Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
September,  1914.  j 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
421 
copies  in  advance  of  publication  should  be  made  accessible  to  the 
public  for  inspection  at  the  offices  of  the  Council  in  London,  Edin- 
burgh, and  Dublin  on  Monday,  August  10.  The  official  publication 
of  the  Pharmacopceia  will  be  made  in  the  London  Gazette  on  Friday, 
October  9,  on  which  day  copies  will  be  on  sale  at  the  publishers. — 
Pharm.  J.,  1914,  vol.  93,  p.  78. 
British  Pharmaceutical  Conference. — The  51st  annual  meeting 
of  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference  was  held  at  Chester,  July 
20  to  25,  1914,  presided  over  by  Edward  H.  Farr,  who  chose  for 
the  subject  of  his  presidential  address  a  discussion  of  recent  work 
on  plant  products.  The  proceedings  are  reported  at  length  in  the 
British  pharmaceutical  journals  for  July  25,  1914,  and  the  papers 
presented  are  published  in  the  journals  of  the  same  date.  The  total 
number  of  papers  presented  was  28,  of  which  25  were  read  in  the  or- 
dinary section  and  3  in  the  practice  section.  The  nature  of  these 
communications  was  well  up  to  the  average  and  should  prove  to  be  of 
interest  to  all  who  are  in  any  way  engaged  in  the  practical  side  of 
their  profession. — Pharm.  1914,  vol.  93,  pp.  1 17-139;  also  Chem. 
and  Drug.,  1914,  vol.  85,  pp.  161-195. 
The  papers  read  in  the  ordinary  section  of  the  British  Pharma- 
ceutical Conference  included  the  following: 
Estimation  of  Strychnine  in  the  Presence  of  Brucine.  (Ditt, 
D.  B.) — A  modification  of  Gordon's  process  is  recommended,  the 
experimental  data  recorded  showing  that  the  use  of  1  c.c.  of  con- 
centrated nitric  acid  for  each  0.25  Gm.  of  brucine  in  the  propor- 
tion of  1  to  10  volumes  of  acid  solution,  made  for  a  period  of  20 
minutes  at  ordinary  temperature,  is  quite  sufficient  to  destroy  all 
the  brucine. — Pharm.  J .,  191 4,  vol.  93,  p.  120. 
The  Purity  of  Pepsin  Bacteriologically  Considered.  (Quant 
Ernest.) — A  report  on  11  samples  of  pepsin  from  various  sources, 
only  two  of  which  were  free  from  micro-organisms.  The  author 
suggests  that  the  product  may  be  improved  by  the  presence  of  free 
acid  and  the  use  of  chloroform. — Pharm  L,  1914,  vol.  93,  pp.  120,  121. 
The  Adulteration  of  Belladonna  Leaves.  (Allen  and  Deane.)  — 
The  leaves  of  Phytolacca  decandra,  Scopola  carniolica,  and  Ailan- 
thus  glandulosa  were  found  admixed  with  commercial  belladonna 
from  Continental  sources  to  the  extent  of  from  20  to  80  per  cent. 
The  authors  review  the  literature  and  present  a  number  of  illustra- 
tions showing  the  macroscopic  and  microscopic  features  of  the 
