194 
THE AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY. 
The Government of India have offered a reward of 5000 rupees to the inventor 
or discoverer of a satisfactory process for rendering salt unfit for human con- 
sumption, while leaving it fit for use by cattle, or for manure, or industrial 
purposes. 
Says a London contemporary : — “ The following is a copy of a f sign of the 
times,’ which has recently appeared on the front of an old-established business, in 
a district where there is one chemist to every three lamp-posts : — ‘ Wholesale and 
Hetail Dispensing and Patent Medicine Drug Store. Prescriptions dispensed at 
reduced rates. Patent medicines, perfumery, etc., at reduced rates.’ ” 
mtN JMixgixtzriaL 
In March last a coronial inquiry was held at .Nottingham, England, touching 
the death of two children, which was found to have resulted from taking a cough 
mixture. Two other children had also been seriously ill from the same cause. 
Mr. Wakefield, the chemist who had supplied the medicine, said the coroner, 
“had done everything he could to facilitate the inquiry. He had given every 
assistance in furnishing the materials with which he had made the mixture, and 
he (the coroner) did not know that any man could have done more.” The 
prescription contained the following ingredients : — Syrup of violets, syrup of squill, 
ipecacuanha wine, and oil of sweet almonds. The medical witnesses could only 
ascribe the peculiar symptoms which had appeared in the children (intermittent 
pulse and interference with the action of the heart) to one of two preparations — 
digitalis or common foxglove, or syrup of squill. Mr. Wakefield had obtained 
the syrup from a wholesale druggist in the form of vinegar, and had added to it 
a proportion of syrup or sugar. Said the coroner, the outside of the sea onion, 
from which the syrup of squill is obtained, is stronger than that extracted from 
the interior; and “they were brought face to face with the fact that there was 
no standard of strength” for the article in question which had produced such 
poisonous results. The coroner expressed an opinion that a standard of strength 
should be at once established. One of the medical witnesses stated that, although 
squill was very commonly used as a medicine for coughs, it was distinctly unfit 
for the purpose, as it was cumulative in its action, and increased with every dose. 
A verdict of “Death by misadventure” was returned, and the coroner entirely 
exonerated Mr. Wakefield, while reiterating his opinion that syrup of squill was 
an unsafe medicine for children, in consequence of there being no standard of 
strength for it. 
At the Collingwood Police Court, on the 30th April, John Thomas Stevens, 
a milk carter, was summoned for refusing to supply Mr. Peacock, the sanitary 
inspector, with samples of the milk he had in his cart. The defendant was 
fined 40s., with £2 2s. costs. Arthur Wilson was also summoned for selling 
adulterated milk. It was purchased as skimmed milk, but it was discovered 
that 25 per cent, of water had been added, and that the fatty solids were 82 
per cent, less than in genuine milk. The defendant was fined £5, with £3 
3s. costs. 
At the Central Criminal Court, on 30th April, James William Stewart, 
formerly a dispenser at the Benevolent Asylum, pleaded guilty to a charge of 
bigamy. He was married on 8th August, 1883, to one Hester Walker, and 
on 6th January last, while his wife was alive, he married Mary Elizabeth Still, 
niece of Mr. D. G. Stobie, superintendent of the Benevolent Asylum, under whom 
he was employed. Mr. Purves, who appeared on behalf of the accused, 
appealed to the court to temper justice with mercy on account of the prisoner’s 
previous good character. The prisoner was sentenced to six months’ hard labour. 
