Amo^!'J7^rm' }  Pharmaceutical  Colleges  and  Associations.  507 
It  is  used  in  Brazil  as  an  astringent  and  discutient  remedy  in  cases  of  enlargements 
and  glandular  swellings. 
Under  the  cover  of  a  note  on  Authoritative  Formula  for  Non-Official  Preparations, 
the  junior  Honorary  Secretary  of  the  Conference,  Mr.  Benger,  levelled  an  attack, 
at  the  recent  magisterial  decisions  in  the  north,  that  the  sale  of  a  mineral  substance 
under  the  name  of  "Violet  Powder"  is  an  offence  against  the  Sale  of  Food  and 
Drug  Act.  The  tone  of  the  paper  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  the  persons 
convicted  were  described  as  men  in  a  highly  respectable  position,  who  had  suffered 
pecuniary  loss,  annoyance  and  vexation  "through  failing  to  recognize  as  authorita- 
tive, formulae  published  in  Gray's  'Supplement'  and  similar  works."  Of  course, 
this  is  a  subject  upon  which  there  exists  a  diversity  of  opinion,  and  it  threatened  to 
lead  to  a  lively  discussion.  But  the  time  of  adjournment  had  arrived,  and  there  yet 
remained  one  more  paper  on  the  list. 
A  Perfumed  Solution  of  Iodoform  was  the  subject  of  the  last  paper  for  the  day,  by 
Mr.  G.  A.  Keyworth.  This  is  prepared  by  shaking  tincture  of  iodine  with  a  frag- 
ment of  fused  potash  until  the  color  is  removed  and  covering  the  odor  of  the  iodo- 
form produced  by  the  addition  of  eau  de  cologne  or  lavender  water.  The  author 
also  speaks  of  lint  that  has  been  dipped  in  this  liquid,  and  afterwards  dried,  as  being 
a  very  good  application  to  indolent  sores. 
The  proceedings  on  Wednesday  were  commenced  by  the  reading  of  a  paper  on 
an  Improved  Preparation  of  Ergot,  in  which  Mr.  A.  W.  Postans  recommends  one 
resembling  the  United  States  fluid  extract  in  containing  glycerin,  but  without  the 
acetic  acid.  It  is  obtained  by  maceration  and  percolation  of  freshly-powdered  ergot 
with  a  mixture  consisting  of  two  parts  each  of  rectified  spirit  and  glycerin  and  one 
of  water,  displacing  with  water,  and  evaporating  the  last  runnings  in  a  water-bath 
so  that  one  ounce  of  the  united  products  shall  represent  one  ounce  of  ergot. 
The  next  paper,  entitled  a  Comparison  of  the  Strength  of  some  of  the  Cinchona  Pre- 
parations, by  Mr.  C.  Ekin,  was  perhaps  the  most  important  and  valuable  communi- 
cation read  during  the  session.  It  was  followed  by  another  on  the  Assay  of  Cin- 
chona, by  Mr.  J.  B.  Smith.  Mr.  Ekin  had  taken  a  sample  of  calisaya  bark  of  good 
appearance,  treated  it  by  De  Vrij's  method,  so  as  to  obtain  the  total  alkaloids,  and 
then  prepared  from  the  same  bark  for  the  purposes  of  comparison,  a  tincture,  infu- 
sion, decoction  and  fluid  extract.  From  these  results  the  following  percentages  of 
total  aikaloids  were  obtained  :  bark,  1-965  tincture,  1-89  ;  infusion,  1*31  j  decoction, 
1.26  and  fluid  extract,  only  o  47  per  cent.  From  this  it  appears  that  the  proof 
spirit  of  the  tincture  had  nearly  exhausted  the  bark,  the  boiling  water  of  the  infusion 
and  decoction  had  taken  up  about  five-eights,  while  the  cold  water  of  the  fluid  extract 
of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  took  up,  or  at  any  rate,  only  retained  about  one-fourth. 
In  the  discussion,  Mr.  Umney  made  some  confirmatory  remarks  as  to  the  waste 
involved  in  making  the  B  P.  liquid  extract,  and  Mr.  Brady  mentioned  the  significant 
fact  that  quinia  manufacturers  are  always  ready  to  buy  from  pharmacists  the  residues 
left  in  the  preparation  of  fluid  extracts.  Mr.  Umney  also  remarked  on  the  inferior 
quality  of  Calisaya  bark  now  met  with  in  commerce,  and  said  he  looked  to  India 
or  Java  for  the  barks  of  the  future,  while  ProfessorMaikoe  says  that  even  now  the 
East  India  barks  are  preferred  in  the  United  States. 
