THE AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY. 247 
Moutnalz* 
The Pharmaceutical Journal states tliat on the Continent the word 
“Trinctrine” has been adopted in prescriptions as a synonym for nitro-glycerine, 
in order that in unusually legible prescriptions the patient may not be alarmed 
by reading the word nitro-glycerine. 
The American papers report some recent poisoning cases, in which fatal 
results are alleged to have occurred from carbolic acid, chlorate of potassium, 
and chloral hydrate, with bromide of potassium, respectively. The first is that 
of Dr. J . H. Gleason, a physician lately of considerable repute in Cleveland, 
Ohio, who entered a drug store for his usual “dram,” and seeing two graduated 
measures on the prescription counter containing whisky, as he thought, took up 
one and swallowed the contents. He had taken by mistake a fluid ounce of 
carbolic acid, and, in spite of attempted remedial measures, died in great agony 
in less than a quarter of an hour. 
A Child Poisoned by its JNukse’s Cosmetic. — A German practitioner being 
called to see a child of five weeks old who was continually crying and suffering 
from colic, and whose skin was of a dull bluish tint, was somewhat puzzled as 
to diagnosis, until looking at the nurse’s face, and seeing it of a brilliant 
white and red tint, he touched the surface, which left a greasy stain on his 
finger of a cosmetic rich in lead. This poisonous substance the nurse had long 
been in the habit of using for the purpose of improving her complexion. The 
cause of the child’s colic being removed, and appropriate treatment adopted, a 
cure was effected in a few days. 
The American Druggist warns its readers against adopting lanolin as a basis 
for those ointments which are not intended to be absorbed by the skin. Where 
the constitutional effects of a drug are required, as, for instance, in the case 
of metallic mercury, lanolin is strongly recommended, but its use in association 
with Pulvis Arsenicalis Cosmi, red oxide of mercury, nitrate of silver, pygro- 
gallic acid, white precipitate, or naphthol is strongly urged against. 
In the Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions of 8th May, a corres- 
pondent signing himself “John” writes:— “In the new Pharmacopoeia the 
formula for zinc ointment gives no directions for levigating the oxide before 
adding to it the melted lard. By rubbing the oxide into a smooth paste with 
olive oil — about half an ounce of oil to each ounce of zinc — and then pouring 
in the melted lard, you get an ointment a little softer than the B.P. 
preparation, but beautifully smooth. I should like to know if it is possible to 
produce a presentable ointment by following the directions of the Pharma- 
copoeia.” In the succeeding number of the paper quoted, “R. J. D.” replies to 
the above : — “ I have certainly been able to make a presentable ointment, 
following the B.P. directions, by first putting the oxide into an extemporised 
muslin bag, and sifting it on to the melted lard while stirring it.” 
A law case of considerable interest to physicians and chemists is reported 
in the Amer. Jour. Pharm . for May. Frank E. Engelman, the proprietor of a 
nostrum (snuffene) for the cure of hay fever, sued Dr. Carl Sieler, of the 
University of Pennsylvania, for damages alleged to have been sustained on 
account of a lecture delivered before the alumni of the Philadelphia College of 
Pharmacy, in which he advised his hearers not to use the article manufactured 
by Mr. Engelman, of which he spoke in somewhat contemptuous terms. The 
court affirmed the defendant’s right to lecture upon and express his opinions of 
the “ medicine,” and, as there was no evidence to show that he was actuated by 
spiteful motives, felt compelled to direct the jury to return a verdict for the 
defendant. 
