522  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  {^'"'ocT'iss?''™" 
tliat  he  liad  not  found  tartar  emetic  adulterated  durinf,^  many  years'  expe- 
rience, and  Mr.  Umney  suggested  that  the  samples  examined  by  Mr.  Jack- 
son were  not  real  tartar  emetic,  but  a  similar  preparation  lately  introduced 
for  use  in  calico  printing,  which  was  in  fact  a  double  oxalate  of  antimony 
and  potash.  Mr.  Williams  gave  further  information  as  to  the  use  of  this 
new  compound  in  calico  printing,  and  Mr.  Allen  was  of  opinion  that  a 
mistake  had  been  made  by  the  author  of  the  paper  as  to  the  substance 
examined. 
A  paper  was  then  read  of  Mr.  A.  H.  Allen  on  "The  Alteration  of  Spirit 
of  Nitrous  Ether."  This  afforded  opportunity  for  exhibiting  to  the  mem- 
bers the  very  elegant  and  efficient  apparatus  devised  by  Mr.  Allen  for  the 
estimation  of  etliyl  nitrite,  though,  in  other  respects  it  did  not  contain,  as 
was  pointed  out  by  Mr.  MacEwan,  mucli  that  had  not  already  been  pub- 
lished. Another  paper  by  the  same  author  dealt  with  "  The  Assay  of  Amyl 
Nitrite,"  and  pointed  to  the  probability  of  the  nature  of  the  article  met 
with  under  this  name  being  of  a  variable  character. 
A  note  by  Mr.  J.  Williams  upon  the  same  subject,  detailed  the  results  of 
his  experience  in  the  manufacture  of  amyl  nitrite. 
In  the  discussion  following  the  reading  of  these  three  papers,  Mr.  Umney 
concurred  with  the  opinion  that  the  dilution  of  sweet  spirits  of  nitre  pro- 
moted the  decomposition  of  the  ethyl  nitrite  contained  in  sweet  spirit  of 
nitre,  and  he  tlierefore  suggested  pharmacists  would  do  well  to  adopt  the 
gravity  of  0'8-40  for  spiritus  ^etheris  nitrosi.  The  editors  of  the  Pharma- 
copoeia seemed  to  be  disposed  to  bring  the  density  nearer  to  tliat  point  than 
it  was  in  the  last  edition ;  he  was,  however,  of  opinion  that  starting  the 
distillation  with  alcohol  of  sp.  gr.  0-838  and  nitric  and  sulphuric  acids  both 
containing  water,  it  would  be  impracticable  to  obtain  a  product  having  that 
specific  gravity. 
The  paper  on  "Solution  of  Ferrous  Iodide,"  by  Mr.  Robinson,  suggested 
the  use  of  hj'pophosphorous  acid  as  a  means  of  making  this  preparation 
permanent.  Some  doubts  were  suggested  by  Mr.  Williams  as  to  the  pro- 
priety of  such  a  course,  but  in  any  case  it  has  been  adopted  by  some  manu- 
facturers for  several  years  past. 
This  paper  was  the  last  of  those  read  by  the  respective  authors,  and  sum- 
maries of  the  succeeding  ones  were  read  by  the  Senior  Hon.  Gen.  Secre- 
tary. These  were  on  "  The  Comparative  Strength  of  Certain  Preparations 
of  Ipecacuanha,"  by  Mr.  W.  A.  H.  Naylor;  "The  Quinological  Work  of 
the  Madras  Cinchona  Plantations,"  by  Mr.  Hooper;  "Carmine,"  by  Mr. 
Dechan  ;  "  Ferrum  Tartaratum,"  by  Mr.  Wright ;  "  Occurrence  of  Hydro- 
cyanic Acid  as  a  Ferinentation  Product  of  Linseed  Meal,"  by  Mr.  W.  F. 
Senior ;  "  The  Determination  and  Separation  of  Magnesium  and  Calcium," 
by  Messrs.  A.  and  L.  Siebold  ;  "Insoluble  Phosphates,"  by  Mr.  Burnett; 
and  "Spurious  Cubebs,"  by  Messrs.  Elborne  and  Wilson.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  authors  contributing  papers  to  the  Conference  are  not  always 
present  to  read  them,  since  the  discussions  to  which  they  might  give  rise 
are  less  likely  to  be  adequately  carried  out  in  their  absence,  and  thus  a  great 
part  of  the  advantage  to  be  gained  from  their  communications  may  pro- 
bably be  sacrificed.  It  might  be  suggested  to  the  officials  of  the  Conference 
that  they  might  do  well  to  require  the  presence  of  the  authors  of  papers 
