106 
THE AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY. 
would have exercised some judgment, and have rigged up a wind sail, so that 
the hold might have been ventilated before Mr. Morris and his assistants 
went into the marine pit of Tophet. As it is, three gallant fellows have lost 
their lives. 
It is proposed by the Council of the Auckland University to open half a 
medical school here — that is to say, provide a two-years* course, so that a student 
shall be able to work up his anatomy and physiology for the “ first” college. 
Of coarse, many people will say “half a loaf is better that none,*' but the 
thinking section of the community are of opinion that it will be better to expend 
any available funds in making the departments of teaching already open more 
complete in the way of equipment than they are at present. The appliances 
that the professors at present have are far from perfect, the lecture theatre is 
little better than a crazy old barn, and the laboratory leaves much to be desired. 
Mr. Lamonte, who, no doubt, the Australians know well by repute, arrived 
here by the mail steamer from Sydney on the 2nd, and has now gone up to the 
Thames to superintend the starting of one of his smelting furnaces, which was 
“ blown into * at 8 o’clock this morning. The telegram says that the stone 
which is to be put through varies in value from £9 to £90 per ton. It is to 
be hoped that the venture may be a success, for just at present there is some 
commercial depression is New Zealand. 
The third Wednesday in next month is the day fixed for holding the 
examination of the Pharmacy Board. It is extremely problematical if many 
students will present themselves. The summer has been exceptionally hot and 
trying, and it is scarcely reasonable to expect young men after a tiresome day’s 
business to take up the B.P., or Attfield, or some other text book, and “ grind” 
a couple of hours before going to bed. 
A death from accidental poisoning by morphia is reported from Green 
Island, the victim of the mishap being a chemist. Green Island is a small 
township in Otago, five miles south by rail from Dunedin, with three hotels and 
two churches, the district being surrounded by coal or lignite pits. 
The election of the licensing committees has just concluded, and the U.K. 
alliance have not scored an absolute victory, as they did last year. This, perhaps, 
is a matter for regret, for the only possible way the teetotal “fad” can be 
cured is for the regime of the temperance committees to become so irksome that 
the people will not tolerate it. The real blot in the administration of the 
Licensing Act is that public-houses are allowed to have screens placed before 
the bars, and cunningly arranged private doors by which the confirmed tippler 
can slip in and remain in unseen. Repressive legislation will never cure drunken- 
ness, but add another vice to the one already existing — viz., deception. Again — 
and here is where it is likely to affect the pharmacist — -it may drive the alcoholist 
to the druggist’s shop, although, as a matter of fact, the “ tone” through the whole 
of the trade is such that very few, if any, pharmacists would willingly lend them- 
selves to pandering to the craving for drink. 
A death occurred in Auckland the other day which illustrates how needful it 
is to be particularly careful in the self-administration of powerful drugs. A 
Dr. Huxtable, who had recently returned from Europe, was — so the evidence 
goes to show— troubled with insomnia. One night last week, being unable to 
sleep, he left his bedroom, taking a pillow with him, and went downstairs 
into the dining-room, intending, apparently, to inhale a small quantity of 
chloroform, which he was in the habit of doing, and so 'obtain sleep. Mrs. 
Huxtable, knowing her husband’s custom, felt no uneasiness in the matter. 
The following morning the servant, finding the door of the dining-room locked 
from the inside, called the doctor’s wife, and the door was forced. The doctor 
