THE ANALYST. 223 THE SOCIETY OF PUBLIC ANALYSTS AND THE SOMERSET HOUSE ANALYSTS. IN accordance with the resolution passed at the Anniversary Neeting of the Society of Public Analysts, on the 16th January last, the Secretaries addressed the following letter to Nr. Bell, the Principal of the Somerset House Laboratory, and we give below his reply and the further correspondence which has since taken place :- SOCIETY OF PUBLIC ANALYSTS, 79, GREAT TOWER STREET, LONDON, E.C., 22nd Januaqr, 187s.DEAR STR,-BY a resolution unanimously passed a t the Anniversary Meeting of this Society, held a t Burlington House, on the 16th instant, we were instructed to write and ask you to read a paper at an early Meeting of the Society, upon the standards you have adopted in your Laboratory for the analysis of butter, milk, and other adulterated articles coming to you under the Sale of Food and Drugs’ Act, together if you so desire, with reference to the mcthods you USC for the analysis of those samples.The Society decided to request you to favour them by reading this paper because they considered that i t is undesirable that public analysts and yourselves, both acting under the authority of an Act of Parliament, should differ either in the interpretation of the Act or in the intcrpretationof the results obtained in analysesmade under the Act.We are directed to say that if you assent to this proposition we will place the entire evening on the 20th February a t your disposal, and give you and those of your assistants whom you may choose to call every opportunity for reply, or if you prefer it we will call a Special Meeting upon any date that may be convenient to you, and that does not clash with the Meetings of other Societies.It Beems hardly necessary for us to add that personally Ti‘e hope you will assent, and so enable a fair discussion to take place on those specially disputed subjects-Milk and Butter. We are, dear Sir, yours truly, CHAS.HEISCH, Honors?-y ( ~ i y * e d ) G. w. WIGSER, } fiecretaries. J. BELL, Esq,, Principal, Laboratory, Somerset House. 79, GREAT TOWER STREET, LONDON, E.C., 28th January, 1878. MY DEAR SiR,-I shall be glad if sou can let me have an answ’er by return to our letter of 20th, in reference to the Society of Public Analysts, as I want to announce the business for next meeting in the forthcoming Analyst.-Yours truly, (Signed) G.W. WIGNER, J. BELL, Esq., Laboratory, Somerset House. LABORATORY, SOMERSET HOUSF, LONDON, W.C., 30th Janzcary, 1878. DEAR SIR,.--I duly received your note of the 29th inst., and also that of yourself and Mr. Heisch of the 20th inst., inviting me on behalf of the Society of Public Analysts to read a paper on Milk and Butter before that Society, and to discuss certain standards of purity as adopted by its members and by ourselves. After careful consideration it appears to me that the object you have in view would not be likely to be attained by the course proposed, but I shall bc pleased to see you and Mr.Heisch a t any time to talk over the matter. I may add that you are doubtless aware that in dealing with such samples as Milk and Butter, we have been guided by the results of our own invcstigations into the variations in their composition, and that these results have a t all timcs been open to the inspection of any Public Analyst who has chosen to call upon me ; and I may further say that I shall be glad to see any member of your Society who may feel disposed to favor me with a visit.1 am, dear Sir, yows truly, G. W. WIGNER, Esq. (Signed,) J. BELL.224 THE ANALYST. SOCIETK OF PUBLIC ANALYSTS, 79, GR~AT TOWER STREET, LONDON, 12th JCebrzrary, 1878. DEAR SIR,-We are obliged by your letter of the 30th January, replying to ours of the 20th January, but, as you will have seen from our letter, that it was written by direction of this Society, and your reply will, consequently, have to be submitted to them and published, we think it only courteous to write to you aTain on the matter, because we fear that, to some extent, you must have misunderstood the wish of this Society.On referring to our letter, and also to the copy of the resolution passed by the Society, which we enclose, you will see that our object is to ascertain the standards which you aud your assistants have adopted, i n dealing with disputed cases under the adulteration Act-having special reference to butter and milk, Now, as at present, we, as a Society, as well as individually as analysts, are completely ignorant of the standards, and of the allowances you make for decomposition, we think you will admit that there is scarcely any more suitable mode of our acquiring the information which we need, than to ask you to favour us with a paper, stating what your standards are. There are, no doubt, differences between US, but we have no means of judging, either the amount of those differences, or what the reason for them is, and we really think that such a discussion as we propose would afford the opportunity of settling the point.Probably the question resolves itself in the matter into this-Were the cows which you have accepted as standards healthy and thoroughly milked, and does your method of analysis differ from that adopted by this Society ? Can you not see your way clear to give us the paper yet ? Yours truly, CHAS. HEISCH, (sig’ea,) G. W. WIGNER, Uonornry Secretaries. P.S.-Your reply by the 19th instant will be in time for our Council Meeting, J.BELL, Esq., Principal, Laboratory, Somerset House. INLAND REVENU~, SOMERSET HOUSE, LONDON, W.C. 18th Yebmary, 1878. SIR,-Mr. Bell having laid your letters of 22nd ultimo and subsequent dates before the Board, without whose leave he would not feel justified in attending the proposed meeting of the Society of Public Analysts, I am instructed to acquaint you that the Board do not think it expedient that Mr.Bell should attend the meeting i n question. I am Sir, your obedient Servant, (Signed) ADAM YOUNG, CBAS. HEJSCH, Esq. Secretary. SOCIETY OF PUBLIC ANALYBTS, 79, GREAT TOWER STREET, LONDON, 21st February, lS78. Sm,-We are directed by the Council of this Society to acknowledge the receipt of your com- munication of the 18th inst. Your obedient Servants, CHAS. HEISCH, G. W. WIGNER, ADAM YOUNG, Esq., Honorary Secretaries. Secretary, Inland Revenue Department, Somerset House. Mr. A. Wynter Blyth has obtained from the Royal Society a Government Grant of $20 for continuation of research with reference t o the poison of the Cobra de Capello, and we hope shortly t o be able to publish another paper by him 01; the subject supple- mentary to that which appeared in our first vol.