Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
September,  1906.  ) 
Notes  and  News. 
45 1 
as  an  encouragement  to  all  the  future  generations  of  chemists  in 
this  country." 
Geheimrath  Professor  Dr.  Emil  Fischer,  speaking  in  German, 
offered  the  Hofmann  medal  of  the  Deutsche  Chemische  Gesellschaft 
to  Sir  William  Perkin.  Sir  William  has  been  an  honorary  member 
of  the  Society  for  twenty  years,  and  Dr.  Fischer,  recalling  this  fact 
and  his  early  achievements,  referred  with  pleasure  to  the  recent 
researches  in  pure  chemistry  with  which  Sir  William's  name  is 
associated.  In  English,  Dr.  Fischer,  approaching  Sir  William  Perkin, 
said,  "  I  am  proud  to  bring  you  from  Germany  this  token  of  our 
esteem  and  admiration,  and  hope  the  medal  will  give  you  the  more 
pleasure  because  it  bears  upon  it  the  features  of  your  old  friend  and 
teacher,  August  Wilhelm  von  Hofmann." 
Sir  William  Perkin,  in  the  course  of  his  reply,  said  that  the  first 
volume  of  the  German  Chemical  Society  was  a  small  one,  but  it 
contained  Graebe  and  Liebermann's  important  paper  on  the  synthesis 
of  alizarine  from  anthracene  and  Baeyer's  paper  on  the  reduction  of 
indigo-blue.  The  first  paper  has  resulted  in  the  superseding  of 
madder  by  artificial  alizarine,  and  Baeyer's  paper  may  be  looked 
upon  as  the  first  step  in  the  successful  manufacture  of  artificial 
indigo.  Sir  William  next  referred  to  the  many  kindnesses  he  had 
received  from  German  chemists,  and  thanked  all  connected  with  the 
jubilee  celebration  for  gifts  that  had  been  made  to  him.  The  por- 
trait he  regarded  as  the  crowning  gift  of  all  the  recognitions  he  had 
received. — Chem.  and  Drug.,  August  4,  1906. 
NOTES  AND  NEWS. 
Dr.  John  M.  Francis,  chief  chemist  for  Parke,  Davis  &  Co.,  has  written  for 
the  Bulletin  of  Pharmacy  a  detailed  commentary  on  the  Eighth  Revision  of 
the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia.  This  has  been  reprinted  as  a  booklet  of 
112  pages  and  in  its  present  form  will  be  found  extremely  useful.  A  second 
edition,  limited  to  3,000,  has  just  been  struck  off  the  press.  Copies  may  be 
had  on  application  to  E.  G.  Swift,  publisher  of  the  Bulletin  of  Pharmacy, 
Detroit,  Michigan. 
The  Modern  Materia  Medica,  published  by  The  Druggists'  Circular, 
100  William  Street,  New  York  City,  is  a  booklet  of  over  300  pages,  giving  the 
source,  chemical  and  physical  properties,  therapeutic  action,  dosage,  antidotes, 
and  incompatibilities  of  all  additions  to  the  newer  materia  medica.  The  book 
will  be  found  useful  to  the  retail  pharmacist  as  well  as  the  wholesaler  as  it  con- 
