562  Minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  { A^eJcT  m£" 
through  absorption  of  moisture.  When  made  into  cylinders,  it  should  not  be 
dried  by  heat,  as  it  slightly  decomposes  and  becomes  yellow  and  friable  ;  it  may 
be  kept  dry  by  placing  it  in  a  tin  box  with  some  pieces  of  quicklime,  but  not  in. 
contact  with  them. — Am.  Journ.  Med.  Sciences,  O-ct.  1873,  from  London  Med- 
ical Record,  June  18,  1873.  - 
Local  Applications  of  Chloral. — Chloral,  besides  it s  hypnotic  properties, 
seems  to  possess  an  antiputric  action.  Either  the  hydrate  of  chloral,  or  what 
is  called  metachloral,  may  be  used  The  latter,  accoiding  to  Dumas,  is  pre- 
pared by  placing  in  a  bottle  with  an  emery  stopper  some  chloral  and  five  or  six 
times  its  weight  of  sulphuric  acid.  The  next  day  the  chloral  is  transformed 
into  metachloral,  which  must  be  well  washed  with  water  to  remove  the  sulphuric 
acid.  It  is  a  coarse  white  powder,  smelling  strongly  of  chloral,  hardly  soluble 
even  in  boiling  water,  and  distilling  between  150°  and  200°  C.  without  melting. 
Regnault  has  shown  that  it  is  similar  in  composition  to  chloral,  and  its  formula 
is  C4  H  Cls  0>  being  simply  an  isomeric  modification  of  chloral.  Dr.  Dujardin- 
Beaumetz,  of  Paris,  has  lately  experimented  on  the  local  application  of  chloral 
as  a  caustic  or  modifying  agent  and  a  local  anaesthetic.  It  may  be  applied  in 
substance,  which  mode  is  rather  difficult,  or  in  solution  of  different  strength — 
namely,  one  or  two  per  cent,  in  water  or  glycerin.  Metachloral  is  applied  in 
powder  upon  foul  wounds,  replacing  advantageously  iodoform,  the  smell  of  which 
is  so  disagreeable.  Cases  are  given  where  the  application  of  chloral  b.as  been 
of  much  use  in  gangrene,  phagedena,  rodent  ulcers,  lardaceous  ulcerations, 
certain  diseases  of  the  skin,  lupus,  and  for  modifying  the  cavities  of  abscesses, 
etc.  It  is  of  much  value  in  relieving  the  pain  of  cancerous  ulcerations  ;  and,  as- 
chloral  possesses  the  property  of  preventing  decomposition  of  the  urine,  Dr. 
Beaumetz  thinks  that  in  certain  diseases  of  the  bladder  it  may  be  usefully  in- 
jected into  that  viscus. — Am.  Journ.  Med  Sciences,  Oct.  1873,  from  Lancet, 
Aug.  30,  1873. 
Examination  of  G rapt  Sugar  and  Milk  Sugar. — JV1.  Campani  employs  as 
reagent  a  concentrated  solution  of  subnitrate  of  lead,  mixed  with  a  dilute  solu- 
tion of  acetate  of  copper.  The  liquid  to  be  tested  is  added  to  5  c.  c.  of  this  so- 
lution and  raised  to  a  boil.  If  grape  sugar  is  present  the  mixture  becomes  col- 
ored, and  gives  a  yellow  precipitate.  Cane  sugar  has  no  action.  A  dilute  solu- 
tion of  milk  sugar  behaves  like  grape  sugar.  If  the  solu  ions  of  these  sugars  are 
concentrated  the  precipitates  are  brick-red. —  Chem.  News,  Sept.  26,  from  Les 
Mondes. 
Itttttttts  of  tije  fjfarmratial  iteeting. 
The  regular  Monthly  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  was  held  on  Tuesday  after- 
noon, Nov  18th,  1873.    21  members  present. 
Peter  Williamson,  one  of  the  original  founders  of  the  College  in  1821,  was 
present,  and  on  being  called  to  the  President's  chair,  addressed  the  meeting  in 
a  few  appropriate  remarks,  in  which  he  referred  to  the  progress  made  in  phar- 
macy since  the  time  when  the  College  was  founded. 
The  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were  read  and  approved. 
