98 
THE CHEMIST AND DRUGGIST. 
April, 1880. 
they prove highly noxious to man, injuring his health, and 
sometimes producing delirium, stupefaction, and other symp- 
toms of poisoning. The plant has ceased to be plentiful in all 
good agricultural districts in Britain, and has almost disap- 
peared in some, but it continues to be dismally prevalent in 
some parts of the Continent, and fearfully deteriorates many 
an imported sample of foreign wheat.” — Wilson's Rural 
Cyclopcedia . 
“ Lolium temulentum. — This grass is found principally in 
cultivated fields, especially among corn, where it is a noxious 
weed. The seeds, it is said, when eaten, produce vomiting, 
purging, violent colic, and death ; and Linseus states that the 
seeds, when mixed with bread, produce but little effect unless 
when eaten hot, but if malted with barley the ale soon occa- 
sions intoxication.” — Parnell . 
“ Lolium temulentum is remarkable as the only species of 
the family (of grasses) known to possess poisonous properties. 
. . . The seeds of this grass are extremely deleterious, 
acting as a narcotic poison, and if taken in small quantities 
for a long period together, causing a peculiar disease called 
dry gangrene, resembling that occasioned by the ergot of rye. 
Some years ago there was reason to suppose it was used by 
fraudulent brewers to increase the intoxicating effect of their 
liquor, but its dangerous properties are now too well known to 
admit of such application being made with impunity, and men- 
tion is made of it here only to call attention to the extreme 
danger of allowing it to grow among corn. Many accidents have 
occurred from the use of wheat and other grains mingled with 
darnel, and especially among the peasantry. Christims relates 
that the whole of the inmates of the Sheffield Workhouse, 
about forty years ago, were seized with dangerous illness, 
attributed to the accidental use of corn mixed with darnel 
seeds, and more recent instances are not wanting. ” — Johnson's 
Useful Plants of Great Britain . 
MANUFACTURE OF OLIVE OIL IN SOUTHERN 
FRANCE. 
{Translated from “ Phar. Handelsbl.,” 14th January, 
by Louis von Cotzhausen, Ph.G.) 
In the establishment of E. Jourdan de Jauffret et Fils, at 
Salon in the Provence, the manufacture of olive oil neces- 
sarily always begins in the first half of November, because the 
olives become ripe in this season in the Provence, and, when 
begun, it must be continued night and day for three or four 
months, the length of the season, of course, depending on the 
duration of the harvest. 
De Jauffret and Son employ eighteen labourers, who are 
divided into two divisions, working respectively during the 
day and during the night, and producing daily 1200 kilo- 
grammes of the best oil from 1000 decalitres of olives. The 
facilities of the establishment are such that the largest har- 
vests of olives can be handled quickly, so as not to necessitate 
a prolonged storing of olives, which would cause them to fer- 
ment, when they yield an inferior oil. 
Nevertheless, there are some manufacturers who believe in 
this fermentation, claiming that it increases the yield, because 
it assists the separation of the oil from the cellular tissue of 
the olives. But experience has shown that this increase in 
yield can only be obtained at the expense of the quality of 
the oil, and that the larger yield never makes up for the 
inferiority of the oil. 
In the establishment of Jourdan de Jauffret this is avoided. 
Nevertheless, their manner of preparing the oil is such that 
fully as much, if not more, is obtained by them as by those 
allowing the olives to ferment. Before the olives enter the 
mills they are carefully spread over the floor of the well- venti- 
lated storeroom, where they are allowed to remain for three 
days, if the wind is from the south, and four or five days, if 
from the north. The first stage of the manufacture consists 
in grinding the olives between revolving granite stones ; 
then the mass, enclosed in baskets, is exposed to a slight pres- 
sure in an iron press, and yields the so-called virgin oil (huile 
merge J, which has gained the good reputation for the oil of 
the Provence. The mass in the baskets is then exposed to a 
stronger pressure, and yields the well-known good oil usually 
found in commerce. After this second operation the mass is 
taken from the basket-work, and is again placed into the mills, 
where it is thoroughly ground up, when it is again packed into 
baskets and is exposed to the pressure of hydraulic presses. 
