May 17, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



387 



Forty-three samples of medicinal distilled liquors were examined, 

 of which six answered to the tests given in the pharmacopoeia and 

 dispensatory, and thirty-seven were inferior. These distilled 

 liquors were all purchased at drug-stores, and the dealer was pre- 

 sumed to know that they were intended for medicinal use. The- 

 price paid varied from the rate of four dollars to twenty dollars a 

 gallon, yet this was not indicative of the quality. 



The pharmacopoeia defines brandy to be "an alcoholic liquid ob- 

 tained by the distillation of fermented grapes, and at least four 

 years old." It shall contain from 36 to 47 per cent, by weight, of 

 alcohol, shall not contain any fusel-oil, nor shall the residue ob- 

 tained by evaporation exceed 0.25 per cent. There should be no 

 evidence that sugar or glycerine has been added, and it should 

 contain a slight amount of tannin derived from the casks. None 

 of the samples answered to these tests, and there was no proof 

 that the article was of the proper age. 



The difficulty of obtaining pure brandy of a proper age for medi- 

 cinal use is very great. This is especially true of the imported 

 article ; while that made in California is, as a rule, of inferior 

 ■quality, and not sufficiently aged and bland to be used in cases of 

 illness. The following statement, made in the " United States 

 Consular Reports," November, 1887, p. 333, is interesting in this 

 ■connection : — 



" The term ' brandy ' seems to be no longer applied to a spirit 

 produced by the fermentation of grapes, but to a complex mixture, 

 the alcohol of which is derived from grain, potatoes, or, worst of 

 ■all, the refuse of the beet-root refineries. It would seem to be 

 fairly impossible at present to purchase a pure cognac. As each 

 individual proprietor of a vineyard has become a distiller and com- 

 pounder, he has acquired the art of imitating any special flavor 

 ■or vintage of brandy that may be called for. Potato spirits and 

 beet alcohols, the most deleterious and obnoxious of all the varie- 

 ties of spirits, are sent from Germany into France in vast quantities. 

 They are flavored, colored, and branded or labelled to meet the 

 wishes of American connoisseurs. The mere fact of coming out 

 ■of bond, or ' straight through the custom-house," is generally ac- 

 cepted here as sufficient evidence that they are pure and genuine. 

 It is rather unfortunate that physicians themselves frequently 

 strengthen this hallucination in favor of imported spirits by giving 

 the most stringent orders to their patients to procure genuine 

 French cognac, even though it may command tenfold the price of 

 an absolutely pure spirit of domestic production. This imperative 

 command becomes a cruel injustice in the case of poor patients. 

 Under the best of circumstances, what is there to be gained by 

 the use of French brandy in preference to pure domestic spirit ? " 



And, it may be added to this statement, if alcoholic stimulants 

 -are to be prescribed by the physician, let him first ascertain the 

 source of the sample, and acquaint himself with the quality, origin, 

 -and ingredients. The alcoholic strength in the samples analyzed 

 varied from 37 to 47 per cent of alcohol by weight. Of the 15 

 samples of whiskey examined, 3 were equal to the requirements of 

 the pharmacopoeia. That authority defines this spirit as follows : 

 " An alcoholic liquid, obtained by the distillation of fermented 

 :grain, generally corn, wheat, or rye, and at least two years old." 

 Its alcoholic strength should be between 44 and 50 per cent by 

 weight. It should contain no fusel-oil, not more than 0.25 per 

 ■cent of residue on evaporation, and traces of tannin from the 

 -casks. The object sought by this description is to insure a prop- 

 erly made and aged liquor, and one without irritant or acrid prop- 

 •erties. 



The same objections to the use of impure or badly made whiskey 

 obtain as were mentioned above, and physicians should not pre- 

 scribe for use in cases of sickness a stimulant that fails to meet the 

 pharmacopoeial tests. The alcoholic strength of the samples ex- 

 amined varied from 34 to 48 per cent of alcohol by weight. 



Of 42 samples of laudanum examined, only 8 were up to the 

 standard. Dr. Newton's investigation revealed many important 

 facts concerning the prevalence of the opium habit, and he was 

 surprised to learn the amount of this potent drug, and its tincture, 

 that is sold at country grocery-stores; but that the consumption 

 ■of this article is great, and increasing, was no surprise when he 

 -ascertained how easily the article could be obtained, notwithstand- 

 ing the State law that bottles containing the tincture should be 



labelled, and not disposed of to irresponsible persons. He sug- 

 gests that some action be taken that will check the sale of opium 

 and its preparations to irresponsible persons, or without an order 

 from a physician. 



