occasions it to drop off, and a fluid resin to exude from the now hared wood. 
This fluid resin is not collected by being simply allowed to flow down into a 
vessel, but is absorbed by cotton rags, which are laid over the sticky exuding- 
