INSYITUTE OF CHEMISTRY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, THE REPORT OF THE COUNCIL AND 13ALAEC:E SHEET FOR 1879, TOGETHER WITH THE ADDRESS OF THE RETIRING PRESIDENT, DR FRANKLAND, F,R,S, g?onbolr : PRINTED BY A. P. BLUNDELL & Go., 26, GARLICK HILL, E.C. -1880. LIST OF OFFICERS 8: COUNCIL FOR 1880, PRESIDENT. F. A. ABEL, C.B., F.R.S., $c. VICE-PRESIDENTS. JAMES BELL, F.C.S. E. FRANKLAND, Ph.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., &c. W. N. HARTLEY, F.R.S.E., F.C.S. E. J. MILLS, D.Sc., F.R.S. T. REDWOOD, Ph.D., F.C.S. H. E. ROSCOE, Ph.D., F.R.S. TREASURER. C. R. ALDER WRIGHT, D.Sc., F.C.S. ORDINARY MEMBERS OF COUNCIL. JOHN ATTFIELD, Ph.D., F.C.S. F. A. MANNING, F.C.S. DUGALD CAMPBELL, F.C.S. W. ODLING, M.A., RLB., F.R.S., &c.MICHAEL CARTEIGHE, F.C.S. G. H. OGSTON, F.C.S. WILLIAM DITTMAR, F.R.S.E., F.C.S. F. J. &I.PBOE, F.C.S. A. DUPRE, Ph.D., F.R.S., F.C.S. JOHN PATTINSON, F.C.S. R. J. FRISWELL, F.C.S. J. EMERSON REYNOLDS, JI.D., J. H. GLADSTONE, Ph.D., F.R.S., $c. M.R.I.A., F.C.S. GEORGE GORE, LL.D., F.R.S. G. J. SNELUS, F.C.S. C. GRAHAM, D.Sc., F.C.S. J. SPILLER, F.C.S. P. GRIESS, Ph.D., F.R.S., $c. A. NORAIAN TATE. C. W. HEATON, F.C.S. C. MEYMOTT TIDY, XB., F.C.S. DOUGLAS HERMAN, F.C.S. R. V. TUSON, F.C.S. C. T. KINGZETT, F.C.S. A. VOELCKER, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c. J. W. KYNASTON, F.C.S. R. WARINGTON, F.C.S. SECRETARY. C. 3:. GROVES, F.C.S. INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. REPORT OF COUNCIL. As at the preceding Annual General Meeting, the Council has again to c,ongratulate the Members on the increasing prosperity of the Institute.At the time of the last meeting there mere on the Register 341 Fellows, and 53 Associates, whilst at the present time there are 370 Fellows, and 54 Associates, besides 1 Fellow who has recently been elected, but not yet formally admitted, making in all 425 Members. Three Candidates have been admitted to the Associateship of the Institute, and two who were Associates have passed to the grade of Fellow, so that there is only an increase of one in the number of Associates at present on the Register. During the past year we have lost one Fellow by death, Mr. T. Wills, the Chemical Secretary to the Society of Arts, and two Fellows have resigned.The increase in the number of Members must be looked upon as decidedly satisfactory, considering that the regulations under which candidates are admitted are now so much more stringent than in the preceding year ; the thorough and searching examination in practical chemistry which is demanded of Candidates for the Associateship has, for the present, limited the number who have taken the necessary step to qualify for that grade. One of the two prizes of 350 offered by the President for original investigations involving gas analysis, has been awarded to Mr. Leonard Dobbin, for his research on “Some Reactions of Tertiary Isobutylic Iodide,” which has been accepted by the Council as sufficient and satisfactory evidence of training in practical chemistry to entitle him to the Associateship.The numerous applications with reference to the qualifications necessary to obtain admission to the Institute, are evidence that the advantages to be derived from organisation amongst pro- fessional chemists are more and more appreciated, and this is especially the case with the younger members of the profession. The small number of candidates who have hitherto presented themselves for practical examination would seem to indicate that the chemical student does not usually devote sufficient time to the attainment of a sound knowledge of analytical chemistry; there can be no doubt, however, that the thorough preliminary training required to pass the practical examination now imposed by the Institute as a condition of obtaining admission as Associate, will induce students to prolong the period of study, and to pay more attention to the various branches of exact analysis.A Meeting was held in February last immediately after the Annual General Meeting for the purpose of considering the alterations in the Articles proposed by the Council, which alterations were carried unanimously. The Members will recollect that the greater number of the changes introduced were for the purpose of avoiding the confusion arising from the manner in which the terms “ Member ” and “Fellow” were used in the original Articles of Association. As the Articles stand at present, every chemist who has been formally admitted is a Member of the Institute, and is entitled to vote at all meetings, but Associates are not eligible as Officers or Members of Council.Conferences have been held since the last Annual General Meeting, at which the subjects discussed were :-‘‘ The Adulteration of Food,” (‘The Relations of the Chemical Profession to Public Sanitation,” that on the Adulteration of Food occupying two evenings. These meetings hare been so successful hitherto, that the Council has decided to continue them. It is a matter of regret that the great body of the members of the Institute in the provinces cannot attend these nieetings and thus have an opportunity of taking an active