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THE AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY. 
The Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions of 15th May has a compli- 
mentary notice of Messrs. Dupre and Hake’s “ Short Manual of Chemistry.” It 
says : — “ The information is concisely given, but is very thorough, and the book 
is one of the best manuals of chemistry with which we are acquainted ; whilst 
its completeness, and a good index, constitute it a not insignificant work of 
reference.” The same paper also commends “ A Practical Introduction to 
Chemistry,” by W. A. Shenstone, a work of a more elementary, but very 
valuable, character.” 
In its report of a pharmaceutical meeting recently held at Philadelphia, the 
American Journal of Pharmacy writes: — “Professor Maisch called attention to 
lanolin , the fat prepared from suint, the soap obtained by washing sheep’s wool. 
The specimen was made by Messrs. T. Metcalf and Co., of Boston, and labelled 
Agnine , as a registered trade mark. The very rank odour which adheres to it 
very persistently is unfortunate, but the speedy absorption of the fat when 
rubbed upon the skin, and the entire disappearance of the odour as soon as the 
grease is absorbed, are quite noteworthy. A number of experiments have been 
made to remove the odour and dark colour. One specimen had been digested 
with charcoal for two months ; another had been treated with peroxide of hydrogen, 
which had removed its odour very greatly, but it seems desirable to free it 
entirely from both odour and colour.” 
Sozolic acid (C 6 H^ OH-l S0 2 OH) — one of the phenyl- sulphurous acids— 
is, writes “Paracelsus,” in the British and Colonial Druggist , to be the antiseptic 
of the future, according to a communication made to the French AcadSmie des 
Sciences by M. Serant. It is not poisonous — in small quantities, I presume, is 
meant — but is very easily eliminated from the system, and is very soluble in 
water. Moreover, neither carbolic nor salicylic acids nor eucalyptole approach 
it in point of efficacy as an antizyme. Let us hope so. 
According to the Maryland (U.S.) Med . Jour., the proposed Medical Bill 
for that State, based upon those of Illinois and West Virginia, will probably not 
pass the Legislature, since the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland has 
reconsidered its endorsement and withdrawn its approval, on account of the 
homoeopathic element on the proposed board. 
The Abuse of Narcotics. — Scarcely a week passes (writes the Lancet) 
without some sad proof of the folly of a reckless or insufficiently careful use of 
narcotics. It is almost to be regretted that so many agents capable of producing 
mimic, or poisoned, sleep are known to the profession and to the public. It is 
now the exception, instead of the rule, to find a man or woman of middle age 
who is not more or less addicted to the abuse of morphia, chloral, bromide of 
potassium, or some one of the many sleep-inducers or pain-relievers which the 
nineteenth century has distinguished itself by evolving for the care and comfort 
of our less enduring and increasingly sensitive and excitable humanity. It is 
nothing to the purpose that the deleterious effects of these potent drugs, when 
taken habitually, even in small quantities, have been again and again exposed. 
Practitioners have, as we do not scruple to insist in and out of season, much 
responsibility for the growing fashion of taking narcotics or anodynes by mouth 
or hypodermically. It is so pleasantly facile to prescribe a remedy which is 
sure to give present relief, whatever may happen in the future; and those who 
have learnt to purchase unconsciousness or ease at what seems to be a very 
small price are only too ready to renew the experience when any fresh cause 
of sleeplessness or pain arises. Sooner or later some strong measure will need 
to be taken with the view of arresting this really serious “ habit ” of taking 
sedatives, which is extending its influence and gaining strength year by year. 
Meanwhile, we do very earnestly counsel our readers to refrain from having 
