520  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  {Am-£t%marm 
their  object  to  determine  the  grounds,  if  any,  for  the  prevalent  belief  in  the 
superiority  of  biennial  henbane  over  annual.  The  investigation  was  made 
with  specimens  of  both  kinds  of  henbane  grown  in  Middlesex,  Sussex  and 
Lincolnshire,  and  the  parts  of  the  plants  used  were  the  leaves  and  tops  of  the 
annual  variety,  and  the  first  year's  leaves  and  roots  and  the  second  year's  tops 
of  the  biennial  kind.  From  a  table  showing  the  yield  of  alkaloids  from  1,000 
parts  it  appeared  (i)  that  annual  henbane  leaf,  biennial  henbane  first  year's 
leaf,  and  biennial  second  year's  tops  have  practically  the  same  alkaloidal 
value  ;  (2)  that  biennial  henbane  first  year's  root  contains  two  and  a  half  times 
as  much  alkaloid  as  the  leaves  or  tops  of  either  variety  ;  and  (3)  that  the 
locality  of  growth  does  not  influence  the  amount  of  alkaloid  formed.  It  would 
seem,  therefore,  that  the  preference  shown  for  biennial  over  annual  henbane 
leaves  is  not  well  founded.  Mr.  Gerrard  added  that,  the  biennial  root  yields 
with  rectified  spirit  an  excellent  extract,  comparatively  free  from  objectionable 
taste  and  odor,  which  could  be  standardized  with  ease  of  a  strength  that  the 
dose  would  be  one-third  of  that  of  the  present  official  extract. 
Commercial  Alkaline  Sulphites,  by  Mr.  C.  H.  Bothamley. — The  author  com- 
menced by  pointing  out  that  besides  the  normal  sulphite,  represented  by  the 
normal  formula  M2S03,  and  the  hydrogen  sulphites  or  bisulphites  represented 
by  the  formula  MHS03,  a  third  class  has  recently  been  brought  prominently 
forward  under  the  name  "  meta-sulphites  "  and  "  meta-bisulphites. "  These 
are  not,  however,  new  products,  as  erroneously  supposed,  but  were  described 
many  years  ago  by  Muspratt,  who  termed  them  properly  "anhydro-sulphites." 
They  have  the  general  formula  M2S205,  and  may  be  regarded  as  derived  from 
two  molecules  of  hydrogen  sulphite  with  elimination  of  a  molecule  of  water. 
Potassium  bisulphite  does  not  appear  to  be  an  article  of  commerce,  whilst  four 
samples  supplied  as  sodium  bisulphite  contained  respectively  only  8*i,  34*14, 
22  3  and  39  per  cent,  of  sulphurous  anhydride,  the  theoretical  quantity  in  the 
anhydrous  salt  being  61*54  per  cent.  The  difficulty  in  preparing  these  salts 
arises  from  the  fact  that  even  in  solution  the  bisulphites  pass  quickly  into  the 
anhydrosulphites.  The  anhydrosulphites  are  met  with  in  commerce  in  large, 
well-formed  crystals,  which  at  first  are  transparent,  but  soon  lose  some  sul- 
phurous anhydride  and  become  quoted  with  a  white  film,  after  which  the  salt 
undergoes  little  alteration.  Three  samples  examined  gave  52*54,  56*02  and 
57*42  per  cent,  of  sulphurous  anhydride,  the  theoretical  quantity  being  57*63 
per  cent. 
Strophanthus  hispidus,  by  Mr.  B.  M.  Holmes. — The  paper  emphasized  the 
fact  that  the  variety  of  strophanthus  seeds  originally  used  by  Professor  Frazer, 
and  therefore  the  kind  from  which  the  medicinal  action  described  by  him 
might  be  expected,  came  from  Bast  Africa,  and  differs  from  that  yielded  by 
the  typical  5.  hispidus  of  West  Africa.  He  thinks,  therefore,  that  the  com- 
mercial seeds  imported  from  West  Africa  should  not  be  employed  pharmaceu- 
tically  until  it  has  been  ascertained  that  they  possess  the  same  physiological 
properties  as  those  upon  which  the  reputation  of  the  drug  was  founded.  The 
seeds  corresponding  to  those  used  by  Professor  Frazer  were  described  as  having 
a  hairy  surface,  with  the  hairs  pointing  in  one  direction  and  appearing  fawn- 
colored  or  greenish  as  the  apex  or  the  base  of  the  seed  is  presented  to  the 
light.    Mr.  Holmes  further  mentioned  that  ouabain,  which  is  said  to  differ 