part in the discussions ; but, in order to obviate this difficulty as far as possible, it has been decided to print the paper which forms the subject of discussion, and circulate it amongst the Members some time previously, so as to afford those who reside aFay from London and cannot attend the meetings, an opportunity of forwarding to the Secretary any remarks they may desire to make, which can then be read at t’he meeting.It was also thought that this step would give Members an opportunity of carefully considering the subject before the meeting, and thus facilitate the discussion. A Parliamentary Committee has been appointed, whose business it is to watch over any Bills which may be brought forward in Parliament which may concern the chemical profession, and to call the attention of the Council to any which they deem likely to affect the interests of the Members of the Institute.R’egotiations with the Pharmaceutical Society are pending for the alteration of the clauses in the Pharmacy Act which restrict the use of the title of “Chemist” to those registered under that Act, in the event of any amendment of the Act being brought into Parliament. One of the two prizes of 350 each, offered by our retiring President, Professor Frankland, for “The best original investiga- tion involving gas analysis,’’ still remains to be awarded. Dr. C. Meymott Tidy has also offered a prize of S25 for the best, original investigation on “Special Reactions of the Alkaloids, and their Separation froin Organic Mixtures.” These prizes are open, not only to Associates, but to all persons, except Fellows of the Institute, who shall before the 31st December next, have qualified themselves for the Associateship iu all respects short of passing the prescribed practical examination, and the Council has decided to accept successful competition for these prizes in place of such practical examination.The Institute is again indebted to the President and Council of the Chemical Society for the use of their rooms during the past year. INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT' AA'D BALAATCE SHEET, lsr JANUARY 1879.FROM TO 31s~ DECEMBER, €7 l"i 2 ;e s. rl. $ s. (1. Cash in hand, Jan. 1,1879 .... Printing, Stationery, and Postage ......138 9 2 Balance in London and Westminster Advertisements ..........96 18 6 Bank, 1 Jan., 1879 ....365 19 3 Rent, Office, and Miscellaneous Expenses .. 90 12 4 --373 10 5 Examiners' Fees .......... 15 15 0 17 Entrance Fees at Five Guineas. . 89 5 0 Salaries and Wages ..........190 18 0 1 ,, at Two Guineas .. 220 Law Charges ............ 34 4 10 Life Compositions ...... 45 3 0 Purchase of Consols ..........356 6 4 136 10 0 Cash in hand 31 Dee., 1879 .. $1 1 8 283 Fellows' Subscriptions ....593 5 0 Balance in London &.Westminster 47Associates' ........49 7 0 Bank, 31 Dee., 1879 ....292 17 10 642 12 0 293 19 6 Interest on Consols ...... 44 1 3 Examination Fees ...... 10 10 0 $1207 3 8 $1207 3 8 gLssds. gizrbilitics.31 December, 1879, Cash in hand.. %293 19 6 31 December, 1879 ..........None. 1, ,, S1350, 3 "I, Consols. FREDERIC JAS. M. PAGE, Audited and found correct, Sonaarset House Terrace, Jan. loth, 1880. JOHN SPILLER, London, W.C. JOHN RI. THONSON. PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. DR. FRANKLANDsaid: You hare heard the Report of your Council and the Financial Statement of our Treasurer, and I think you will agree with me that they are both eminently satisfactory. We have, on the year, an increase of upwards of 30 Members, and our income has exceeded our expenditure by some $277. Three years have not yet elapsed since the draft scheme for this Institute was laid before the Organisation Committee, when a Sub-Committee was appointed to take all necessary steps for our incorporation, when the names of 48 chemists were added to those of the Committee, and when the first Officers and Council xere elected.Many obstacles had still to be overcome be'fore the incorporation of the Institute was accomplished seven months later; and at the first annual general meeting, two years ago, only 225 Fellows had joined the Institute. To-day me have an aggregate of 425 Ililenibers, consisting of 371 Fellows and 54 Associates, a number which the Chemical Society had not attained before its twenty-third anniversary. The mere number of our Members, however, so far from being a subject for congratulation, might be one to be deplored if a strict investigation of the qualifications of candidates for admission had not been maintained. By lowering our standard we could, doubtless, have doubled our numbers, but this would have been to forego the essential object of the organisation-the guarantee that consulting and analytical chemists are duly qualified for the proper discharge of the duties they undertake.An inspection of our Register will, I think, convince you that your Council has fairly effected a separation of the competent from the incompetent members of the chemical profession, and although there are some practising chemists of eminence whose names we should like to see enrolled in our list of Fellows, it is satisfactory to know that their number is very small. The