November, 1880. 
THE CHEMIST AND DRUGGIST. 
55 
A WORD FOR THE PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY. 
To the Editor of The Australasian Supplement to the Chemist 
and Druggist. 
Sir — T he present seems an opportune time to say a word to 
those pharmacists who have not yet joined our society. The 
senate of the University having declined to institute a chair 
of pharmacy, the entire responsibility of pharmaceutical 
education is thrown back upon ourselves. We must establish 
our own school ; this requires money and organisation. In the 
Pharmaceutical Society we have the latter ; to the whole body 
of chemists we must reasonably look for the former. Hitherto 
the “sinews of war” have been furnished by a section only, 
who have voluntarily borne the whole burden. It is not fair 
that this should continue. Since all are interested, each man 
should contribute. At home membership of the society is 
compelled by law ; but I hope better things of my brethren 
here than that an Act of Parliament will be needed to teach 
them their duty. I know there are those who are not satisfied 
with the society, but I would urge that the remedy is in their 
own hands. Let them join its ranks, and it will be what they 
make it; and I would further suggest that a better acquaint- 
ance would remove or modify some of the objections. It is 
often said — What is the good of all this education ? It neither 
puts money into our pockets, nor makes us more respected. 
Time will prove this statement to be unfounded. But, even if 
it were true, we cannot help it. We dare not stand still ; we 
cannot. The rest of the world is moving on, and, if we do 
not move with it, we shall be left behind. Every schoolboy 
will know more of chemistry, and botany, and of physical 
science generally, than did the chemists of a few years ago. 
When the mechanic calls science to his aid, the chemist dare 
not neglect it, if he values his reputation or his bread. The 
public will soon learn to discriminate between the educated 
pharmacist and the mere seller of drugs, and will bestow their 
patronage accordingly. I will not, however, further enlarge 
upon this theme; but, in conclusion, will re-state the facts: — 
The fiat has gone forth — we must be educated ; the Pharma- 
ceutical Society must undertake the work, and money is 
needed. This the chemists must supply. The question is — 
Will each man join the society, and so contribute his share, 
or must the willing horse do all the work. I trust, for our 
credit’s sake, “ that every man will do his duty.” — I am, yours 
truly, Alfred Owen. 
ffotcs anb Abstracts . 
Cloth, linen, paper, straw, &c., can be rendered fire proof 
(incombustible) by immersing them into a boiling solution of 
pure ammonium sulphate eight parts, ammonium carbonate 
2^ parts, boracic acid three parts, pure borax 1*7 parts, and starch 
two parts, in water 100 parts. —Pharm. Ztschr.f. Russl ., 15th 
Feb., 1880, p. 120. 
Concentrated tincture of insect powder (tinctura pyrethri 
florum concentrata) is highly recommended as an insecticide 
by Finzelberg, who prepares the tincture in the proportion of 
one part Persian insect powder to ten parts absolute alcohol, 
and claims that in order to prove efficient, it is necessary to 
scatter it by means of a perfume atomiser. When thus used 
in a closed room all flies soon drop dead, while scattering it 
over linen, &c., acts as a protection against fleas, &c. — Pharm, 
Centralh ., 1st April, 1880, p. 118. 
Grimault’s Indian hemp cigarettes are highly recommended 
for asthma, other affections of the breathing organs, and various 
other diseases, consist almost altogether, as the French manu- 
facturer claims, of Indian hemp and a litttle saltpetre, and are 
far superior to the ordinary remedies, which consist of the 
leaves of belladonna, of nicotina, or of paper — all impregnated 
with saltpetre, opium, or even arsenic. An analysis, made by 
Dr. H. Braun, proved, however, that Grimault’s cigarettes con- 
sist chiefly, in contradiction to the manufacturer’s statements, 
of belladonna leaves, contaminated (we might almost say) with 
a few fragments of cannabis, and of two other species of 
leaves, one of which greatly resembles the leaves of epilobium. 
— Ztschr . d. Allg . Oest. Apoth. Ver. , 10th April, 1880, p. 168. 
