Am'octuy'iS7.arm"}     British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  521 
seed  made  with  the  object  of  isolating  a  poisonous  principle  that  it  was 
alleged  to  contain.  No  very  definite  result,  however,  has  been  arrived  at, 
beyond  establishing  the  probability  of  the  occurrence  of  saponin  in  the 
acqueous  extract,  and  the  obtaining  of  three  or  four  microscopic  crystals, 
which  it  is  hoped  may  be  the  beginning  of  a  crop  that  will  eventually  be 
large  enough  to  allow  of  their  proper  examination.  Some  question  having 
been  raised  as  to  whether  the  substance  occurring  in  the  aqueous  extract 
was  really  saponin,  Mr.  Holmes  remarked  that  the  root  of  the  plant  is  used 
in  the  Philippines  as  a  washing  material. 
Bland' spill. — The  already  bulky  literature  on  Blaud's  pill  next  received 
an  addition  in  the  shape  of  a  report  by  Mr.  T.  Maben,  which  may  be  looked 
upon  as  a  kind  of  bye-product  of  the  formulary  committee.  Mr.  Maben  is 
one  of  the  majority  who  believe  that  the  intention  of  the  prescriber  in 
ordering  Blaud's  pills,  is  to  administer  ferrous  carbonate,  and  that  the  fer- 
rous carbonate  should  be  formed  before  the  ingestion  of  the  pill.  Notwith- 
standing the  authority  of  the  Codex,  Mr.  Maben  prefers  to  use  the  crystal- 
line sulphate,  and  he  trusts  mainly  to  a  coating  of  gelatin  to  prevent 
oxidation  after  the  pill  is  made.  The  formula  recommended  by  Mr.  Maben 
is  practically  the  same  as  that  adopted  in  the  Unofficial  Formulary.  Mr. 
Martindale  said  that  Mr.  Maben's  formula  allowed  of  presentable  pills  be- 
ing prepared  quickly,  but  they  would  not  keep  well.  He  expressed  a  pre- 
ference for  the  iron  pills  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  but  it  was  pointed  out  by 
Dr.  Symes  that  medical  men  continue  to  order  Blaud's  pills,  and  phar- 
macists have  to  prepare  them.  In  reference  to  a  suggestion  by  Mr.  Mar- 
tindale that  better  results  were  obtainable  by  heating  the  mass  than  by 
beating  it,  Mr.  Naylor  remarked  that  by  beating  he  had  obtained  a  product 
containing  pill  for  pill  more  ferrous  carbonate  than  the  official  pill. 
Vesicating  beetles  — The  next  note,  on  "  Two  Species  of  Vesicating  Beetles 
from  South  Africa,"  by  Mr.  J.  0.  Braithwaite,  was  another  communication 
of  practical  value.  It  described  the  results  of  an  examination  of  some 
"  blistering  flies",  that  had  recently  been  consigned  from  South  Africa.  The 
sample  consisted  of  two  species  of  Mylabris  which  have  been  identified  as 
M.  bifasciata  and  M.  lunata.  The  author  reported  that  he  had  ascertained 
that  the  former  of  these  is  extremely  rich  in  cantharidin,  containing  more 
than  twice  as  much  as  Cantharis  vesicatoria,  and  he  suggested  that  as  the 
beetle  is  plentiful  at  the  Cape  it  might  prove  an  economic  source  of  the 
vesicant.  M.  lunata  proved  to  be  much  poorer  in  cantharidin.  After  the 
paper  had  been  read,  Mr.  Moss  stated  that  another  species  of  Mylabris  is  at 
present  used  as  an  important  source  of  commercial  cantharidin. 
English- groivn  rhubarb. — A  very  brief  note  was  then  read  by  Mr.  W.  El- 
borne,  in  which  he  called  attention  to  samples  of  English-grown  roots  of 
Rheum  officinale,  pointing  out  the  great  similarity  in  appearance  and  gene- 
ral characters  existing  between  them  and  the  dark-veined  variety  of  the 
East  Indian  imported  drug. 
Oil  of  evodia. — The  object  of  the  next  paper  read,  which  was  by  Mr.  H. 
Helbing,  was  to  add  oil  of  evodia  to  the  list  of  deodorants  of  iodoform. 
The  oil,  which  is  derived  from  the  fruit  of  the  Evodia  fraxinifolia,  a  ruta- 
