416 
PROVINCIAL TRANSACTIONS. 
THE LIVERPOOL CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 
The Fourth General Meeting of the Association was held at the Royal Institution on 
Thursday evening, November 24th, 1864 ; the President in the chair. 
The donations to the Library announced were 1 The Chemist and Druggist,’ ‘ The 
Pharmaceutical Journal,’ and the ‘ Abstract of the Proceedings of the Liverpool Geo¬ 
logical Society,’ from the respective societies. A vote of thanks to the donors was passed. 
Mr. John Weightman, jun., was duly elected a member of the association. 
The President exhibited a sample of Tinct. Camphoroe prepared with methylated 
spirit, the effect of which on the patient who obtained it was very undesirable. He con¬ 
sidered that methylated spirits should not be employed for such purposes. 
Mr. R. F. Young laid specimens of Tinct. Ferri Sesquichlor., prepared by a formula 
different from that given in the B. P., before the meeting. He stated that he could not 
obtain a product according to the recipe in this text-book that would resist decomposition; 
and he attributed the defect to the fact that an excess of nitric acid was advised therein; 
that a sesquinitrate of iron was produced, and that this salt suffered decomposition after 
the addition of the spirit. The samples laid on the table were prepared with two-thirds 
of the nitric acid specified in the B. P. 
Mr. John Abraham stated that the old compound Tine. Ferri Perchlor. was very 
similar to that in the present work ; he always found it kept well. 
The Secretary considered that no sesquinitrate such as that indicated by Mr. Young 
was produced. 
The Vice-President, N. Mercer, Esq., F.C.S., delivered the lecture of the evening, “ On 
Nitrogen Compounds used in the Arts.” At the conclusion of the lecture, which was 
highly interesting, a vote of thanks was moved to the lecturer from the chair, and the 
business of the evening closed. 
The Fifth General Meeting was held on the 8th December, 1864 ; the President in the 
chair. 
‘ The Technologist,’ from the Editor , was announced, and the thanks of the meeting 
accorded to the donor. Mr. Thomas Williams was duly elected a member of the asso¬ 
ciation. 
The Vice-President explained the cause of the slow combustion which gun-cotton 
undergoes under certain conditions. 
Dr. Edwards spoke on the same subject. In the absence of Mr. A. N. Tate, who was 
prevented from reading the paper of the evening by sudden indisposition, Dr. Edwards 
volunteered to give the history of a serious poisoning case in Wales, whereby several 
members of a family lost their lives. He exhibited some specimens of the arsenical indi¬ 
cations obtained both on copper and in sublimate. He mentioned that arsenic was voided 
in the urine of one of the patients for several days, as indicated by the respective tests. 
He concluded his interesting address by dwelling upon the comparative merits of Marsh’s, 
Reinsch’s, and other arsenical tests. A vote of thanks to Dr. Edwards concluded the 
business of the evening. 
The Sixth General Meeting of the Association was held on Thursday evening, January 
5th ; the Vice-President, in the absence of the President, occupied the chair. 
The following donations to the Library were announced, and the thanks of the meeting 
awarded to the donors :— 1 The Pharmaceutical Journal,’ for January, from the Society ; 
‘ The Technologist,’ for January, from the Editor. The following gentlemen were duly 
elected members of the association :—Messrs. Charles Taylor, William Hughes, R. K. 
Jones, A. R. Arnott, and Thomas Huson. 
The Chairman called upon Mr. A. N. Tate to favour the meeting with his lecture. 
Mr. Tate proceeded with a very practical and comprehensive address “ On the Refining 
of Petroleum.” 
A brief discussion followed, in which Messrs. Abraham, Bird, Betts, and others took 
part. A vote of thanks to the lecturer, moved from the chair and carried, brought the 
evening’s business to a close. 
