Am' oct.?if^arm" }    British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  509 
thorough  chemical  examination  of  ipecacuanha  root,  on  account  of  the  conflict- 
ing statements  that  have  been  made  as  to  the  quantit}-  of  emetine  it  contains 
and  the  comparative  ignorance  as  to  the  other  constituents  of  the  drug.  The 
paper  contained  the  details  of  a  general  proximate  analysis,  for  which  purpose 
ipecacuanha  root  in  No.  80  powder  was  exhausted  successively  with  petroleum 
ether,  absolute  ether,  65  per  cent,  alcohol,  cold  distilled  water,  and  0-2  percent, 
solution  of  sodic  hydrate.  From  the  general  results  it  appeared  that  the  total 
alkaloid  obtained  amounted  to  2-42  per  cent.,  which  probably  was  not  all  eme- 
tine, though  no  confirmation  was  afforded  to  the  alleged  presence  of  a  volatile 
base  in  the  root.  Saccharose  was  found  to  the  extent  of  2'i2  per  cent.,  dextrose 
4*o6  per  cent.,  dextrin  2*08  per  cent.,  and  starch  44*44  per  cent.  Among  the 
other  constituents  observed  were  a  trace  of  volatile  oil,  tannin,  free  fatty  acid, 
neutral  fat,  various  resins,  and  a  glucoside  which  gave  a  frothy  solution  in 
water,  but  was  not  saponin. 
This  was  followed  by  a  short  note  in  which  Mr.  W.  H.  Symons  described  the 
preparation  of  an  ammoniated  tincture  of  ipecacuanha,  which  had  remained 
clear  although  made  five  years  ago.  The  formula  was  to  moisten  one  ounce  of 
ipecacuanha  with  one  dram  of  10  per  cent,  solution  of  ammonia  and  then  slowly 
percolate  to  twenty  ounces  with  10  per  cent,  spirit. 
Ex  tr  actum  Euonymi  siccum  was  the  subject  of  the  next  note  by  Mr.  M. 
Conroy.  In  it  the  author  criticised  the  statement  made  in  the  Additions  to 
the  B.  P.  that  when  this  extract  is  prepared  according  to  the  official  formula 
"the  mass  may  be  powdered  and  kept  in  a  well-corked  bottle."  Mr.  Conroy 
says  that  the  preparation,  when  made  on  a  large  scale,  is  really  so  hygroscopic 
that  the  operation  of  powdering  has  to  be  performed  in  a  warm  dry  room, 
whilst  even  then  it  is  very  difficult  to  obtain  a  satisfactory  result,  and  the  result- 
ing powder  soon  coheres  and  forms  a  mass.  By  drying  the  extract  without  the 
sugar  of  milk  and  adding  the  sugar  during  the  powdering,  more  satisfactory 
results  were  obtained.  But  another  plan,  which  the  author  says  proved  in  every 
way  a  success,  was  to  add  light  calcined  magnesia  instead  of  sugar  o*f  milk  to  the 
soft  extract.  The  operation  of  powdering  was  then  performed  under  ordinary 
atmospheric  conditions  without  any  precaution,  and  the  pulverized  extract 
remained  a  perfectly  mobile  powder.  The  paper  led  to  considerable  discussion, 
some  objection  being  raised  to  the  introduction  of  so  much  of  an  insoluble 
substance  like  carbonate  of  magnesia,  while  Mr.  Naylor  said  the  hygrosco- 
picity  of  the  preparation  is  due  to  extractive  which  is  not  present  in  the  prepa- 
ration upon  which  euonymin  gained  its  reputation. 
The  next  paper  read  was  a  practical  communication  upon  Indian  Gums  for 
Pharmacy  Work,  by  Dr.  Rideal  and  Mr.  W.  E.  Youle.  The  gums  from 
India  which  find  their  way  into  the  English  market  were  divided  for  the  pur- 
poses of  this  paper  into  two  classes,  those  which  are  entirely  soluble  in  water 
and  exude  from  species  of  acacia,  of  which  "  amrad  "  is  the  most  important, 
and  those  not  entirely  soluble  in  water  and  not  derived  from  species  of  acacia, 
which  are  known  under  the  generic  name  "  ghatti  gum."  It  is  the  latter  class 
of  gums  that  form  the  principal  subject  of  the  paper,  the  "  amrad  "  gums  being 
simply  referred  to  as  not  of  much  importance  from  a  pharmaceutical  point  of 
view,  and  as  resembling  in  physical  properties  second-rate  gum  arabics.  The 
authors,  whilst  differing  from  other  observers  as  to  the  amount  of  ash  yielded 
by  ghatti  gum,  which  they  find  to  be  about  26  per  cent.,  or  somewhat  less  than 
