\^ptembef,is9™'}    British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  455 
next  taken  up  with  hydrochloric  acid,  and  finally  obtained  in  crystalline  form 
and  weighed.  Applying  the  process  to  a  plaster  prepared  by  himself  from 
liquid  extract  of  belladonna,  the  author  found  the  plaster  contained  exactly 
0*5  per  cent,  of  alkaloid. 
MELTING-POINTS. 
By  T.  Tyrer  and  A.  I^evy. 
The  results  of  a  series  of  determinations  of  melting-points  are  given  by  the 
authors,  five  methods  being  employed  for  each  substance — phenacetin,  sul- 
phonal,  acetanilide  and  phenazone.  The  methods  were  that  official  in  the 
B.P.,  Graebe's,  Landolt's,  Piccard's  and  Loew's.  Somewhat  high  results  were 
obtained  with  the  B.P.  method,  but  Graebe's  and  Landolt's  methods  were 
found  to  agree  fairly  well. 
A  NOTE  ON  COMMERCIAL  CARBON  DISULPHIDE. 
By  W.  Elborne. 
The  author  kept  200  c.c.  of  the  best  commercial  carbon  disulphide  in  a  clear 
glass  bottle,  corked  and  capped  with  parchment  paper,  for  six  months,  and 
exposed  to  strong  diffused  daylight.  A  flocculent  brown  precipitate  was  formed , 
which  showed  no  traces  of  sulphur  and  when  heated  gave  off  an  inflammable 
vapor,  leaving  a  residue  ol  carbon.  The  author  concludes  that  either  the  CS2 
contained  impurities  (probably  derived  in  part  from  the  cork)  or  that  it  is  itself 
decomposed  when  kept  in  a  cork-stoppered  bottle.  He  recommends  that  CS 
be  kept  in  a  glass-stoppered  bottle,  and  as  far  as  possible  from  the  light. 
DRUG  STANDARDS. 
C.  G.  Moor  and  C.  H.  Cribb. 
The  authors  suggest  the  voluntary  adoption  of  standards  of  purity  by  pharma 
cists,  analysts  and  other  interested  persons.  The  substances  selected  as  typi- 
cal for  the  purposes  of  this  paper  are  dill  fruit,  cayenne  pepper,  cloves,  gin- 
ger, saffron,  mace,  malt  extract  and  pimento,  tinctures  of  aconite,  arnica,  can- 
tharides,  hyoscyamus  and  rhubarb. 
THE  SALIENT  FEATURES  OF  THE  FLORA  OF  DEVONSHIRE. 
By  G.  C.  Druce. 
The  county  of  Devon  possesses  more  than  100  species  which  are  not  native 
in  Ireland,  nearly  140  which  are  not  native  in  Scotland,  and  nearly  180  which 
do  not  occur  in  Oxfordshire. 
WEIGHT  BURETTE. 
By  K.  Saville  Peck. 
The  author  describes  a  burette  which  can  be  weighed  before  and  after  titra- 
tion, thus  giving  the  weight  of  the  solution  used  instead  of  its  volume.  It  is 
claimed  that  the  errors  arising  from  inaccuracy  of  calibration  are  entirely  elim- 
inated, and  that  changes  and  differences  in  temperature  exert  no  influenoe  up- 
on the  results. 
THE  BONE  CAVES  OF  SOUTH  DEVON. 
By  R.  Hansford  Worth. 
This  is  a  very  interesting  short  note  on  the  bone  caves  of  Devon. 
