540 
British  Pharmaceutic al  Conference. 
Am.  Joiir.  Pharm. 
Oct.,  1881. 
hours,  but  the  product  contained  pyrophosphoric  and  metai)hosphoric 
acids  in  abundance,  so  that  it  was  evident  tlie  concentration  bad  been  car- 
Tied  too  far.  In  the  sohitions  of  lower  gravity  no  crystals  had  made  their 
•appearance  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight ;  but  on  dropping  a  crystal  of  sodium 
sulphate  into  a  solution  of  1*85  sp.  gr.  prismatic  crystals  immediately  com- 
menced to  form  and  grew  until  the  contents  of  the  bottle  became  almost 
solid.  The  smallest  fragment  of  these  crystals  would  induce  immediate 
•crystallization  in  a  large  bulk  of  solution  of  1*85  sp.  gr. 
The  last  paper  read  was  by  Mr.  Madsen  on  "  Succus  Glf/ci/rrhizce,^^  f)ar- 
ticulaiiy  as  regards  the  amount  of  gum  contained  in  it.  In  preparing  a 
mixture  of  the  liquor  pectoralis  and  the  tinctura  opii  benzoica  of  the  Dan- 
ish Pharmacopoeia,  Mr.  Madsen  happened  to  observe  that  he  could  not 
obtain  it  as  clear  as  usual.  The  appearance  of  the  mixture  suggested  to 
him  the  presence  of  gum,  and  as  he  had  heard  that  gum  is  added  to 
liquorice  in  making  the  extract,  he  commenced  an  examination  of  liquor- 
ice bougiit  at  different  places  and  bearing  the  mark  "  Baracco."  Aque- 
ous solutions  of  these  extracts  were  mixed  with  0*830  alcohol.  The  pre- 
cipitates collected,  washed  with  alcohol,  dried  and  weighed,  varied  from 
19  to  45  per  cent.  These  precipitates  contained,  besides  gum,  albuminates 
and  a  great  deal  of  coloring  matter  and,  after  some  preliminary  trials,  Mr. 
Madsen  adopted  the  following  method  for  determining  the  amount  of 
gum:  The  alcohol  precii~)itate  was  washed  with  alcohol  until  all  sugar 
reaction  liad  disappeared,  dissolved  in  the  smallest  possible  quantity  of 
water,  mixed  with  cupric  sulphate  and  soda  solutions  until  alkaline. 
The  precipitate  was  washed  with  soda  solution  until  the  albuminates 
and  coloring  matter  had  been  removed.  The  undissolved  ])ortion  was 
then  treated  with  dilute  sulphuric  acid  and,  after  adding  alcohol,  the 
precipitated  arabin  was  dried  and  weighed  with  some  precautions  to 
Insure  the  removal  of  copper  and  ash  constituents.  O]oerating  in  this 
way,  Mr.  Madsen  found  in  ten  samples  of  liquorice  amounts  of  arabin 
varying  from  I'lO  to  10'49  per  cent,,  results  which  led  him  to  infer  that  in 
some  cases  gum  had  been  intentionally  added  to  give  the  liquorice  a  fine 
appearance,  a  proceeding  which  rendered  it  useless  for  pharmaceutical 
purposes.  8ome  of  these  samples  also  proved  to  be  adulterated  with  starch 
as  well  as  gum. 
In  giving  the  above  brief  summary  of  the  paj^ers  read  at  the  York  Phar- 
maceutical Conference,  we  regret  having  occasion  to  state  that  our  antici- 
pations as  to  the  probably  unusual  character  of  the  paper  announced  by 
Mr.  Barnard  Proctor  under  the  title  of  "  Pharmaceutical  Remuneration  in 
Tielation  to  Pharmaceutical  Progress,"  have  been  so  far  realized  that  the 
paper  was  not  read  at  the  meeting.  But  having  since  then  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  reading  Mr.  Proctor's  paper,  we  are  thereby  confirmed  in  the 
opinion  previously  expressed  that  Mr.  Proctor's  treatment  of  the  subject 
of  pharmaceutical  remuneration  would  be  very  interesting. 
« An  invitation  was  then  received  through  Mr.  ChiiDperfield  from  the 
pharmacists  of  Southami^ton  and  the  neighborhood  that  the  Conference 
should  meet  in  that  town  next  year,  and  it  was  unanimously  resolved  to 
accept  the  invitation.    Mr.  Brady  then  moved  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the 
