578 
PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY, EDINBURGH. 
it in a sealed tube to 200° Centigrade. In the experiments made before you, Sodium 
decomposes it at natural temperatures as you have seen, and so also does Potassium. 
The only other matter worth mentioning is, that the crust formed on the Na is not 
wholly NaCl; it gives up something not yet examined to dry alcohol, and effervesces on 
the addition of HC1, and is strongly alkaline to litmus-paper. It is, when got of a grey 
colour and in fine powder, soluble in water, giving a brown saline substance when again 
evaporated down. Heated to redness it is soluble in water, and leaves in the filter a small 
quantity of what looks like charcoal, and its solution effervesces more on the addition of 
acid than it did. These last facts point to the formation of an organic acid. 
The paper was illustrated with various experiments, all of which were most suc¬ 
cessful, and established practically the correctness of the statements made. 
Mr. Nicol proposed, and Mr. Stephenson seconded, a vote of thanks to Mr. Brown 
for his very valuable and able communication. 
The following report by the Prize Committee was then read :— 
Gentlemen,—As convener of the Prize Essay Committee, I have to report that only 
one essay has been received, the title of which is Practical Hints on the Manufacture 
of some of our Ointments.” Regarding the essay itself, the committee regret to say 
that they are not quite satisfied with the manner in which the subject has been treated, 
because it involves changes in the composition of many of the ointments, in suggesting 
which, the author appears to. have forgotten the importance of uniformity, and that the 
British Pharmacopoeia is now the only acknowedged authority for the pharmaceutist; 
while the committee are fully aware of the importance of improved colour, consistence, 
smoothness, and durability, they cannot approve of any unauthorized departure from 
established formulae. The committee, however, are of opinion that, apart from this, the 
essay is not without merit; that the labour bestowed on the subject, the careful com¬ 
position, and the correct observations, regarding the nature and qualities of a good 
ointment, deserve to be acknowledged, and, therefore, they have awarded it the President’s 
Prize.— David Kemp, Convener. 
On the sealed envelope being opened, the writer of the essay was found to be Joseph 
G. Steevens, residing with R. Jeffrey and Sons, Pittville, Cheltenham, and the Secretary 
was instructed to forward the President’s Prize. This consisted of a copy of the late 
edition of Neligan, edited by Dr. Macnamara, of Dublin. 
The President then proceeded to give his 
VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 
Gentlemen,—Before we separate, I desire, in accordance with the usual practice, to 
make a few remarks on the business of the»session, which I shall do very briefly. 
Having accepted the responsibilities of office with some degree of hesitation, lest the 
Society should suffer by incapacity on my part, or from want of time to watch its 
interests with sufficient care, I have now, at the conclusion of my official term, to express 
the hope that this has not been the case. Of this, however, I must leave you to judge. 
All I ought to say is, that I have honestly endeavoured to prevent it, by doing my best 
to justify your choice of me as President, and rightly to discharge the various duties 
which devolved on me in that capacity. At the same time I am ready to acknowledge 
that there have been deficiencies in these respects, and that on several occasions I both 
needed and received your kind indulgence. I, therefore, regard it as fortunate, both for 
you and myself, that the events of the past year, in which we were called to take an 
interest as a society, were quite of an ordinary character, and not such as to require 
special qualifications on the part of the President; and also that the society is so well 
established as to render unnecessary any extraordinary efforts to defend its position or 
sustain its reputation. These circumstances, I have no doubt, helped to make my duties 
lighter, and my position much less difficult than I expected. For this, however, 1 believe 
I am also much indebted to the able assistance of our talented and indefatigable Secre¬ 
tary, Mr. Mackav, and the uniform and cordial support I have received from the 
members of council, for which I now offer them my warmest thanks. 
On taking a retrospect of the year which is now about to close, I have much pleasure 
in noticing various grounds for satisfaction. The number of those who have passed the 
examination in Edinburgh this year is just double what it was last year, which, I 
think, affords the best evidence of the prosperity of the society, and of an increasing 
desire to share its benefits and support its objects. The contributions to our scientific 
