THE JOURNAlv OF PHARMACOLOGY. 251 



risen on its crest, also^ washed on shore much rubliish of a pseudo-scien- 

 tific sort. 



Are we not daily worried with samples, and with advertisements 

 and circulars from eagerly competing firms, announcing new drugs or 

 novel combinations, which, perhaps, are used chiefly by those who do 

 not know how to employ the old ones. Scarcely are they advertised 

 once before they are ell:)Owed away by importunate new-comers. 



The advertisement is headed with an enigmatical name standing 

 over an appalling chemical formula, and i^robably ornamented with a 

 structural or graphic diagram. All this is backed up by a plausible 

 show of original experimental work, and ends with a "full literature." 

 In a pamphlet lately issued about some new-fangled preparations of 

 iron, 62 literary references were appended, and a well-known and reput- 

 able drug firm advertised in a recent number of the British Medical Jour- 

 nal more than 20 of its special preparations, some of which probably 

 most of us never heard of. And not only are we plagued with innumer- 

 able circulars which choke our waste paper baskets, but we are tor- 

 mented during our consulting hours at home by the visits of smooth- 

 tongued touting agents of many of the large firms. 



This most objectionable practice is on the increase. It should, in 

 my humble opinion, be stamped out by the medical profession, and I 

 avail myself of this public opportunity to protest against it. 



For some time past I have made it an invariable rule, and given 

 directions accordingly, that I will not receive or interview the agent or 

 representative of any drug firm, no matter how famous. If by chance 

 or sheer audacity one of these gentry does find his way into my consult- 

 ing room he very speedily finds his way out again. 



With such thoughts in our mind, ought we not barken to the admo- 

 nition of St. Paul, and "henceforth be no more children, tossed to and 

 frb, and carried about with every wind of doctrine." 



Agar-=Agar and its Preparation for Bacteriological Purposes. 



By W. W. Alleger. 



The preparation of agar by the older methods is well known to be 

 a tedious operation, which consumes much valuable time. The 

 product obtained is seldom, if ever, quite transparent ; while not in- 

 frequently troublesome precipitates which not only mar the appearance 

 of the medium but render it unsuitable for the finer classes of work, 

 develop after sterilization. 



