OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY. 
625 
drogen, “ oxygennesis,” etc. by Mr. Robbins. Some specimens of new organic 
compounds containing iodine, details of the preparation and analysis of which 
were given at a recent meeting of the Chemical Society, by Mr. W. A. Tilden. 
In this collection is a fresh example of an artificial tourmaline produced by the 
action of iodine upon an organic base, the first instance of a similarly consti¬ 
tuted body exhibiting this remarkable action upon light having been discovered 
by Dr. Herapath, and well known as iodo-sulphate of quinine. 
The new crystals are obtained from caffeine or theine, the alkaloid which con¬ 
stitutes the active principle of tea and coffee, and are analogous in composition 
to HerapaIll’s salt, but differ from it in containing hydriodic in place of sulphu¬ 
ric acid, their chemical formula being represented thus—C 16 H 1() N 4 0 4 ,III,I 2 , 
with sometimes six and sometimes two atoms of water of crystallization. 
The other specimens consist of substances perfectly similar in constitution, 
but containing ethyl and methyl in place of hydrogen, to the formation of which 
the author of this investigation was led in the pursuit of experiments upon the 
internal constitution of bodies of this class. The identity of construction of the 
new caffeine derivatives is easily seen by reference to the formulae written 
below: 
c i6 H w sr 4 o 4 , HI, I 2 
Ci 6 HioN 404 ,C 2 H 3 1 , I 2 
C 16 H 10 N 4 O 4 , C 4 11 5 1,1 2 
A similar compound from strychnine has also been prepared in addition to the 
one already known. 
Messrs. Johnson and Matthey contributed a large platinum still of about 100 
gallons capacity, and of the value of £2000, such as is used in the manufacture 
of oil of vitriol ; model of ingo't of pure platinum, weighing 266^ pounds, and 
of the value of £3840 ; fine specimens of pure distilled magnesium, a platinum 
pyrometer, small platinum still, specimens of gold and its compounds, etc. etc. ; 
the same gentlemen also exhibited the magnesium light on a large scale during 
the evening. 
Dr. Maddox’s micro-photographs, manufactured by Mr. How, were exhibited 
on the screen by Mr. Jones; and a model of a fish ladder, invented by Mr. 
Smith, of Deanston, and lent by Mr. Ffennell, was in operation, the little fish 
appearing to like the exercise. This contrivance is for the purpose of enabling 
fish to pass mill-dams without causing much loss of water to the miller, and is 
practically in use in Great Britain, Canada, and elsewhere. 
In one of the principal rooms was a large collection of medical and economic 
plants from the Royal Botanic Society’s Gardens, Regent’s Park; and some 
amulets or charms, prescribed and sanctioned in days gone by by the faculty of 
our own land, and still in vogue in the Celestial Empire and elsewhere, from 
Mr. Daniel Hanbury. 
A model of Adams’s radial axle for locomotives and railway carriages, ena¬ 
bling the wheels to adapt themselves to curves in the permanent way, was con¬ 
tributed by Mr. Davenport; and a patented still for the continuous fractional 
distillation of petroleum, etc., and a variety of pharmaceutical steam and other 
apparatus, by Mr. Coffey. 
An improved dispensing counter, designed by Mr. Joseph Ince, 26, St. George’s 
Place, Hyde Park Corner, and manufactured by George Treble and Son, Glou¬ 
cester Street, Iloxton, attracted considerable attention ; the proportions for a 
perfect counter have been calculated for two compartments, each three feet three 
inches. In this arrangement the dispensing bottles are placed in the centre be¬ 
tween the two assistants; the space thus gained relieves the crowding of the 
sides ; the right (head dispenser’s) side has then twice the room allowed for mea¬ 
sures, pigeon holes, etc., together with a row of three dispensing extracts and 
three pid-masses, viz, 
