2H4 INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1862. 



1861. arrive in good condition ; the great enemy to be guarded against 

 Suggestions being humidity, which occasions specimens to become mouldy. 

 ^ sent ^ rom a ^ roa( ^ arr angements should be made for examin- 

 ing them upon their reaching London, for rejecting any that have 

 become spoiled, and placing such as are in a state for exhibition 

 in suitable jars or cases. Every parcel should be labelled in the 

 fullest and clearest manner, and each series of specimens should 

 be accompanied by a list, giving fuller particulars than can be 

 stated on a wrapper. In the case of a drug that is but little 

 known, it is desirable to have the native name, and the scientific 

 name also, whenever the latter can be given upon undoubtedly 

 good authority. As a general rule, the economic product is the 

 only part of a plant which it is needful to exhibit, but there 

 are cases in which it would be extremely desirable to procure 

 such specimens as would illustrate the origin of such product, 

 and the method of obtaining it. Thus Balsam of Tolu, a pro- 

 duction of New Granada, would be vastly more interesting if 

 accompanied by pressed and dried specimens of the tree (now 

 almost unknown) from which it is derived ; and the same remark 

 applies to sarsaparilla, to myrrh, to gamboge, to olibanum, and to 

 numerous other drugs. 



In the Paris Exhibition of 1855 there was a large collection 

 of drugs from India, but unfortunately it was very ill-arranged. 

 Many products, in fact, were never made accessible for exhibition 

 at all, and could only be examined upon leave being obtained to 

 open the bags containing them. Some specimens were placed 

 in stoneware bottles, so that inspection was out of the question ; 

 while a vast number from Ceylon and from Java, Sumatra, and 

 other islands of the Indian Archipelago, were destitute of in- 

 telligible labels, and wholly unarranged. It was also remark- 

 able that the pharmaceutical raw products of some important 

 countries were entirely unrepresented ; and that while there 

 were admirable collections from French colonies, such as Pondi- 

 cherry and Bourbon, and from some of our own colonies, as 

 Jamaica and Demerara, almost nothing was contributed by 

 Brazil, our settlements in China, our possessions on the West 

 Coast of Africa, or the Island of Trinidad. 