Cold Air Fruit Curing.— The California Mountain 
Messenger reports an interesting experiment in fruit curing 
lately made at a Placerville foundry. About a peck of sliced 
apples were placed in a sieve and subjected to a cold air blast 
for three and a-half hours in the cupola furnace of the foundry, 
and the fruit is reported to have been completely and beauti- 
fully cured by the treatment, remaining soft and without the 
slightest discolouration. The cured fruit showed none of the 
harsh, stiff dryness which results from hot curing, the cold 
blast completely freeing the fruit from excess of moisture, with 
no possibility of burning or shrivelling it. The Messenger 
says: — ‘‘Compared with our sun-drying, it effects a great 
saving of expense, attention, and risk. Anybody who can 
command or devise a strong blast of cold air, can dry fruit in 
a superior— we might say perfect — manner, without being de- 
pendent on the weather and waiting on the slow process of 
sun-drying, and without the most expensive resort to fuel and 
the risk of overheating.” 
The Greening of Preserved Vegetables— It is known 
that the green colour given to preserved vegetables is generally 
obtained by means of the salts of copper, the presence of which 
in preserves is both dangerous and fraudulent. M. Lecourt, a 
preserve manufacturer of Paris, and Professor Guillemare, of 
the Lycee of Rheims, have devised a new process for such 
colouration which is the subject of an interesting report 
addressed to the Consultative Committee of Public Hygiene of 
France by MM. Wurtz, Gavarre, and Bussy. This new process 
consists in adding to the vegetables employed a surcharge of 
chlorophyll, so that after the inevitable loss caused by boiling 
at 120 deg. Cent., they still retain sufficient to present the 
green colour of fresh vegetables. MM. Lecourt and Guille- 
mare obtain all the green colour thus utilised from table vege- 
tables, especially spinach, which contains a great quantity that 
is easily extracted. By an appropriate manipulation they 
obtain this green matter in solution in water alkalised by soda. 
The application of the colour is made thus : — The vegetables 
being plunged in boiling water, previously acidulated by 
chlorohydric acid, a suitable quantity of the solution of 
chlorophyll is turned into the water; by saturation of the soda, 
by means of chlorohydric acid, sea salt is produced, and the 
colouring matter is deposited in the organic tissue to increase 
the intensity of its proper colour. The vegetables thus treated 
are submitted to several washings before being enclosed in the 
vessels, in which they are to be submitted to the high tempera- 
ture necessary for their conservation. 
Palm Oil — That portion of the west coast of Africa which 
lies south of the River Volta furnishes the principal supplies 
of palm oil. Nearly 1,000,000 cvvt. of this oil are annually 
exported to Great Britain, of the value of 7,500,000 dols., 
its principal use being in the manufacture of soaps, per- 
fumery, candles, and similar articles. Among the natives it is 
highly valued, both for food (taking the place of butter), for 
lighting and cooking purposes, and for anointing the head and 
body. The so-called oil, which is rather a fatty substance, 
resembling butter in appearance, is obtained from the fruit of 
several species of palms, but especially from the one known 
botanically as Blais guineensis , which grows in abundance on 
the western coast of Africa, and from which it takes its specific 
name. So thickly do these trees grow, and so regular and 
rapid are their supplies of fruit, that in some localities where 
the regular collection of the produce is not practised the 
ground becomes covered with a thick deposit of the oily, fatty 
matter produced by the ripe berries. Deposits of palm oil, 
which may almost be called “ mines” of vegetable fat, exist in 
some parts of the Gold Coast, and which, if not in themselves 
worth working, at least practically illustrate the natural wealth 
of the country in such productions, and indicate its unde- 
veloped resources. These “ mines” would probably not repay the 
cost of exploration, as the palm oil is apt to become rancid 
and valueless for its general uses after long exposure, though 
for such purposes as candle making these deposits might still 
be valuable. — Colonies and India . 
NOTES ON NITRITE OF AMYL. 
(By James Mayne.) 
Amyl nitris, nitrite of amyl, amylo nitrous ether (C 6 
No. ? ), is an amber-coloured, very volatile liquid, of a pene- 
trating, peculiar odour, resembling that of ripe pears, the sp. 
gr.of the liquid being 0*877 ; of the vapour, 4*30 ; the boiling 
point is 205° F., but when perfectly dry it boils at 210° F. It 
is insoluble in water, freely soluble in alcohol. Fused caustic 
potash converts it into valerianate of potassium. Nitrite of 
amyl can be prepared by passing a stream of hyponitric acid 
(nitrous acid) gas through amylic alcohol (purified) at a 
temperature of 132° C. This process is very long and tedious, 
taking hours for the amylic alcohol to become saturated, 
and the resultant contains not only the nitrite, but also 
valerianate of amyl, also nitrate of ammonium, and a black, 
