June, 1832. 
THE CHEMIST AND DEUGGIST. 
17 
I did not go to breakfast that morning, as I had had enough 
of Mr. F, and his amiable son. And as soon as the latter 
gentleman made his appearance, and suggested that I should 
send for my traps, I respectfully begged to be excused, and 
left the service, after a short assistantship of twenty-four 
hours. 
Starting a Shop under Difficulties. 
I was so thoroughly disgusted with the twenty-four hours’ 
service of the eminent “ Mr. F , chemist, druggist, grocer, 
&c.,” that I determined to make a start for myself at all 
hazards, and, as I was not known to many persons in the city 
of Sydney, and could not reasonably expect much assistance 
in the credit line, I had to make my ninety odd pounds go as 
far as possible ; and to this end set myself to work to fit up 
with my own hands a small shop which I had secured in the 
rising suburb of Newtown. 
This I was able to do with tolerable neatness, for a three 
years’ residence in the bush, where almost my first act had 
been to build my own house, had made me a tolerable adept at 
the carpenter’s art. I found it, however, a much easier task to 
procure the wood for shelving than I did to get the necessary 
bottles, &c., to put on them after they were up ; and those of 
my younger brethren who have started in business within the 
past ten or fifteen years, and found our splendid wholesale 
establishments capable of supplying their every want, from a 
pillbox to the most elaborate specie jar, will smile when I tell 
them that day after day I searched Sydney, from one end to 
another, to procure a few narrow and wide-mouthed bottles, 
suited to the requirements of an ordinary shop, with the result 
of obtaining one here and one there, kindly raked out from 
some outhouse or other, the whole forming such a rascally 
collection when arranged that I was ashamed to let daylight 
on them by taking down the shutters ; and I was nearly giving 
way to despair, when good luck caused me to turn into a china 
shop in desperation. This was about the last place I should 
hare thought where I should be likely to find my requirements. 
Yet, strange to say, find them here I did, to the mutual joy of 
the storekeeper and myself — he, because he had found a pur- 
chaser for what he told me he had long considered a dead 
stock, and I, because they were the very identical things I 
most coveted. There was about a gross of them altogether, 
and when labelled in gold (which I was fortunately able to do 
myself, or they would have remained unlettered), they put on 
a tolerably respectable appearance. Such a thing as an oint- 
ment, or even an extract jar, was not to be thought of ; and I 
was fain to make shift with some yellow culinary affairs, pur- 
chased at the crockeryware shop where I had picked up the 
bottles ; and then, having laid in a stock of drugs and patent 
medicines, as extensive and varied as my limited means would 
permit, I took down my shutters, and became at once a full- 
fledged chemist and druggist, announcing this fact by letters 
over the door and window, which cost me the last penny of 
capital. But my difficulties did not end here; all my pills 
had to be rolled singly by hand, for such a thing as a pill 
machine was not to be purchased for love or money. Leeches 
were unobtainable ; and on inquiring for seidlitz boxes I was 
told that I should have to make my own, as most — or, I should 
say, all— of the chemists at that period were doing. (The 
reader will please to remember that I am writing of the latter 
end of 1852, when the industries of box-making, leech-gather- 
ing, &c., were unknown.) This, however, I did not find an 
arduous task, for I had, of course, ample leisure for the work, 
and the stationers’ shops supplied the materials. As the 
diggings, both in New South Wales and Victoria, were then in 
their zenith, people had plenty of money to spend, and, what 
is more, were not afraid to spend it ; and as there was no fear 
of offending a customer by asking too much, prices ran high, 
and I was soon enabled to renew my stock on a much larger 
scale. 
(To be continued !.) 
GLoxxtzym'bmtz. 
PARCELS POST— NEW REGULATIONS WANTED. 
To the Editor of the Australasian Supplement to the Chemist 
and Druggist. 
Sir— A s doubtless there will be some alteration in postal 
matters ere long, will you kindly allow me to draw attention 
to a want felt very generally by druggists— that is, the con- 
venience of sending small quantities of liquids through the post. 
