156 
THE AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY. 
The trial of Mr. Am Ende, of New Jersey, whose mistake in dispensing 
morphine for quinine resulted in the death of two young ladies, has terminated 
in an acquittal on the ground that there was no criminal negligence. The 
evidence was, however, very instructive as to the worthlessness of merely 
mechanical safeguards alone. It appears that the bottle from which the 
morphine was taken bore two red poison labels. But the druggist, whilst 
dispensing the prescription, was also engaged in carrying on a conversation 
with the prescriber as to the relative value of grams and grains and other 
subjects, and, as he himself admitted, he had only a vague recollection of 
putting up a bottle on the shelf and pushing it against the wall, but did not 
remember taking it down at all. 
A somewhat sensational statement was made by Dr. Dujardin-Beaumetz 
at the meeting of the French Academy, on the 27th of January, respecting a 
substance that has been supplied under the name of “ hopeine,” and represented 
to be a narcotic principle extracted from the hop. Dr. Beaumetz said that, 
being desirous of experimenting with the new remedy, he obtained a supply, 
taking care to ensure its authenticity, but found that the sample presented all 
the characteristics of morphine, differing only in odour. He concluded his 
statement by putting forward in explanation three alternative hypotheses— that 
“hopeine” presents the same reactions as morphine, or that the wild hop of 
America contains morphine, or that under the name of “hopeine" foreign 
druggists are sending into France morphine to which the aroma of the hop 
has been imparted. Dr. Beaumetz himself thinks the last hypothesis is the 
most probable. 
We have received a copy of the Calendar of the Pharmaceutical Society 
of Ireland, from which we learn that the Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists 
now includes 275 names, 24 having been added during 1885. The Society 
itself numbers 71 members, 16 of whom are original members named in the 
Act of 1875 as first constituting the Society. 
A New Metalloid. — The discovery of a new non-metallic element is 
announced by Herr C. Winkler, for which the name “ germanium ” is proposed. 
The new metalloid is said to have been found in a mineral from Freiberg, known 
as “ argyrodite,” rich in silver. 
Proportion of Pharmacists to Population. — A Philadelphia specialist 
gives the following table designed to show the proportion of pharmacists to the 
population in different countries : — United States, one pharmacist to every 1810 
persons ; Canada, one pharmacist to every 2425 ; England, one pharmacist to 
every 4510 ; Italy, one pharmacist to every 2500 ; Austria, one pharmacist to every 
17,000 ; Hungary, one pharmacist to every 14,500 ; Prussia, one pharmacist to 
every 9360 ; Switzerland, one pharmacist to every 7800 ; France, one pharmacist 
to every 6300 ; Holland, one pharmacist to every 4590. 
Mr. J. D. Allmann, associate of the Pharmaceutical Society, London, states 
that eucalyptus oil (E. globulus) is far less irritant and poisonous than carbolic 
acid, which it has to a great extent replaced as a surgical dressing. Mixed 
with iodoform it can be employed in veterinary surgery with manifest advan- 
tage. Not only do these two agents render the discharge pure as they come 
in contact with the dressing, but, owing to the great volatility of the two 
combined, keep the affected part continually bathed with antiseptic vapour. Mr. 
Allmann prepared a gauze saturated with 10 per cent, of iodoform and 20 per 
