Am'octuyi£6.arm'}     British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  525 
The  election  of  officers  for  the  ensuing  year  was  decided  by  the  presentation 
of  a  single  ballot  paper,  and  no  opposition  having  been  offered  it  was  declared 
to  have  been  completed,  the  President  chosen  for  next  year  being  Mr.  S.  R 
Atkins,  of  Salisbury. 
The  other  members  of  the  executive  committee  are — 
Vice-Presidents,  M.  Carteighe,  F.I.C,  F.C.S.,  London ;  S.  Plowman,  F.R.CS.,. 
London ;  C.  Symes,  Ph.D.,  Liverpool ;  G.  S.  Woolley,  Manchester. 
Treasurer,  C  Umney,  F.I.C,  F.CS.,  London. 
Honorary  General  Secretaries,  J.  C  Thresh,  D.Sc,  F.C.S.,  Buxton;  W.  A.  H. 
Naylor,  F.C.S.  London. 
Other  Members  of  Executive  Committee,  W.  Elborne,  Manchester ;  A.  W.  Ger- 
rard,  F.C.S.,  London  ;  T.  Maben,  Hawick;  J.  E.  Brunker,  M.A.,  Dublin;  R.  H. 
Davies,  F.I.C,  F.CS.,  London ;  D.  B.  Dott,  F.R.S.E.,  Edinburgh ;  T.  Barclay, 
Birmingham;  M.  Conroy,  F.C.S.,  Liverpool;  W.  H.  Symonds,  F.CS.,  F.R.M.S., 
London. 
Local  Secretary,  F.  B.  Benger,  F.CS.,  Manchester. 
Auditors,  C  J.  Arblaster,  Birmingham;  W.  Wilkinson,  Manchester. 
Incidentally  it  was  mentioned  that  the  attendance  at  the  Birmingham  meet- 
ing had  been  larger  than  at  any  previous  meeting  of  the  Conference,  no  less 
than  187  members'  names  having  been  recorded  on  this  occasion,  while  the 
actual  number  of  visitors  present  was  probably  much  in  excess  of  two  hun- 
dred, so  that  the  varied  attractions  of  the  Midland  Metropolis  as  a  place  of 
meeting  were  evidently  well  appreciated. 
At  the  close  of  the  proceedings  on  Wednesday  afternoon,  conveyances  were 
again  prepared  to  take  the  members  to  Gillott's  Steel  Pen  Works,  and  a  large 
number  availed  themselves  of  this  opportunity  of  inspecting  one  of  the  most 
interesting  industries  of  Birmingham.  Another  party  went  to  the  exhibition 
at  Bingley,  and  afterwards  they  drove  to  the  Botanical  Gardens.  In  the  eve- 
ning there  was  a  musical  and  social  meeting  at  the  Grand  Hotel,  and  festivities 
were  kept  up  until  an  advanced  hour  in  the  night. 
On  Thursday,  September  2,  an  excursion  was  had  to  Stratford-on-Avon, 
Leamington,  Warwick  and  other  points  of  interest  in  Warwickshire. 
We  cannot  close  these  remarks  without  again  calling  attention  to  the  con- 
versazione, held  on  Monday  evening,  as  having  proved  a  very  happy  inno- 
vation upon  previous  usage.  The  greater  facilities  thus  afforded  for  personal 
intercourse  between  the  members  are  of  especial  value  in  regard  to  the 
objects  which  the  Conference  has  in  view,  and  it  would  be  desirable  if  possible 
to  make  those  facilities  for  conversation  even  greater  still.  It  might  indeed 
be  useful  for  that  purpose  to  curtail  the  periods  of  meeting  now  devoted  to  the 
reading  of  papers,  and  many  papers  might  be  read  in  a  more  abbreviated  form 
for  the  purpose  of  employing  some  of  the  time  available  in  the  more  profitable 
manner  we  have  mentioned. — Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  Sept.  4, 1886. 
Isocicutine. — Bochefontaine  (Medical  Chronicle,  June,  1886),  has  observed 
that  its  action  on  frogs  closely  resembles  that  of  curare,  and  that  warm-blooded 
animals  die  with  symptoms  of  respiratory  paralysis.  It  has  not  yet  been  used 
therapeutically. 