The report contains, in addition, an exhaustive inquiry into the 

 baking-powders used in the State, which we shall notice at another 

 time, and a list of decisions by the Supreme Court on the oleo- 

 margarine law. 



Residents of New Jersey may congratulate themselves on having 

 so capable and watchful an officer as Dr. Newton at the head of 

 this important department, and we regret that the same congratu- 

 lations cannot be extended to the residents of many other States in 

 the Union. 



GOULD'S ORNITHOLOGICAL WORKS. 



Messrs. Henry Sotheran & Co., of London and Manchester, 

 having purchased from the executors of the late naturalist, Mr. John 

 Gould, F.R.S., F.Z.S., the whole stock, lithographic drawings, 

 copyright interests, etc., of his various works on natural history, 

 announce the completion of this grand series of ornithological 

 works by the publication of the twenty-fifth part of "The Birds of 

 New Guinea and the Adjacent Papuan Islands." This series, com- 

 prising forty-three volumes, uniformly printed in imperial folio size, 

 is now offered complete for one thousand pounds net. 



A short biographical sketch of Mr. Gould appeared in Nature 

 some time ago, from which it appears that John Gould was born at 

 Lyme, in Dorsetshire, in 1804, and in early life passed several years 

 under the care of the late Mr. J. T. Alton, of the Royal Gardens at 

 Windsor. In the year 1827 he went to London, and became taxi- 

 dermist to the Zoological Society's museum, where he had the good 

 fortune to obtain the intimate friendship of Mr. N. A. Vigors, then 

 one of the leading English naturalists ; and through him John 

 Gould received his first opportunity of appearing as an author. So 

 rare were Himalayan birds in those days, that a small collection 

 was thought worthy of description by Mr. Vigors in the " Proceed- 

 ings of the Zoological Society," and the figuring of these specimens 

 was commenced by Mr. Gould under the title of "A Century of 

 Birds from the Himalayan Mountains." By this time, however, an 

 event had taken place which had an influence on the whole of his 

 later life ; viz., his marriage with Miss Coxen, the daughter of Mr. 

 Nicholas Coxen of Kent. Besides her other accomplishments, Mrs. 

 Gould was an admirable draughtswoman, and from her husband's 

 sketches she transferred to stone the figures of the above-named 

 work. Its success was so great that in 1832 the " Birds of Eu- 

 rope " was commenced, and finished in five large folio volumes in 

 1837 ; while simultaneously, in 1834, he issued " A Monograph of 

 the Rhamphastida;, or Family of Toucans," and, in 1838, "A 

 Monograph of the Trogonidse, or Family of Trogons." To the 

 last he maintained his love for these birds, and one of his most re- 

 cently finished works was a second edition of the last-mentioned 

 monograph. It is a curious fact, that, when John Gould proposed 

 to publish his first work, he applied to several of the leading firms 

 in London, and not one of them would undertake to bring it out ; 

 so that it was only with reluctance that he began to issue the work 

 on his own account. Besides these larger publications, he had de- 

 scribed the birds collected during the voyage of the " Beagle " by 

 his friend Mr. Darwin, and had contributed papers on other sub- 

 jects to the Zoological Society's publications. 



We now come to what is considered the most striking incident 

 in Mr. Gould's life, — one unsurpassed in its effects in the annals 

 of ornithology. Beyond a few scattered descriptions by some of 

 the older authors, and an account of the Australian birds in the 

 museum of the Linnaean Society by Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield, 

 the birds of Australasia were very little known at the date men- 

 tioned. Accompanied, therefore, by his devoted wife, Mr. Gould 

 proceeded in 1 83S to study Australian birds in their own home; 

 and he personally explored Tasmania, the islands in Bass's Straits, 

 South Australia, and New South Wales, travelling four hundred 

 miles into the interior of the latter country. This voyage, specially 

 undertaken for the purpose of obtaining an exact knowledge of 

 Australian birds, must ever be reckoned as a distinct scientific 

 achievement ; and the accounts of the habits of some of the more 



