Am,JcTx87h7£:rm  }    British  Pharmaceutical  Conference. 
A  paper  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Thresh  on  "The  Pill  Masses  of  the  B.  P."  contained  a 
report  on  those  which  in  his  opinion  are  of  inconvenient  consistence  or  become  so 
by  keeping,  and  suggestions  for  their  improvement. 
After  this,  a  paper  by  Dr.  Tilden  was  read  upon  "A  Product  of  the  Oxidation 
of  Barbaloin  and  Socaloin,"  which  he  has  named  alloxanthin,  constituting  a  vellow 
coloring  matter  closely  related  to  chrysammic  acid  and  to  emodin. 
It  had  been  determined  at  the  meeting  of  the  previous  day  that  Mr.  S.R.  Atkins* 
paper  "On  a  Point  in  Pharmaceutical  Ethics"  should  be  read  without  being  sub- 
jected to  discussion.  This  course  was,  however,  protested  against  by  Mr.  Guyer, 
as  forming  an  undesirable  precedent,  but  the  protest  was  overruled.  In  the  paper 
Mr.  Atkins  defined  the  specific  positions  occupied  by  pharmacists  and  medical  men, 
and  showed  that  it  was  quite  feasible  to  decide  the  hotly  disputed  matter  of  counter 
practice  without  evincing  bad  spirit  and  acrimony.  He  contended  that  pharmacists 
had  a  public  justification  for  counter  practice  in  simple  complaints,  but  warned 
them  against  carrying  it  to  an  unjustifiable  degree. 
This  paper  was  followed  by  one  relating  to  a  question  which  not  only  affects  a 
large  trading  interest,  but  is  also  one  of  importance  as  regards  the  public  health. 
The  paper  in  question  was  intended  to  elucidate  the  influence  exercised  by  the  pres- 
ence of  metallic  compounds  in  alimentary  substances.  It  was  chiefly  occupied  with 
the  results  of  an  investigation  by  Dr.  Paul  and  Mr.  Kingzett  into  the  physiological 
action  of  the  copper  known  to  be  contained  in  preserved  peas,  particularly  those  of 
French  manufacture,  and  it  was  shown  by  the  authors  that  the  copper  as  it  exists  in 
the  peas  is  not  only  in  an  insoluble  state  and  in  actual  combination  with  the  albu- 
minous constituents  of  the  peas,  but  is  not  removed  by  the  water  used  in  the  process 
of  cooking.  During  digestion  this  copper  passes  entirely  into  solution  if  sufficient 
time  be  allowed;  nevertheless  it  is  for  the  most  part  excreted  in  the  faeces,  being 
probably  reprecipitated  through  the  agency  of  biliary  fluid  as  phosphate.  Only  a 
very  minute  trace,  therefore,  is  absorbed  into  the  system,  thus  proving  the  non- 
injurious  nature  of  such  peas  as  an  article  of  food.  It  was  also  shown  that  many 
compounds  used  largely  in  coloring  confectionery  contain  from  6  to  70  per  cent,  of 
stannic  oxide  ;  besides  which  other  articles  of  food  containing  metallic  compounds 
were  described.  In  the  discussion  which  followed  Dr.  Wright  called  attention  to 
some  instances  of  poisoning  through  the  agency  of  lead,  tin  and  zinc,  which  had 
been  reported  in  the  daily  papers.  Dr.  Redwood  stated  that,  in  his  opinion,  the 
vendors  of  preserved  peas  containing  copper  should  be  prosecuted  on  the  ground 
that  they  were  selling  an  article  of  food  containing  something  not  natural  to  the 
peas,  but  intentionally  introduced.  To  this  it  was  replied  that  persons  who  con- 
sumed such  peas  would  not  suffer  the  slightest  injury  to  health,  a  conclusion  which 
received  considerable  support  from  evidence  given  in  the  discussion  by  various 
speakers.  It  was  particularly  insisted  upon  by  the  authors  that  medical  opinion,  no 
matter  how  unanimous,  was  worthless,  so  long  as  that  opinion  was  based  upon  an 
imperfect  knowledge  of  the  facts  necessary  for  its  formation. 
The  "Analyses  of  Preserved  Carrots,  Potatoes,  Cabbage  and  Mixed  Vegetables," 
detailed  by  Professor  Attfield  in  the  next  paper,  have  been  for  the  most  part  previ- 
ously published  in  the  report  of  the  Commission  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  causes 
of  the  outbreak  of  scurvy  on  the  Arctic  Expedition. 
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