480  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.    {*5^5w  ggj"1' 
not  make  certain  an  invariable  preparation,  though  as  a  matter  of 
fact  it  is  better  than  no  standardization  at  all.  He  urges  the  mak- 
ing of  an  opium  by  mixing  four  opiums  of  different  origin  without 
the  addition  of  inert  material.  This  he  would  term  a  "  normal 
opium " — in  other  words  standardized  for  total  alkaloids  and 
meconic  acid. 
The  Myrrh  of  Commerce,  Ancient  and  Modern. 
By  E.  M.  Holmes. 
The  author  gives  a  very  detailed  description  of  this  drug,  one 
of  the  earliest  spoken  of  in  history.  He  states  that  it  is  generally 
understood  that  the  myrrh  mentioned  in  the  Bible  is  the  medicinal 
myrrh,  but  such  is  not  the  case.  In  Somaliland  where  both  the 
medicinal  and  perfumed  myrrh  are  produced  they  are  known  as 
Mal-mal  and  Habbak  Hadi,  i.e.,  the  gum  of  the  Hadi  tree ;  the 
latter,  the  perfumed  myrrh,  is  the  produce  of  Commiphora 
erythroea  var.  glabrescens.  The  medicinal  of  course,  is  Commiphora 
Myrrh,  and,  as  is  well  known,  is  frequently  mixed  with  other 
resins.  He  gives  a  brief  but  interesting  description  of  the  trees 
yielding  myrrh. 
Chemical  Examination  of  Wheat  Germ. 
By  F.  B.  Power  and  A.  H.  Sal  way. 
The  material  known  as  wheat  germ  was  formerly  a  waste  prod- 
uct of  the  flour  mills,  sometimes  used  as  a  fodder.  Recently  it  has 
come  into  use  as  an  ingredient  of  certain  kinds  of  bread  because 
of  its  dietetic  value.  It  contains  considerable  fat  and  a  hisrh 
nitrogen  content.  It  is  also  the  best  known  source  of  phytosterol. 
It  has  been  shown  by  other  workers  that  wheat  germ  contains : 
choline,  betaine,  allantoin,  cane  sugar,  dextrose,  and  raffinose, 
and  in  their  examination  this  was  confirmed  by  the  authors  of  this 
paper,  although  no  evidence  was  obtained  showing  the  presence  of 
asparagine,  which  has  been  recorded  as  present  by  Frankfurt. 
They  also  discovered  the  presence  of  sinapic  acid,  thought  to  be 
only  present  in  mustard  seed  or  at  least  in  the  family  of  Cruciferce. 
The  Structure  of  the  Soya  Bean. 
By  T.  E.  Wallis. 
The  author  gives  a  complete  macroscopical  and  microscopical 
description  of  the  characters  of  the  soya  bean.    The  illustrations 