period during which they can be admitted under the provisional regulations is now rapidly drawing to a close, for, after the 2nd of October next, no one can, 10 by the Articles, enter our body, either as a Fellow or Associate, without first passing the prescribed examinations.It is, therefore, desirable that our Members should use their influence to bring in those few competent chemists who may, from one cause or another, be still unattached to the Institute, for it is evident that the existence of obviously competent professional chemists outside our organisation will be a source of confusion to the public, and will tend to lengthen the time before Membership of this Institute mill be considered to be as essential to the practice of chemistry, as are the corresponding badges of competency in the professions of law and medicine. In my own individual experience as a teacher of chemistry, I find manifested amongst students, and especially amongst the better class, a continually increasing interest in the Institute ; and I know, at the present time, many students who are under-going special training for the Associateship.But the objects and advantages of the Institute are not patent to everyone ; there are no popular developments of our functions, we have no journal, we have not hitherto enjoyed much notice from the Press, and we do not even hold any public meetings. Indeed, it would be con- trary to our principles to push ourselves into notice with the object of adding to our numbers; but it is, therefore, all the more necessary that our professorial members should bring the Institute under the notice of their students, encouraging them to prepare for admission to the Associateship; for, by so doing, they would not only be contributing to the elevation of chemistry as a profession, but also to the better education of chemical students in general; since the training prescribed by us in theoretical and analytical chemistry, physics and mathematics, with incentives to original investigation, is precisely that which is necessary for all competent chemists, whether professional or professorial.It should never be forgotten that the paramount function of our Institute is the registration of trained chemists competent to undertake the investigation of the various problems which arise in ever increasing numbers in connection with the applications of our science to the Arts, Public Health, Agriculture and Technical Industry ; and the publicatwn of this Register in such a manner as to bring it to the notice of Government Departments, Boards of Health, Public Sanitary Aukhorities, Manufacturers, and others who require the aid of chemical experts.But there are other subsidiary functions incumbent upon us of no small importance ; amongst these are watchfulness of such legislation as is likely to affect our body, and, secondly, the cultivation of professional ethics and good fellowship by the holding of Conferences for the discussion of questions arising out of the practice of our profession. Since incorporation, our Parliamentary functions have not had many demands made upon them, but the Conferences on “ Trade Certificates,” ‘‘The Adulteration of Food,” and ‘‘The Relations of the Chemical Profession to Public Sanitation,” have excited much interest amongsii our Members, and the reports of the Discussions have no doubt been very useful as means of interchange of opinions on the subjects treated of.Valuable suggestions for the utilisation of the Institute in other directions have been made from time to time, and probably some of these mill ultimately be acted upon; but, as they involve the expenditure of considerable sums of money, they should be undertaken with deliberation and caution, for it behoves us, at the outset of our career, to practice strict economy. We may at any moment be involved in Parliamentary or legal pro- ceedings ; these are, of course, very costly, and our power for good in connection with them will be very much in proportion to the amount of our investments and the balance at our bankers.Much of our ultimate success in winning due recognition for the Institute, will depend upon our steady accumulation of capital, and I consider it, therefore, a very fortunate feature in our present position, that the current expenses are so moderate. Thanks to the hospitality of the Chemical Society, we are rent free; most of the work is done without remuneration, and our chief outlay is incurred in the performance of that most im-portant function, the printing, advertising and distribution of our Register.12 Our present position may, therefore, be thus summarised. We have as many competent members as we could hope to extract out of the general mass of professional chemists, our finances are in a flourishing condition, our standards for admission are as high as the scientific training in our schools and universities will allow, the Register of our Members is annually put into the hands of those who are in the habit of resorting to the aid of professional chemists, and there is every reason to hope that the influence and progress of the Institute will be no less satisfactory in the future.