442  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  {K^^i^m.' 
John  Bartram  and  his  celebrated  garden  is  contained  within  this  book.  Espe- 
cial emphasis  has  been  laid  upon  the  early  botanists  and  their  published  work. 
Those  prominently  identified  with  the  progress  of  pharmaceutical  botany  are 
included. 
The  botanists  of  our  own  day  come  in  for  a  considerable  share  of  the  biog- 
rapher's attention.  A  unique  feature  of  the  book  is  the  illustrations,  chosen  with 
much  care.  These  illustrations  preserve  in  an  unchangeable  manner  the  appear- 
ance of  the  more  celebrated  gardens  and  botanists,  many  reproduced  for  the  first 
time  by  the  photographer's  art.  In  the  appendices  an  historical  sketch  is 
given  the  scientific  journals  issued  from  the  Philadelphia  printing  houses,  as 
also  an  account  of  trees  which  are  noteworthy  either  from  a  botanical  or  his- 
torical standpoint. 
BRITISH  PHARMACEUTICAL  CONFERENCE. 
The  thirty-sixth  annual  meeting  of  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference 
was  opened  on  July  25,  1899,  at  Plymouth,  Ireland.  The  city,  which  has  been 
described  as  the  metropolis  of  the  West,  abounds  in  many  glorious  historic 
associations.  The  President,  J.  C.  C.  Payne,  of  Belfast,  gave  a  short  account  of 
the  history  of  pharmacy  in  Ireland,  which  is  an  excellent  resume  of  the  sub- 
ject. Mr.  Payne,  in  closing  his  address,  referred  to  the  bonds  of  fellowship 
which  are  growing  between  the  pharmacists  of  Ireland  and  those  of  Great 
Britain.  The  fact  that  the  meeting  was  held  last  year  at  Belfast,  the  commercial 
capital  of  Ireland,  would  seem  to  indicate  a  closer  union  and  a  stronger  harmony 
tending  to  the  advancement  of  pharmacy  and  all  concerning  it  in  all  three 
countries  during  the  new  century  now  so  fast  approaching. 
There  were  about  the  same  number  of  papers  communicated  as  in  previous 
years,  one  of  the  most  notable  features  being  the  fact  that  the  authors  are 
confining  themselves  year  by  year  to  strictly  pharmaceutical  topics,  so  that  the 
year-book  with  the  proceedings  is  becoming  truly  the  repository  of  informa- 
tion pertaining  largely  to  pharmacy.  London  was  selected  as  the  place  of 
meeting  of  the  Conference  in  1900,  and  B.  M.  Holmes,  Curator  of  the  Phar- 
maceutical Society's  Museums,  was  elected  President  for  the  year  1899- 1900. 
The  papers  read  at  the  Conference  are  reprinted  in  full  in  the  Pharmaceutical 
Journal  for  July  29th,  and  we  take  pleasure  in  presenting  brief  abstracts  of  them 
as  read  and  printed  in  that  journal. 
THE  ASSAY   OF  THE   OFFICIAL   LIQUID   EXTRACT,   WINE  AND 
VINEGAR  OF  IPECACUANHA. 
Bv  E.  H.  Farr  and  B.  Wright. 
The  authors  have  examined  several  ipecacuanha  percolates  and  fluid  extracts 
and  have  compared  the  following  assay  processes  :  (1)  The  official  and  (2} 
Wilson's  alternative  process,  with  (3)  a  process  proposed  by  them  and  (4)  a 
modification  of  the  same  for  rapid  working.  The  following  is  the  process  pro- 
posed by  these  authors  : 
Five  c.c.  of  the  fluid  extract  is  placed  in  a  small  porcelain  dish,  10  drops  of 
diluted  sulphuric  acid  B.P.  added,  with  5  c.c.  of  water,  and  the  mixture  evapor- 
ated over  a  water-bath  until  the  volume  of  liquid  is  reduced  to  about  3  c.c. 