During this operation the effect of fermentation is made use 
of by treating the mass with boiling water, in order to facili- 
tate the separation of the oil from the cells, which still retain 
it. Thus, a larger yield is obtained from the olives without 
interfering with the quality of the greater portion of the oil, 
since only the last yield is exposed to heat. This oil is always 
better than the oil obtained from fermented olives, because 
frequently a rotten odour is produced by fermentation, which 
is imparted even to the oil expressed first. 
The oil expressed with the aid of hot water is known in 
commerce as fine table-oil. The greatest precautions must be 
used . in the manufacture. Columelle even forbids the 
kindling of fires in the mills during the manufacture, claiming 
that, the smoke of a single lamp may prove injurious to the 
quality of the oil. This caution is necessary in the older mills. 
Even at the present time, most mills are underground, and of 
such a construction that air and light can scarcely penetrate 
into them, and that foul odours, &c., can scarcely escape from 
them ; besides, most of the mills are revolved by mules, which 
adds to their uncleanliness. 
The olive oil must be preserved with great care, since Th. de 
Saussure has shown that the absorption of atmospheric oxygen, 
which is favoured by heat, has a tendency to turn it rancid. 
The expressed oil is filtered, and immediately transferred into 
large cooled stoneware jugs, in which it gets cold very soon, 
and will keep unaltered for two years. 
“ Waste-oil” ('huile d'enfer) is the name given to all oil in 
the Provence which is collected on the surface of the pits. It 
is treated with caustic soda and with hot water, in order to 
remove the fatty acids, and then enters commerce as lubricat- 
ing machine-oil. It is greatly valued for oiling machinery, 
and also for wool. 
SELLING POISON TO CHILDREN. 
A married woman, named Agnes Fulcknor, thirty-eight years 
of age, was admitted into the Melbourne Hospital, suffering 
from poison. It appeared that one of her sons returned to his 
home, Alfred-street, Emerald Hill, at five o’clock in the even- 
ing, and noticed that there was something wrong with his 
mother. On making inquiries he found that she had sent a 
little girl, seven years of age, to an adjacent chemist’s shop for 
sixpence worth of laudanum. The poison was supplied, and 
the woman swallowed it. A policeman was called in, and the 
woman was taken to the hospital, where she was treated. It 
is not known what caused Mrs. Fulcknor to take the poison. 
Her husband states that when he last saw his wife she was in 
cheerful spirits. This is the second case made public lately 
in which it has been alleged that chemists have supplied 
poison to children. The matter is, therefore, one which should 
be noticed by the authorities. 
[As the law stands at present, there is nothing to prevent the 
sale of poisons included in the second part of schedule 1 ; but 
it is very improper for any one to sell poisons to young 
children.— Ed. Aust. Sup . C. % DJ] 
Pharmacy Board of Victoria Notices. 
THE NINTH PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 
x of Apprentices will be held at this office on THURS- 
DAY, the 3rd day of JUNE, 1880, at Eleven a.m. 
The attention of apprentices is directed to Clause 43 of the 
Regulations to the Act, which obliges indentures to be 
registered within twelve months of their being executed. 
Harry Shillinglaw, Secretary and Registrar. 
Office of the Pharmacy Board, Mutual Provident 
Buildings, Collins-street West, Melbourne. 
THE TWELFTH MODIFIED EXAMINATION of 
**• Candidates for Registration under the Pharmacy 
Act will be held at this office on MONDAY, the 7th 
JUNE, 1880, at Ten o’clock a.m. Candidates must 
give to the Secretary notice of their intention to present 
themselves for examination, together with their indentures 
of apprenticeship and the fee of three guineas, ten days 
prior to the day. 
Harry Shillinglaw, Secretary and Registrar. 
Office of the Pharmacy Board, Mutual Provident 
Buildings, Collins-street West, Melbourne. 
