Am  Jour.  Pharm. 
Oct.,  1882. 
I        British  Phm^maceutical  Conference.  531 
growth,  from  a  chalk  soil  in  Yorkshire  and  from  a  leaf  mould  in  Sussex, 
and  also  upon  cultivated  plants  in  their  second  year's  growth,  gathered  in 
-May,  June  and  July,  or  before  flowering,  whilst  in  flower,  and  whilst  in 
fruit.  The  results  obtained  with  the  wild  plants  indicated  that  belladonna 
in  the  first  year  of  its  growth  contains  a  very  small  proportion  of  alkaloid, 
but  to  that  extent  they  were  confirmatory  of  previous  deductions  by  the 
author  that  the  formation  of  alkaloid  in  the  plant  is  favored  by  a  chalky 
soil.  Exj)eriments  with  the  cultivated  plant  showed  that  the  plant  becomes 
most  rich  in  active  principles  at  the  period  of  flowering  and  that  the  pro- 
portion is  maintained  in  the  fruiting  season  ;  further,  that  there  is  a  simul- 
taneous development  of  alkaloidal  matter  in  the  root  and  in  the  leaf,  the 
former  not  being  exhausted  to  strengthen  the  latter.  A  slight  discus- 
sion followed,  in  the  course  of  which  Mr.  Holmes  remarked  that  he  had 
observed  that  belladonna  grows  more  luxuriantly  in  calcareous  soils,  which 
might  perhaps  account  for  its  being  richer  in  alkaloid.  At  the  close  of  this 
discussion  the  Conference  adjourned  to  luncheon,  which  was  provided  in 
an  adjoining  room. 
On  resuming,  the  first  paper  read  was  entitled  "A  New  Styptic  of  Indige- 
nous Growth,"  and  contained  some  observations  of  Professor  Quinlan  upon 
the  hsemostatic  properties  of  the  leaves  of  the  Plantago  lanceolata^  or  ribgrass. 
Notwithstanding  the  form  of  its  title,  the  paper  contained  some  interesting 
quotations  from  Shakspeare  and  Culpepper,  proving  that  the  ribgrass  long 
^go  had  a  great  reputation  as  a  styptic.  Professor  Quinlan  exhibited  some 
pharmaceutical  preparations  of  the  plant,  but  it  w^ould  appear  that  for 
external  application  the  dried  leaves  are  effective  or  the  fresh  leaves  in  a 
paste  such  as  would  be  produced  by  mastication.  It  is  not  quite  clear  in 
what  manner  the  leaf  acts,  but  some  experiments  appeared  to  show  that  it 
;is  devoid  of  any  kind  of  tannin,  and  it  was  suggested  by  Professor  Tich- 
borne  that  if  there  were  an  astringent  principle  present  it  might  be  allied 
to  the  catechuic  acid  compounds.  Mr.  Borland  said  that  Plantago  lanceo- 
lata  had  long  been  used  in  the  district  in  which  he  lived  to  staunch  the 
bleeding  of  wounds,  but  he  had  hitherto  thought  that  it  was  merely  because 
they  formed  a  convenient  covering  of  a  wound. 
A  resume  was  then  given  by  Mr.  W.  A.  Shenstone  of  "  Some  Experi- 
ments on  English  Oil  of  Lavender,"  which  had  been  nndertaken  to  test 
statements  made  by  foreign  chemists  to  the  effect  that  oil  of  lavender  some- 
times deposits  in  cold  weather  a  camphor,  identical  with  common  camphor 
and  that  the  oil  contains  a  hydrocarbon  boiling  at  a  very  high  temperature 
(200°  to  210°C.).  Mr,  Shenstone  was  unable  to  confirm  either  of  these 
statements,  the  oil  used  by  him  evidently  not  containing  any  notable 
quantity  of  crystalline  constituents,  whilst  the  distillate  collected  about 
the  temperature  mentioned  contained  a  large  amount  of  oxygen.  It  would 
also  api)ear  from  the  independent  experiments  of  the  author  and  M.  Bruy- 
lant  that  the  English  and  foreign  oils  of  lavender  differ  very  considerably 
in  the  amount  of  terpene  which  they  contain.  It  may  be  reniarked,  in 
passing,  tliat  Mr.  Slienstone's  resume  was  evidently  appreciated  by  the 
audience,  and  it  is  worth  consideration  whether  it  would  not  be  better,  as  a 
rule,  to  summarize  i)apers  containing  a  large  number  of  details  that  cannot 
