Am'octuyi£7arm"}     British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  527 
United  States  Pharmacopoeia,  which  depends  upon  the  behavior  of  the  fat 
dissolved  in  ether  and  submitted  to  different  degrees  of  temperature.  Eigh- 
teen commercial  samples  were  examined  according  to  this  test  and  only 
two  came  under  even  the  shadow  of  suspicion. 
Quinological  work  in  the  Madras  cinchona  plantations. — Mr.  David  Hooper 
supplied  another  convenient  summary  of  results  obtained  in  further  experi- 
ments carried  out  by  him  in  his  capacity  of  quinologist  to  the  Madras  gov- 
ernment. The  first  series  of  twelve  analyses  referred  to,  showed  that  bark 
from  trees  of  the  same  age  and  growing  in  the  same  situation  might  vary 
in  alkaloidal  strength,  the  figures  ranging  from  175  per  cent,  to  3  90  per 
cent,  of  quinine,  and  from  none  to  0"16  per  cent,  of  quinidine.  It  also 
seems  probable  that  there  is  no  advantage  in  raising  only  one  stem  from  a 
coppiced  tree.  Bark  from  the  same  twelve  trees,  examined  in  each  con- 
secutive month,  showed  that  in  the  six  months  next  following  the  original 
stripping  there  was  a  decrease  of  alkaloids  in  the  bark  left,  as  if  the  tree 
had  suffered  in  this  respect  from  the  shock  of  the  operation ;  but  in  the 
seventh  month  recovery  had  well  set  in,  and  by  the  twelfth  the  bark  was 
richer  than  it  had  been  a  year  before.  Incidentally,  it  was  also  observed 
that  March  is  the  month  in  which  cinchona  bark  appears  to  be  richest  in 
alkaloids.  Some  further  experiments  as  to  the  effect  of  manuring  cinchona 
trees,  seem  to  show  that  bone  manure  and  cattle  manure  are  best  suited  for 
the  purpose,  though  the  improvement  of  the  bark  in  quinine  was  in  no 
case  more  than  14-58  per  cent.  Another  experiment  as  to  the  extent  to 
which  renewal  of  bark  can  be  profitably  carried  appears  to  show  that  the 
maximum  in  the  case  of  a  hybrid  Ledger  plant  had  been  reached  with  the 
third  year's  renewal,  although  the  fourth  renewal  still  resulted  in  a  rich  bark. 
Crude  carbolic  acid  and  its  substitutes. — Mr.  A  H.  Allen  commenced  by  refer- 
ring to  the  elastic  manner  in  which  titles  suggestive  of  carbolic  acid  are 
frequently  applied  to  preparations  from  which  that  substance  is  entirely 
absent.  But  the  evident  object  of  the  paper  was  to  bring  under  the  notice 
of  the  Conference  a  product  that  is  now  obtained  in  enormous  quantities  in 
the  condensation  of  the  waste  gases  from  blast  furnaces  consuming  bitu- 
minous coal,  which,  according  to  the  author,  consists  of  phenoloid  bodies 
resembling  more  closely  the  creosotic  products  from  wood  tar  than  the  coal 
tar  acids.  This  product,  for  which  the  commercial  name  of  "  neosote  "  has 
been  adopted,  was  described  and  exhibited. 
The  president  then  inappreciatory  terms  referred  to  the  work  done  by  the 
Unofficial  Formulary  Committee,  especially  referring  to  the  services  ren- 
dered by  the  chairman,  Mr.  W.  Martindale,  and  the  secretary,  Mr.  W.  A.  H. 
Naylor.  He  concluded  by  moving  the  reappointment  of  the  committee. 
The  motion  was  seconded  by  Mr.  J.  Williams  and  agreed  to  unanimously. 
The  presentation  of  the  gift  of  books  provided  by  the  Bell  and  Hills  fund, 
was  then  made  by  the  president,  and  acknowledged  by  Mr.  Wilkinson,  as 
vice-president  of  the  local  association. 
The  president  announced  that,  following  the  usual  custom,  the  Confer- 
ence would  meet  next  year  in  the  same  place  as  the  British  Association,  and 
that  would  be  the  city  of  Bath. 
