462  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  {^ptembeJfi™' 
used.  He  did  not  consider  the  small  amount  of  hj'drochloric  acid  thus  intro- 
duced as  objectionable,  and  stated  that  most  of  the  commercial  syrups  contain- 
ing phosphates  contain  this  acid  in  larger  proportion. 
HYPOPHOSPHITES. 
By  Charles  T.  Tyrer. 
The  writer  experimented  with  the  tests  of  both  the  United  States  and  British 
Pharmacopoeias,  and  also  with  several  unofficial  methods.  Those  of  theU.S.P. 
were  found  to  be  more  definite  and  satisfactory  than  those  of  the  B.P.,  particu- 
larly the  qualitative  tests.  The  permanganate  method  was  not  considered  re- 
liable, since  hypophosphites  invariably  contained  notable  quantities  of  phos- 
phate, phosphite,  sulphite  and  hyposulphite,  and  these  salts  apparently  an- 
swered the  B.P.  test,  the  cause  being  that  they  either  directly  or  indirectly 
reduced  the  permanganate.  Details  of  a  volumetric  method,  which  was  said  to 
be  very  accurate,  for  estimating  hypophosphites  by  reduction  of  copper  sul- 
phate, were  described  by  the  author.  The  odor  of  H2S,  which  is  sometimes 
developed  by  hypophosphorous  acid  and  syrup  of  the  hypophosphites,  was  at- 
tributed to  the  use  of  charcoal  as  a  filtering  medium,  the  explanation  being 
that  hypophosphorous  acid  contains  traces  of  sulphuric  acid,  which  is  decom- 
posed by  the  charcoal  forming  S02P  which  is  acted  on  by  the  hypophosphorous 
acid,  forming  H2S. 
MEDICINAL  PETROLEUM. 
By  F.  C.  J.  Bird. 
The  fact  that  the  medicinal  petroleum  oils,  when  emulsionized  with  a  pure 
hypophosphite  as  one  of  the  ingredients,  developed  a  strong  sulphuretted  odor 
led  the  author  to  believe  that  they  contained  sulphur  in  some  form,  and  in 
order  to  determine  the  extent  of  the  impurity  he  examined  a  number  of  com- 
mercial sample?,  and  summarized  his  conclusions  as  follows  :  White  petroleum 
oil,  having  a  specific  gravity  of  about  0*855,  could  be  obtained  more  free  from 
taste  and  odor  than  lighter  oils,  but  it  was  evident  from  the  results  that  the 
bulk  of  the  white  oil  found  in  commerce,  much  of  which  was  sold  as  chemi- 
cally pure,  contained  a  greater  or  less  proportion  of  sulphur  compounds. 
White  petroleum  jelly  was  frequently  a  mixture  of  cerasine  and  white  oil,  and 
partook  of  the  impurities  of  the  latter.  Very  pale  jellies,  which  were  true  non- 
crystalline petroleum  residues,  generally  contained  sulphur,  probably  due  to  an 
analogous  process  of  bleaching.  Yellow  oils,  although  generally  free  from 
sulphur,  were  in  many  cases  so  tainted  with  a  "paraffine"  flavor  as  to 
be  unfit  for  internal  use.  The  yellow  petroleum  jellies,  as  far  as  sulphur  was 
concerned,  were  the  purest.  Of  the  liquid  petroleums,  those  from  American 
oil  were  free  from  sulphur  compounds,  while  those  from  Russian  oils  all 
contained  these  impurities.  The  presence  of  sulphur  in  the  bleached  products 
was  thought  to  be  due  to  the  use  of  sulphuric  acid. 
THE  SALIENT  FEATURES  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  FLORA. 
By  G.  C.  Drtjce. 
This  was  an  extempore  lecture,  and  the  speaker  stated  that  the  British  flora 
contained  about  i,8co  species,  between  sixty  and  seventy  of  which  were  con- 
fined to  Scotland. 
