536  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference. 
tion  of  acid  made  by  Fothergill's  process,  and  that  this  kind  should 
always  be  used  in  disjiensing.  Mr.  Naylor  said  he  thought  sufficient 
notice  had  not  been  taken  of  the  preparation  of  hydrobroniic  acid  by  the 
action  of  sulphuric  acid  on  bromide  of  barium.  Mr.  Plowman  said  that 
when  medical  men  were  asked  as  to  the  strength  of  hydrobromic  acid  to  be 
used  they  would  reply  that  they  meant  the  "usual  thing."  Mr.  J.  Wil- 
liams was  of  opinion  that  hydrobromic  acid  should  always  be  made  in  the 
form  of  gas  and  dissolved  in  water,  so  as  to  avoid  distillation.  Another 
mode  of  producing  hydrobroniic  acid  was  by  the  action  of  bromine  upon 
camphor,  as  in  the  preparation  of  monobrominated  camphor,  and  if  the 
demand  for  monobrominated  camphor  were  sufficiently  large,  the  forma- 
tion of  hydrobromic  acid  as  a  bye-product  in  making  it  would  be  a  conveni- 
ent source.  Tlie  President  remarked  that  this  was  one  of  many  instances 
in  which  it  would  be  convenient  to  fit  the  demand  to  the  supply,  but  as  he 
noticed  there  were  many  pure  chemists  present  he  would  ask  them 
whether  they  could  suggest  any  better  method  of  i)]'eparing  hydrobromic 
acid.  Professor  Armstrong  recommended  the  phosphorus  method  as 
suited  to  the  purjjose  and  not  necessarily  attended  with  danger.  He  also 
referred  to  the  action  of  bromine  upon  some  of  the  terpenes,  and  particu- 
larized lemon  oil  as  yielding  the  largest  amount,  but  his  suggestion  was 
scarcely  one  within  the  limits  of  practicability. 
Professor  Thorpe,  in  a  note  on  Ohjeerinuia  Acidi  Gallici,  repeated  a  cau- 
tion that  has  to  be  observed  in  the  making  of  this  preparation,  and  that 
has  already  been  published  in  "  Phar.  Jour."  [3],  vol.  xi,  p.  1040,  namely, 
to  avoid  the  production  of  pyrogallic  acid  by  excessive  heat. 
Dr.  Symes  read  a  paper  on  Heavy  Poroffin  Oil,  pointing  out  that  it  is  an 
excellent  emollient  w^hen  api)lied  to  the  skin,  and  from  its  other  characters 
adapted  for  use  as  a  vehicle  for  various  active  remedies.  It  dissolves  half 
its  weight  of  camphor ;  also  carbolic  acid,  thymol  and  menthol.  It  may 
be  substituted  with  advantage  for  almond  oil  in  making  siniple  ointment 
and  may  be  applied  to  various  other  pharmaceutical  purposes.  Professor 
Armstrong  expressed  a  doubt  as  to  a  statement  by  the  author  that  paraffin 
oil  is  optically  active,  as  it  would  be  an  exception  to  the  rest  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  destructive  distillation.  Professors  Thorpe  and  Tilden  concurred 
in  this  view,  but  Mr.  Conroy  appropriately  pointed  out  that  it  could  not 
well  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  heavy  portion  of  petroleum  was  a  pro- 
duct of  destructive  distillation. 
The  next  paper,  by  Mr.  Woodland,  described  the  results  of  experiments 
made  upon  the  JBarks  of  Cinnamon  and  Cassia,  and  the  oils  extracted 
therefrom,  which  showed  that  the  decolorization  of  iodide  of  starch  by  a 
decoction  of  cinnamon  or  cassia  bark  is  due  to  the  absorption  of  iodine  by 
the  volatile  oils.  He  has  successfully  endeavored  to  apply  this  reaction  for 
ascertaining  the  amount  of  oil  in  the  respective  barks,  and  has  slso  been 
able  to  distinguish  between  oil  of  cassia  and  oil  of  cinnamen  by  the  orange 
or  dirty  green  color  produced  by  the  action  of  nitric  acid,  and  sufficiently 
to  detect  the  admixture  of  one  with  the  other. 
Mr.  Gerrard's  papers  on  an  Imjiroved  Process  for  the  Extraction  of  Atro- 
pin,  and  the  Amount  of  Atropine  in  Different  Parts  of  the  Wild  and.  Culti- 
