538  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.       { ^°'V)ct"'i"8^r'^ 
not  continued  long  enough  in  making  the  sohition  of  iodide  of  iron  to 
sufficiently  remove  the  hydriodic  acid  formed. 
A  "Report  on  the  Strength  of  Commercial  Samples  of  Tincture  and 
Liquid  Extract  of  Opium,"  by  Mr.  J.  Woodland,  was  then  read.  F'ourteen 
samples  of  tincture  had  been  examined,  and  taking  the  percentage  of 
morphia  present  as  a  criterion,  eight  of  them  appeared  to  have  been 
prepared  from  oj^ium  exceeding  in  morphia  strength  the  Pharmacopoeia 
standard ;  the  other  six  were  more  or  less  deficient.  Of  ten  samples  of 
liquid  extract  of  opium  none  reached  the  standard,  and  in  one  or  two  cases 
the  percentage  of  morphia  was  very  low. 
The  last  paper  read  was  a  "  Report  on  the  Purity  of  Commercial  Samples 
of  Silver  Salts,"  also  by  Mr.  Woodland.  It  stated  that  caustic  points  had 
been  found  to  contain  from  25  to  36  per  cent,  of  i)otassium  or  sodium  nitrate, 
crystals  of  silver  nitrate  from  none  to  19  percent,  of  the  same  diluents,  and 
oxide  of  silver  from  13  to  26  per  cent,  of  imi^urities.  It  was  remarked  by 
the  President  that  potassium  nitrate  is  avowedly  added  in  the  preparation 
of  caustic  j)oints  in  order  to  give  them  greater  toughness,  and  Mr.  J.  Wil- 
liams said  that  nitrate  of  lead  is  used  for  the  same  purpose.  Both  Mr. 
Williams  and  Mr.  Naylor  expressed  surprise  at  the  statements  with  respect 
to  silver  oxide,  and  said  that  it  did  not  usually  contain  more  than  1  or  1^ 
per  cent. 
The  next  business  of  the  Conference  would  have  been  to  decide  as  to  the 
place  of  meeting  in  1883  ;  but  the  President  having  stated  that  it  was  not 
yet  settled  what  town  should  be  visited  by  the  British  Association,  the 
arrangement  with  respect  to  Oxford  having  fallen  through,  it  was  agreed 
to  leave  the  decision  in  the  hands  of  the  Executive  Conmiittee. 
The  election  by  ballot  of  officers  for  1882-83  then  took  place  with  the 
following  result : 
President,  Prof.  Attfield,  Ph.D.,  F.R.S.,  F.I.C.,  F.C.S. 
Vir.e-Freside7its—M.C£iYteighe,  F.I.C.,  F.C.S. ,  London;  J.R.Young, 
Edinburgh  ;  C.  Umney,  F.I.C.,  F.C.S. 
Treasurer — C.  Ekin,  F.C.S.,  Hounslow. 
General  Secretaries— F .  Baden  Beiiger,  F.C.S.,  Manchester;  S.  Plow- 
man, F.I.C.,  London. 
Other  Members  of  Executive  Comm^i5i5ee— Alexander  Kinninmont, 
F.C.S.,  Glasgow;  J.  C.  C.  Payne,  Belfast;  W.  A.  H.  Naylor,  F.C.S., 
London;  R.  Chipperfleld,  Southampton;  P.  W.  Squire,  F.L.S.,  F.C.S., 
London;  G.  S.  Taylor,  F.C.S.,  London;  J.  C.  Thresh,  D.Sc,  F.C.S., 
Buxton;  F.  W.  Fletcher,  F.C.S.,  London. 
Auditor — .lames  Spearing,  Southampton. 
Nothing  now  remained  for  the  Conference  to  do  but  to  record  its  sense  of 
indebtedness  to  those  friends  who  had  contributed  in  various  ways  to  make 
the  meeting  a  success.  First,  the  cordial  and  well-deserved  thanks  of  the 
non-resident  members  were  accorded  to  the  Local  Committee,  and  esj^e- 
cially  to  Messrs.  Randall,  Chipperfleld  and  Dawson,  for  the  successful  way 
in  which  they  had  carried  out  the  arrangements.  Then  a  vote  of  thanks 
was  passed  to  General  Cooke,  Director-General  of  the  Ordinance  Survey 
Department,  for  his  kindness  in  affording  facilities  to  the  members  to  visit 
