"^"■JcTr.rso""- ]    British  Pharmaceutical  Conference,  5  2 1 
In  the  paper  upon  the  Discoloration  of  Syrup  of  Iodide  of  Iron  Mr.  T.  B,  Groves 
dealt  with  the  inconvenience  arising  from  this  liability  to  alteration,  which  so  fre- 
quently gives  arise  to  doubts  whether  medicine  containing  this  preparation  has  baen 
correctly  dispensed.  Mr,  Groves  illustrated  this  by  stating  that  he  had  been  found 
fault  with  for  supplying  a  colorless  and  flavorless  article  to  a  customer  who  had  pre- 
viously been  furnished  with  a  discolored  syrup,  thougli  for  no  better  reason  prob- 
ably than  George  the  First's  cooks  were  complained  of  for  not  supplying  the  royal 
table  with  oysters  so  high  in  flavor  as  those  to  which  His  Majesty  had  been  accus- 
tomed in  Hanover.  As  a  means  of  remedying  this  inconvenience,  Mr.  Groves 
■suggested  that  a  minute  trace  of  phosphoric  acid  should  be  added  in  making  the 
syrup,  in  order  to  insure  the  action  formerly  pointed  out  by  him  in  the  "Pharma- 
ceutical Journal"  (vol.  ix,  2d  series,  p.  421),-  and  though,  as  he  remarked,  this  plan 
would  be  considered  hateful  and  unorthodox  by  some,  many  will  be  glad  to  learn 
how  of  two  evils  to  choose  the  lesser.  In  the  discussion  that  followed  the  reading 
of  this  paper,  attention  was  chiefly  directed  by  a  remark  from  the  President  to  the 
importance  of  the  character  of  the  sugar  used  for  making  syrups.  It  was  shown 
that  the  greater  part  of  the  sugar  met  with  in  English  commerce  is  beet-root  sugar, 
which  will  not  do  for  the  manufacture  of  syrup  of  iodide  of  iron.  In  reference  to 
the  difference  between  the  sugar  from  beet-root  and  that  from  the  cane,  Mr. 
Andrews  stated  that  he  knew  it  as  a  fact  that  they  differed  in  solubility,  and  that  he 
had  commenced  a  series  of  experiments  upon  the  subject.  The  contamination  of 
beet  sugar  wich  ultramarine  was  also  referred  to  by  Dr.  Symes,  who  was  of  opinion 
that  by  proper  treatment  it  could  be  rendered  as  fit  for  use  as  cane-sugar.  Upon 
Professor  Attfield's  suggestion,  it  was  understood  that  Mr.  Andrews  undertook  to 
follow  up  the  subject  experimentally,  and  therefore  we  may  now  look  forward  to 
jiaving  this  difficulty  removed. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  discussion  following  Mr.  Groves'  paper  the  Conference 
was  adjourned  until  2.30,  and  in  the  interval  the  members  partook  of  lunch  in  the 
garden  adjoining  the  institution. 
The  next  paper  read,  on  resuming  the  business  proceedings,  was  contributed  by 
Dr.  De  Vrij,  whose  valuable  services  in  connection  with  the  introduction  of  the  cin- 
chona tree  in'o  India  and  the  manufacture  of  "Indian  quinine"  have  recently  been 
recognized  in  the  conferring  upon  him  the  dignity  and  distinction  of  a  Companion 
of  the  Star  of  India.  It  described  a  method  for  the  detection  of  amorphous  alkaloid 
in  citrate  of  iron  and  guinia^  based  upon  the  solubility  of  the  oxalate  of  th^t  base  in 
water  and  the  consequent  yellow  coloiation  to  be  observed  when  an  adulterated 
sample  is  operated  upon  as  described  in  detail  in  the  paper.  A  somewhat  discursive 
■discussion  followed  tlie  reading  of  this  paper,  in  the  course  of  which  it  was  pointed 
out  by  Mr.  Umney  and  others  that  the  amorphous  alkaloid  sometimes  found  in 
citrate  of  iron  and  quinia  may  be  due  to  the  alteration  of  qui.iia  during  the  manu- 
facture of  the  preparation.  By  some  it  was  also  considered  that  this  result  arose 
from  the  defective  nature  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  process.  Mr.  Fletcher  recommended 
the  plan  of  tasting  the  preparation  as  being,  in  his  opinion,  a  convenient  method 
of  detecting  the  presence  of  an>orphous  alkaloid  by  its  peculiarly  unpleasant 
bitterness. 
In  Dr.  Symes'  paper  on  Ne-xv  and  Unofficinal  Preparations  attention  was  drawn  to 
the  practical  inconvenience  arising  from  the  want  of  any  authoritative  formulae  for 
the  novel  preparations  which  are  now  so  frequently  employed  by  medical  men.  By 
reference  to  the  various  strengths  of  tincture  of  gelsemium  and  hydrobromic  acid 
he  illustrated  the  embarrassment  that  may  be  caused  in  dispensing,  and  he  suggested 
that  the  formulae  for  such  preparations  should  be  regulated  by  the  decision  of  some 
such  authority  as  the  Medical  Council.  Although  the  removal  of  uncertainty  by 
the  adoption  of  such  a  plan  would  be  very  desirable,  it  cannot  be  overlooked  that 
there  are  considerable  difficulties  to  be  encountered.  As  stated  by  Mr.  Greenish, 
many  of  these  preparations  are  too  insignificant  and  too  ephemeral  in  their  applica- 
tion to  merit  any  such  official  cognizance,  and  if  the  merits  of  new  articles  of 
materia  medica  and  new  preparations  are  to  be  decided  by  experience,  it  is  piecisely 
during  the  intervening  period  that  the  difficulties  referred  to  by  Dr.  Symes  would 
