B.  s.  proctor's  report  on  weights  and  measures.  119 
The  production  of  lithia,  Mr.  S.  believes,  will  soon  become 
equal  to  the  demand.  Among  the  recently  discovered  sources, 
he  cites  the  hot  springs  of  Wheal  Clifford,  whose  waters  contain 
enough  lithium  (2*85  grains  of  chloride  in  16  ounces)  to  amount  in 
24  hours  to  over  700  pounds  of  chloride  of  lithium  discharged 
therewith.  The  present  price  of  pure  carbonate  of  lithia  in  this 
country,  we  are  told,  is  not  less  than  eight  dollars  per  ounce. 
New  York,  February  10,  1865. 
BERNARD  S.  PROCTOR'S  REPORT  ON  WEIGHTS  AND 
MEASURES. 
In  the  November  number  of  this  Journal,  (vol.  xii.  p.  495) 
a  very  brief  and  imperfect  abstract  was  given  of  a  "  Report  on 
weights  and  measures  used  in  Pharmacy,"  read  by  Mr.  Bernard 
S.  Proctor,  at  the  Bath  meeting  of  the  British  Pharmaceutical 
conference,  September,  1864.  It  was  again  referred  to  in  the 
January  number,  (vol.  xiii.  p.  74.)  The  importance  of  the  subject, 
and  the  ability  of  the  writer  shown  in  its  discussion,  appear  to 
justify  a  more  deliberate  notice  of  this  interesting  paper.  Mr. 
Proctor,  after  remarking  that  "  about  forty  different  pounds,  and 
almost  as  many  different  ounces"  are  found  in  use  through 
Europe, — comments  on  the  circumstance  that  "  Pharmaceutical 
weights  do  not  take  such  multiple  proportions  ;  some  two  or  three 
systems  being  pretty  widely  used,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
discrepancies  between  the  different  systems  are  often  not  so 
great,"  and  that  even  where  the  decimal  metrology  has  been 
established  by  law,  or  adopted  by  general  consent  for  scientific 
and  commercial  purposes,  "  the  long-used,  systems  have  retained 
their  hold  upon  the  medical  profession;"  indicating  the  strong 
feeling  in  favor  of  uniformity  in  medical  weights,  and  against 
changes,  liable  to  doubt,  difficulty  and  danger.  The  writer  then 
asks  the  vital  question  :  "  What  objections  are  there  to  the  use 
of  the  English  apothecaries'  weights  for  pharmaceutical  purposes?'* 
He  replies  to  this  question,  that  "in  the  abstract  there  is  little 
to  be  said  against  it ;"  and  that  though  the  relation  which  its  di- 
visions bear  to  one  another  is  "  a  sort  of  hap-hazard  affair,"  these 
are  yet  found  to  be  "all  convenient  units  for  practical  use." 
