3cr,'i876rm'}  Pharmaceutical  Colleges  and  Associations,  473 
PHARMACEUTICAL  COLLEGES  AND  ASSOCIATIONS. 
British  Pharmaceutical  Conference — The  Meetings  at  Glasgow. — 
It  may  appear  to  be  but  a  repetition  of  what  has  been  said  in  former  years  to  an- 
nounce that  the  latest  meeting  of  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference,  held  at 
Glasgow  on  Tuesday  and  Wednesday,  September  5th  and  6th,  has  been  at  least  as 
successful  as  that  of  any  former  year.  But  this  is  not  a  mere  formal  statement. 
Glasgow  pharmacists  may  even  boast  of  having  been  able  to  secure  for  this  year's 
scientific  meetings  larger  and  more  evenly  sustained  audiences  than  have  supported 
the  readers  of  papers  on  any  previous  occasion,  whilst  it  is  no  wonder  that,  with  the 
beauties  of  the  Clyde,  to  say  nothing  of  other  inducements,  they  were  able  lo  tempt 
a  large  company  to  take  part  in  the  excursion.    But  to  the  serious  business  first. 
The  Executive  Committee  was  again  able  to  present  a  favorable  report,  showing 
an  income  during  the  year  in  excess  by  about  £240  of  the  expenditure,  including 
the  cost  of  the  Year  Book  and  the  grants  in  aid  of  research.  With  respect  to  this 
latter  branch  of  the  operations  of  the  Conference,  we  are  informed  that  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  has  made  the  following  fresh  grants:  £5,  extended,  if  necessary,  to 
£10,  to  Mr.  J.  C.  Thresh,  F.C.S.,  for  the  purchase  of  materials  in  connection  with 
an  extended  research  on  the  active  principle  of  capsicum  fruit ;  £10  to  Dr.  Arm- 
strong, F.R.S.,  for  the  purchase  of  strychnia,  etc.,  with  which  to  conduct  a  re- 
search on  the  oxidation  products  and  bromo  derivatives  of  that  alkaloid  ;  £20  to 
Dr.  Tilden,  F.C.S.,  for  the  purchase  of  essential  oils,  and  £50  to  Dr.  C.  R.  A. 
Wright,  F.C.S.,  Mr.  J.  Williams,  F.C.S.,  and  Mr.  T.  B.  Groves,  F.C.S.,  to  defray 
expenses  in  connection  with  extended  researches  on  the  aconitines. 
The  President's  address  amply  justifies  the  cordiality  with  which  it  was  received. 
In  it  Prof.  Redwood  sets  forth  in  an  extremely  clear  and  definite  manner  his  views 
respecting  the  position  that  can  be  taken  justifiably  by  pharmacists,  in  respect  to 
giving  advice  as  to  the  use  of  the  drugs  they  handle  daily,  and  this  portion  of  the 
address  forms  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  literature  of  a  subject  which  has  been 
too  frequently  discussed  under  a  cloud  of  self-interest.  Good  service  in  another 
direction  is  done  by  the  interesting  illustration  of  our  comparative  ignorance  respect- 
ing much  of  the  history  of  the  Materia  Medica,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
suggestion  as  to  the  application  of  some  of  the  scientific  energy  and  the  funds  of 
the  Conference  for  the  testing  and  comparing  of  results  already  obtained  by  various 
investigators,  if  effectively  carried  out,  would  at  least  clear  the  ground  of 
some  of  the  confusions  and  contradictions  with  which  it  is  now  covered.  During 
the  reading  of  the  address  the  large  room  of  the  Royal  Hotel  was  filled  with  an 
evidently  much  interested  audience,  nor  was  the  President  less  successful  when  in 
inviting  discussions  upon  the  several  papers,  he  showed  in  a  few  lucid  and  sugges- 
tive sentences  the  bearing  which  each  had  on  pharmacy. 
Twenty-eight  papers  were  read.  In  the  first,  Mr.  B.  S.  Proctor  described  the 
strength  of  four  samples  of  liquid  extract  of  pareira  as  varying  between  one  and  six. 
This  result  he  attributed  to  the  vagueness  of  the  words  "  coarse  powder,"  used  for 
indicating  the  degree  of  comminution,  although  it  might  well  be  due  to  the  crude 