At present the public generally are debarred from doing so ; 
but I venture to think that it affects our calling to an extent 
far beyond any other. In districts where there are no rail- 
ways, and sometimes no conveyance but that of a packhorse, 
this regulation is a complete handicap to business ; for to send 
small parcels otherwise than through post entails upon the 
customer a cost of more than the article itself. I could give 
numberless illustrations of this anomaly, but will content 
myself with mentioning the fact, and hope that it may be the 
means of bringing about some concession, and would ask your 
aid, sir, likewise that of the Pharmaceutical Society, which, 
being ably supplemented at the proper time by that of our 
worthy M.L.A.’s, Messrs. Bosisto and Blackett, may possibly 
be the means of conferring a boon that would be widely 
appreciated.— I am, sir, yours, &c. J. Tipping. 
Bairnsdale, 9th June, 1882. 
STEAMY WINDOWS. 
To the Editor of The Australasian Supplement to the Chemist 
and Druggist. 
Sir — I n the Chemist and Druggist of December, 1881, appears 
an article on the above subject, and no doubt in this colony, 
especially in the cold districts, chemists’ windows are affected 
in the same manner during the winter months. The plan I 
have adopted is to open the slides of the windows about four 
inches, and let them remain so while the lights are burning, 
which, of course, is only at night, when dust and flies cannot 
cause extra labour in cleaning, as they are rarely to be seen in 
winter. I find this plan answer very well ; my windows always 
appear bright, and entirely free from the nuisance. — I am, 
yours respectfully, Country Chemist. 
u SUMMUM JUS, SUMMA INJURIA.” 
To the Editor of The Autralasian Supplement to the Chemist 
and Druggist . 
Sir — We have just got over what is termed the first represen- 
tative meeting of pharmacy in New Zealand, and, as Victorian 
chemists are interested to some extent, I crave space in your 
valuable journal for a few remarks thereon. 
The Pharmacy Board of New Zealand are great on “ reci- 
procity,” which, if I understand the word, means equal mutual 
rights or benefits, to be yielded or enjoyed ; but I have not yet 
been able to find the dictionary that will bear out the con- 
struction put upon the word by the Pharmacy Board of New 
Zealand, which is that we must be admitted to all the rights 
and benefits enjoyed by our Australian brethren, and having 
nothing to offer in exchange, nothing can be expected from us 
beyond our bare assurance that we are splendid chemists and 
highly respectable people. 
A registered chemist of Victoria, whose certificate is dated 
1881, applied for admission, and was refused. When the 
subject was being considered, a member of the board remarked 
that the Victorians admitted all kinds and conditions of men, 
or words of similar import ; and a resolution was passed to 
the effect that only Victorians who have passed the examina- 
tion be admitted in New Zealand. 
This,. I think, for cool assurance would be difficult to surpass. 
It is virtually saying to the Pharmacy Board of Victoria — 
“ You are not competent to determine who are eligible for 
registration. Gentlemen who have been twenty years in 
business in Victoria cannot be admitted here, and, to insure 
our standard of superiority, none but chemists by examination 
need apply.” 
I must not omit to mention that our first puny attempt at 
examination is to take place some time in July next. 
If the gentleman who indulged in this high falutin will step 
down from his self-erected pinnacle of pharmaceutical pre- 
eminence, I will show him another phase of the subject, which 
from his elevated position he has evidently overlooked. 
There are about two hundred and thirty chemists in New 
Zealand, amongst whom are a fair sprinkling of “ all kinds 
and conditions” of men, comprising carpenters, watchmakers, 
bakers, &c., who are full-fledged registered pharmaceutical 
chemists of New Zealand, and are with this gentleman 
co-equally entitled to all the rank, dignity, and titles of the 
profession. 
It would not be difficult to run down the names and place 
your finger upon some to whom the British Pharmacopoeia 
is a sealed book. There are yet more such to come, and the 
