532 
British  Phariiu(ce((lical  Conference. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Phwin. 
"(       Oct.,  1882. 
be  followed  in  the  reading  and  to  present  the  general  results  in  such  a  form 
that  thej^  can  be  readily  grasped,  and,  if  necessary,  discussed.  No  person 
in  the  habit  of  attending  scientiilc  meetings  like  the  Conference  can  have 
failed  to  observe  the  weariness  that  becomes  evident  in  the  audience  during 
the  reading  of  even  valuable  ])apers,  the  drift  of  which  is  obscured  by  the 
multitude  of  details. 
Next  Mr.  Parker  read  a  meritorious  paper  upon  "Terpin  Hydrate:  its 
Preparation  and  Crystallography,"  which  had  been  suggested  by  the  occur- 
rence of  some  crystals  in  a  jar  of  furniture  oil,  supposed  to  have  been  com- 
pounded chiefly  of  linseed  oil,  turpentine,  butter  of  antimony  and  methy- 
lated spirit.  The  author  does  not  seem  to  be  aware  that  the  formation  of 
such  crystals  in  furniture  polish  is  by  no  means  a  new  experience;  but  it 
may  be  mentioned  that  in  the  early  days  of  the  School  of  Pharmacy, 
Bloomsbury  Square,  the  conditions  under  which  the  formation  of  such 
crystals  took  place  was  the  subject  of  many  experiments  in  the  laboratory, 
though  without  any  satisfactory  result  being  arrived  at.  Besides  an  elabo- 
rate description  of  the  crystallography  of  terpin  hydrate,  the  paper  con- 
tained details  as  to  its  preparation  and  physical  properties,  and  it  mentioned 
the  interesting  fact  that  it  is  probable  that  terpin  hydrate  may  be  made  to 
yield  several  aromatic  oils  by  the  action  upon  it  of  dehydrating  substances 
under  suitable  conditions. 
The  next  paper  was  on  "A  New  Method  of  Making  the  Volumetric 
Solution  for  Estimating  Hardness  of  Water,"  by  Professor  Tichborne. 
The  novelty  consists  in  the  use  of  an  oleate  of  soda,  the  preparation  of  which 
he  describes,  in  the  making  of  the  soap  solution.  Dr.  Symes  then  read 
"Some  Notes  on  Brazilian  Drugs,"  in  which  he  described  a  gum  derived 
from  the  Acacia  Angico,  known  in  Brazil  under  the  name  of  "  resin  de 
angico,"  and  said  to  be  useful  for  chest  complaints.  Another  drug  referred 
to  was  a  species  of  elemi,  named  "almesca,"  differing  in  some  respects 
from  the  elemi  of  commerce.  The  last  drug  described  was  a  bark  named 
"  casca  de  guassatunga,"  from  which  in  Brazil  an  alcoholic  tincture  is  pre- 
pared said  to  be  useful  in  the  treatment  of  snake-bites. 
The  chair  was  now  taken  by  Mr.  Groves,  whilst  a  paper  was  read  by  the 
President,  entitled  "  Half-an-hour  with  a  Few  Sheets  of  the  New  Pharma- 
copoeia of  the  United  States."  The  sheets  upon  which  the  remarks  were 
based  had  been  placed  at  the  disposal  of  Professor  Attfield  by  the  courtesy 
of  Professor  P.  W.  Bedford,  President  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical 
Association,  who  is  also  a  member  of  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia 
Committee.  The  work  is  i^rinted  in  large  octavo,  and  the  divisions  into 
the  two  classes  of  "Materia  Medica"  and  "Preparations,"  which  obtains 
in  the  last  edition,  is  abandoned  in  favor  of  one  simple  alphabetical  arrange- 
ment like  that  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia.  The  system  of  chemical 
nomenclature  advocated  by  Professor  Attfield  is  again  followed,  and  the 
author  of  the  paper  justly  claimed  that  this  proved  that  it  was  practicable 
and  serviceable  in  the  medicine  and  pharmacy  of  an  English-speaking 
people.  The  old  system  of  weights  and  measures  is  abandoned  and  the 
Ibrmulse  are,  as  a  rule,  expressed  in  parts  by  weight,  but  in  cases  where  par- 
ticulars of  volume  as  well  as  of  weight  are  required  the  metric  decimal  system 
