684  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  [^'^'-^IT'il^r'^' 
tioned  where  collodion  may  proably  be  used  advantageously  for  the  topical 
application  of  medicaments 
At  the  close  of  the  reading  of  papers,  Professor  Attfield  presented  to  Mr. 
Ash  ton,  in  the  name  of  the  Conference,  for  the  use  of  the  local  pharmacists, 
a  number  of  handsomely  bound  volumes,  purchased  from  the  Bell  and 
Hills  Fund,  to  which  were  added  "Pharmacographia"  and  "Science  Papers," 
presented  by  Mr.  Thomas  Hanbury  in  memory  of  his  brother.  The  place 
of  meeting  in  1884  was  the  next  business  and  a  cordial  invitation  from  the 
pharmacists  of  Hastings  to  visit  that  town  having  been  read  it  was  unani- 
mously accepted.  The  election  of  Officers  for  1883-4  was  then  proceeded 
with,  the  following  being  the  results  :  President.  J.  Williams;  Vice-Presi- 
dents, M.  Carteighe,  London  ;  J.  R.  Young,  Edinburgh  ;  S.  R.  Atkins ; 
Treasurer,  C.  Ekin,  Hounslow ;  General  Secretaries,  F.  Baden  Benger. 
Manchester ;  S.  Plowman,  London  ;  Other  Members  of  Executive  Com- 
mittee, J.  Borland,  Kilmarnock  ;  J.  C.  C.  Payne,  Belfast ;  W.  A.  H.  Naylor, 
London;  W.  V.  Radley,  Southport ;  W.  Hills,  London;  G.  S.  Taylor, 
London;  J.  C.  Thresh,  Buxton  ;  J.  B.  Stephenson,  Edinburgh;  Auditor, 
T.  H.  Sykes,  Southport. 
All  that  now  remained  to  be  done  was  to  pass  a  well-deserved  and  enthusi- 
astic vote  of  thanks  to  the  Local  Committee, — and  especially  to  Messrs. 
Radley,  Ashton,  Ball  and  Kershaw, — for  the  admirable  arrangements  made 
to  secure  the  success  of  the  Conference ;  another  to  the  public  bodies  and 
private  firms  that  had  thrown  open  their  establishments  to  the  visits  of 
the  members  ;  and  lastly  one  to  the  President  for  his  services  in  the  chair. 
After  the  Conference  had  terminated  a  large  number  of  members  adjourned 
to  the  splendid  Glaciarium,  where  a  number  of  skaters  were  disporting 
themselves  on  a  surface  of  ice.  The  process  of  ice-making  which  is  here 
brought  into  play  was  described  and  shown.  It  consists  in  the  vaporiza- 
tion of  liquid  sulphurous  acid  in  a  partial  vacuum  produced  by  pumps 
worked  by  steam  ;  the  reduction  in  temperature  thus  produced  is  com- 
municated to  a  solution  of  magnesium  chloride  flowing  through  a  series  of 
pipes  under  the  floor  of  the  Glaciarium,  and  the  water  is  thus  maintained 
in  a  frozen  condition. 
On  Thursday  a  party  of  eighty,  on  the  invitation  of  the  Local  Committee, 
left  Southport  by  the  8.10  A.M.  train  for  St.  Helens.  Special  saloon-carriages 
were  provided  for  the  accommodation  of  members.  The  weather  was, 
unfortunately,  as  unfavorable  as  it  well  could  be.  The  rain  poured  down 
persistently,  and  a  thick  mist  obscured  the  view  of  the  country.  On  near- 
ing  St.  Helens,  hundreds  of  chimneys  and  mine-wheels  suddenly  appearing 
and  disappearing  in  the  gloom  produced  a  most  weird  effect.  On  arrival 
at  St.  Helens  the  party  divided,  the  majority  proceeding  to  Messrs.  Kurtz 
and  Co.'s  Chemiccil  Works.  Here  Leblanc's  process  for  making  sodium 
carbonate  ;  processes  for  making  caustic  soda,  bleaching  powder,  potassium 
chlorate,  etc.,  were  shown,  and  the  principles  involved  and  details  of  manu- 
facture were  explained  by  several  most  courteous  guides.  The  other 
members  visited  the  Union  Plate  Glass  Works,  Bishop's  Flint  Glass  Works, 
and  Messrs.  Bibby  and  Son's  Copper  Smelting  Works. 
The  Union  Plate  Glass  Works  stand  on  ten  acres  of  ground,  and  employ 
