578 
British  Pharmaceutical  Conference. 
/Am, Jour.  Pharm. 
\      Nov.,  1883. 
with  effect  in  support  of  his  position.  The  remedy  for  the  evil  which  com- 
mends itself  to  Professor  Attfield's  judgment  is,  in  accordance  with  views 
expressed  last  year,  the  extension  of  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  existing 
Pharmacy  Act,  so  that  not  only  the  dealing  in  a  few  virulent  poisons,  but 
the  "  retail  sale  in  open  shops  of  most  of  the  simple  and  compound  medicines 
of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia"  should  be  [carried  on  only  by  qualified  drug- 
gists. That  these  views  found  favor  with  his  audience  is  not  surprising, 
and  it  may  be  hoped  that  the  steps  which  are  to  be  taken  to  bring  them 
under  the  notice  of  members  of  both  Houses  of  Parliament  will  be  pro- 
ductive of  good  results.  Meanwhile  it  is  a  good  omen  that  some  of  the 
leading  organs  of  public  opinion  have  practically  endorsed  more  or  less  the 
claim  for  consideration  of  their  grievances  put  forward  by  Professor  Attfield 
on  behalf  of  the  pharmacists  of  Great  Britain. 
With  respect  to  the  j)osition  of  the  Conference  it  is  satisfactory  to  find  from 
the  report  presented  by  the  Executive  Committee  that  it  continues  to  enjoy 
a  fair  share  of  prosperity.  The  special  effort  made  to  bring  the  Association 
under  the  notice  of  chemists  and  druggists  who  had  not  already  joined  it, 
is  stated  to  have  already  resulted  in  a  considerable  accession  of  members, 
whilst  the  Treasurer  was  able  to  report  that  the  income  had  been  more  than 
sufficient  to  cover  the  expenditure. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  address  the  Conference  was  adjourned  for 
luncheon,  which  was  provided  by  the  liberality  of  the  Local  Committee  in 
an  adjoining  room,  after  which  many  members  took  the  opportunity  of 
visting  the  Aquarium  and  Winter  Garden. 
In  the  afternoon  the  reading  of  papers  was  commenced  and  according  to 
the  usual  custom  the  reports  upon  subjects  for  the  investigation  of  which 
money  had  been  granted  from  the  Conference  ^funds  were  taken  first, 
priority  among  these  being  given  to  a  second  report  by  Mr.  A.  H.  Jackson 
on  "  The  Differences  between  the  Essential  Oils  of  Cinnamon  and  Cassia.''^ 
In  his  previous  report  Mr.  Jackson  dealt  chiefly  with  the  physical  behavior 
of  the  two  oils  and. stated  liis  opinion  that,  whilst  there  was  some  dif- 
ference in  their  specific  gravity  and  refractive  energy,  there  was  nothing 
sufficiently  characteristic  to  supply  a  satisfactory  method  of  distinguishing 
between  them.  In  the  present  rejDort  more  particular  attention  is  paid  to 
the  chemical  aspect  of  the  question.  The  most  promising  experiment  con- 
sisted in  a  comparison  of  the  behavior  of  the  residues  of  the  two  oils  after 
the  removal  of  all  the  cinnamaldehyde  by  treatment  with  potassium  bi- 
sulphite and  ether  ;  but  although  some  slight  differences  have  been  noted 
they  are  not  sufficiently  definite  to  encourage  further  work  in  that 
direction. 
The  next  report  was  on  the  ''^Bitter  Principles  of  Nerium  odorum^''^  by 
Mr.  H.  G.  Greenish,  who  described  two  substances,  one  crystalline  and  the 
other  amorphous,  and  both  freely  soluble  in  spirit,  separated  from  a  solu- 
tion obtained  by  shaking  an  aqueous  percolate  of  the  powdered  root  with 
chloroform  until  all  the  bitterness  had  been  removed.  The  exact  nature 
of  these  two  substances  will  form  the  subject  of  a  future  report.  In  passing 
a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  reporter  the  opportunity  was  taken  to  pay  a  well- 
de^^^erved  compliment  to  Professor  Dymock,  who  supplied  the  crude  drug 
