500  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  {^6S£\m™° 
exact  as  the  B.P.  process,  it  is  more  expeditious  and  involves  less 
waste  of  opium. 
A  Proposed  New  Method  for  Standardizing  Ferri  Arsenas,  B.P. — 
Wm.  W.  S.  Nicholls,  B.Sc,  said  that  out  of  twenty-eight  samples 
examined  no  less  than  eleven,  or  39  per  cent.,  were  below  the 
minimum  (10  per  cent.)  of  anhydrous  ferrous  arsenate,  as  required 
by  the  B.P. 
For  standardizing  ferri  arsenas,  the  author  proposes  to  separate, 
the  arsenic  as  AsCl3>  by  distillation,  with  a  solution  of  iron  per- 
chloride  in  strong  hydrochloric  acid.  The  distillate,  after  three  dis- 
tillations, is  neutralized  with  a  strong  solution  of  caustic  soda,  an 
excess  of  sodium  bicarbonate  is  added  and  the  resulting  solution  is 
N 
to  be  titrated  with  —  iodine  solution. 
20 
A  Concurrent  Curriculum. — H.  Whippell  Gadd,  F.C.S.,  suggested 
that  theoretical  instruction  be  combined  with  the  practical  training 
of  the  apprentices,  and  outlined  a  course  of  study  of  ten  hours  a 
week  extending  over  the  usual  time  of  apprenticeship,  three  years. 
Chloroforms  of  Belladonna  and  Aconite. — R.  Wright,  F.C.S., 
makes  some  suggestions  for  the  improvement  of  these  two  British 
Conference  Formulary  preparations,  in  the  course  of  which  he  recom- 
mends the  addition  of  ammoniated  alcohol  to  the  chloroform  to 
improve  its  solvent  properties. 
Refractive  Index  of  Essential  Oils. — Ernest  J.  Parry,  B.Sc,  thinks 
the  refractive  index  of  some  oils,  like  otto  of  rose,  oil  of  citronella, 
and  oil  of  peppermint,  is  a  useful  factor  in  the  determination  of 
purity. 
Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Poisons  and  Fungicides. — E.  M. 
Holmes,  F.L.S.,  calls  the  attention  of  chemists  and  druggists  to 
the  necessity  and  importance  of  substances  to  be  used  as  weed  killers 
and  insecticides,  and  thinks  that  pharmacists  should  endeavor  to  aid 
the  Government  by  researches  which  will  extend  the  list  of  non- 
poisonous  substances  to  replace  the  poisonous  compounds  now  used. 
The  Non-Existence  of  Mydriatic  Alkaloid  in  Lactuca  Virosa. — 
Messrs.  J.  O.  Braithwaite  and  H.  E.  Stevenson  were  not  able  to  con- 
firm the  claim  made  by  Dymond,  some  years  ago,  that  he  had  dis- 
covered hyoscyamine  in  the  dried  flowering  plant  of  the  wild  lettuce. 
The  Pharmacology  of  the  Suprarenal  Gland. — J.  C.  McWalter,  M.A., 
M.D.,  D.Ph.,  gives  a  method  for  preparing  an  efficient  solution  of 
the  active  principle  from  the  fresh  glands. 
