390 
THE AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY. 
At Ballarat a plumber named Sinclair Faulkner attempted to commit suicide 
by taking an overdose (loz.) of chlorodyne. 
A woman named Robinson, who was recently arrested at Somerville, 
Massachusetts, for poisoning her son, is now suspected of having murdered 100 
persons by the same means during the last four years. Many of them are 
stated to have met their death by poisoned eatables, of which they partook at 
a church festival. 
Joseph Ovendon, of H.M.C.S. Nelson, died on Wednesday, the 6th October, 
from the effects of carbolic acid, which he had swallowed, mistaking it for beer. 
It appears he had some beer in a bottle, and an equal quantity of carbolic acid 
in another bottle in his cabin, and during Tuesday he drank a portion of the 
acid in mistake for the beer. He at once informed the ship's chemist, who 
immediately administered an emetic ; but he gradually became unconscious, and 
died, in spite of the efforts of a doctor, who had been summoned. An inquest 
was held on the same day before Hr. Youl, and a verdict returned in accordance 
with the foregoing particulars. 
A London contemporary gives the particulars of a very sad case, in which 
a chemist, Mr. Jones, of Finsbury Pavement, administered carbolic acid in 
mistake for solution of bismuth, the patient dying a few minutes afterwards. 
Mr. Jones, who has been in business for himself for 22 years, stated in 
evidence that it was his intention to give the following draught -.—Solution of 
bismuth, 5j. to 5iss. ; bicarbonate of soda, 5ss. ; aromatic spirit of ammonia, 
3ss. ; water, to 2 oz. By accident he had used the bottle containing carbolic 
acid instead of the one containing solution of bismuth. The bottles, which 
were produced at the inquest, were both of the same size and shape, but the 
carbolic acid bottle had a glass stopper, while the bismuth solution had a 
cork. Mr. Jones stated that he could not explain how he made the mistake. 
He kept both bottles in one cupboard, separated by another bottle, and they 
had got transposed. He generally read the labels on his bottles before 
dispensing, but used the different bottles by intuition. The medical evidence, 
however, favoured the view that the sudden death was due more to fatty 
degeneration of the heart than to the carbolic acid. Mr. Jones was cautioned 
by the coroner, and expressed his bitter regret for the accident. 
t (DrirjimTt mtfr 
Sticky Fly-papee. — Resin in clean pieces, 4 troy oz. ; castor oil, 2 fl. oz. 
Melt together by means of a water-bath, and spread on sized paper. Sized paper 
must be used, or the oil will produce the characteristic transparent stain of fixed 
oils. If glucose, mixed with dextrine, is added to attract the flies, the paper 
should be paraffined. The following has also been highly recommended : — Resin, 
10 parts ; gum thus, 5 parts ; linseed oil, 7 parts. Dissolve by aid of a gentle 
heat, and apply as directed above. — National Druggist . 
Bay Rum. — Take 2 pounds of leaves of the Myrtus acris , ^ pound cardamoms, 
2 ounces cassia, 1J ounce cloves, and 9 quarts rum. Distil 1^ gallon. Bay rum 
may be coloured with tincture of saffron or with a mixture of equal parts 
caramel and tincture of turmeric. — Druggist's Journ. 
Perfumes foe Cold Ceeam. — 1. Coumarin, 0'05 (4-5 grain) ; oil of rose, 1*5 
(25 grains) ; oil neroli, 0*5 (7 grains) ; oil rose geranium, 5 drops ; oil ylang, 2 
drops ; oil orris, 1 drop ; tinct. ambergris (1:10), 3 drops. 2. Coumarin, 0*05 (4-5 
