530  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.        i  Am.jour.Pharm. 
^  ,         (       Oct.,  1881. 
the  statement  as  being  consistent  with  the  facts  of  the  case.  Another  point 
to  which  we  might  take  exception  is  the  remark  referring  to  the  recent 
legal  decision  in  the  litigation  by  wliich  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  has  endeavored  to  uphold  the  principle  of  the  Pliarmacy  Act,  1868. 
Before  it  can  justly  be  asserted  that  an  earlier  challenge  of  the  law-breakers 
would  have  been  attended  with  a  diflferent  result,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  opinion  of  the  highest  legal  authorities  pointed  decidedly  in  the 
opposite  direction.  But,  although  in  regard  to  these  points  we  feel  com- 
pelled to  express  some  dissent  from  what  may  be  inferred  from  the  pas- 
sages referred  to,  there  are  other  suggestions  in  the  Presidential  Address 
with  which  we  cordially  concur,  especially  that  which  points  to  the  need 
of  greater  discipline  among  pharmacists,  the  establishment  of  a  common 
aim  and  of  more  united  etTorts  to  attain  it.  Again,  as  to  the  means  by 
wliich  future  pharmacists  are  to  attain  their  scientific  and  technical  edu- 
cation, the  President  has  done  good  service  by  pointing  out  that  there  are 
already  in  several  important  centers  of  large  populations  opportunities 
for  obtaining  thorough  instruction  in  chemistry  and  such  other  scientific 
subjects  as  are  necessary  ;  opportunities  that  are  offered  under  conditions 
which  reduce  almost  to  absurdity  the  outcries  that  are  sometimes  made  for 
the  establishment  of  provincial  scientific  schools  by  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society.  With  these  few  cursory  remarks,  we  commend  the  address  of 
the  President  to  the  careful  consideration  of  our  readers. 
The  reading  of  the  papers  commenced  by  the  presentation  of  a  report  on 
Essential  Oil  of  Ginger  by  Mr.  Thresh,  showing  that  this  oil  is  an  exceed- 
ingly complex  mixture  of  hydrocarbons,  together  with  products  of  their 
oxidation.  The  odorous  principle  is  contained  in  the  more  volatile  por- 
tion, which  is  most  susceptible  of  oxidation,  and  Mr.  Thresh  considers  that 
the  substance  possessing  the  odor  is  most  probably  an  oxygenated  com- 
pound. He  regards  the  soft,  resinous,  fragrant  deposit,  which  gradually 
collects  on  the  lid  of  a  jar  of  ground  ginger,  as  being  a  product  of  the  oxi- 
dation of  oil  that  volatilizes  at  ordinary  temperatures,  and  condenses  on 
the  lid.  One  sample  of  the  oil  examined  w^as  prepared  by  the  author  from 
ethereal  extract  of  Jamaica  ginger,  supplied  by  Messrs.  Wright,  Layman 
and  Umney ;  the  other  was  from  a  foreign  source.  Both  w^ere  found  to 
consist  of  hydrocarbons,  probably  having  the  formula  CisH^^,  but  the 
hydrocarbon  of  the  English  oil  w^as  isomeric  with  that  of  the  foreign  oil, 
the  former  boiling  at  a  higher  temperature  than  the  latter,  and  differing 
from  it  by  its  action  on  polarized  light.  Cymene  is  one  of  the  constituents 
of  the  distilled  oil,  and  most  probably  of  the  crude  oils,  unless  some  sub- 
stance having  the  composition  CioHigO  is  decomposed  by  the  action  of  heat, 
yielding  water  and  cymene,  as  suggested  by  Wright.  The  portions  boiling 
below  161°C.  consist  chiefly  of  a  terpene,  which  would  probably  be  found 
to  correspond  with  those  of  Tilden's  first  grouj)  if  further  purified.  The 
crude  oil  also  contains  a  little  formic  and  acetic  acids,  but  no  notable  quan- 
tity of  aldehyds  or  ethereal  salts.  A  dilute  alcoholic  solution  of  ginger 
oil  is  capable  of  imparting  to  a  considerable  quantity  of  aqueous  liquid  the 
pleasant  aroma  of  Jamaica  ginger,  and  in  that  form  it  is  a  good  flavoring 
si^gent.    In  the  discussion  that  followed  the  reading  of  this  paper,  Professor 
