18 
THE CHEMIST AND DRUGGIST. 
June, 18S2. 
Pharmacy Board of New Zealand cannot, dare not, refuse 
registration. 
Nearly one-third of the registered chemists of New Zealand 
are in this district, and I can say that they are unanimous in 
condemning the action of the board in this matter. 
It would be very interesting to know how many pharmacies 
there are in New Zealand where a youth could be sufficiently 
instructed in the art and mystery of the profession to enable 
him to pass the modified examination of the Victorian Phar- 
macy Board. I venture to say that before you counted your 
fingers once over their number would be exhausted, and I 
should not be surprised if the first finger proved to be one too 
many. — Yours very truly, Natrium. 
Dunedin, 31st May, 1882. 
To the Editor of The Australasian Supplement to the Chemist 
and Druggist. 
Dear Sir — In my letter last month a number of printer’s 
errors crept in, which must have made my meaning anything 
but clear. Perhaps the best way to correct them will be to 
re-write the misinterpreted portions. In referring to the 
necessity for more frequent communication between prescriber 
and dispenser, I mentioned as examples the following cases 
wherein misunderstanding often occurs : — Chloric ether is dis- 
pensed variously, as 1 in 8, 1 in 10, or 1 in 20, according to the 
dispenser’s fancy. The sign 3 l is taken by some to be 480 
grains, and by others 437$ grains. The last, being its official 
value, is strictly correct, but many prescribers are known to 
mean the former. Many similar discrepancies exist ; but the 
dose is the part of the prescription where the greatest error 
occurs. A doctor who orders a tablespoonful must mean some 
definite quantity ; but the amount taken varies greatly, 
according to the fancy of the patient or the size of his spoons. 
Some years ago I suggested that fluid drams or ounces should 
be ordered in all cases, supposing that the dispenser would then 
feel bound to supply the means for accurate measurement ; 
but I find many dispensers interpret these terms teaspoonful 
or tablespoonful without any qualification, so that the pre- 
scriber’s attempt to secure accuracy fails. I will not trouble 
you further at present, but, hoping that the matter will be 
taken up, I am, yours truly, Alfred I. Owen. 
To the Editor of The Australasian Supplement to the Chemist 
and Druggist. 
Sir — I n your issue of March a paragraph appears stating 
that carrots treated with arsenic are a certain specific for the 
destruction of rabbits. You will oblige by publishing the 
mode of preparing the poison. — Yours, &c., 
Invercargill, 4th May, 1882. E. B. Jones. 
[1 oz. of arsenic dissolved in q : suff : sub-carbonate of soda 
to 30 lbs. of carrots. — Ed.'] 
REPLIES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Charles Rabin. — According to law “fixtures, utensils of 
trade, &c.” are not included in insurance upon “ stock-in- 
trade. ” 
“ Sanitas.” — As to the question, “What extra liability does 
the employ^ of an unregistered person incur ?” an " un- 
registered person” has no legal right to practise pharmacy, and 
therefore cannot employ any one. Unregistered assistants 
have no right to dispense medicines or sell poisons. If a 
pharmaceutical chemist employs an unqualified person, he is 
liable and responsible for all the assistant does. If an assist- 
ant is registered, he is responsible, and the principal also. 
A PHARMACEUTICAL CURRICULUM FOR GREAT 
BRITAIN. 
The proposed curriculum for pharmaceutical education in Eng- 
land, decided upon by the committee appointed by the council, 
is as follows. It will be observed that it closely resembles 
our own : — 
“ First, that candidates for examination be required to 
produce evidence of apprenticeship or pupilage of not less 
than three years under some duly registered chemist and 
druggist. 
“ Second, that the preliminary examination, or its equiva- 
lent, be passed prior to apprenticeship or pupilage. In regard 
to this recommendation, it was suggested that the object in 
view might in most cases be ensured by not permitting a 
candidate to present himself for the minor examination until 
three years after he had been certified to have passed the 
preliminary. 
“ Third, that candidates upon presenting themselves for 
the minor examination shall, in addition to the require- 
ments above mentioned, produce evidence to show that they 
have, within the time then present and the date of their 
preliminary examination, attended a course of lectures on 
chemistry, a course of lectures on botany, a course of lectures 
on materia medica, and a course of instruction on practical 
chemistry, of the scope and character defined in certain 
syllabuses presented with the report. With respect to the 
authoritative recognition of the lectures and teaching referred 
to in this recommendation, the committee recommended that 
the council should, at its discretion, recognise and accept certi- 
ficates from those public schools of sciences throughout the 
country of which the principal, or dean, or other corresponding 
officer or authority, shall have satisfied the council that their 
scope of teaching on the required subjects includes the points 
enumerated in the above-mentioned syllabuses, as well as 
from other schools in which it shall have been proved to 
the satisfaction of the council that the teaching is of suffi- 
cient excellence in kind, and of the scope indicated in the 
syllabuses. It was suggested that, from time to time, a list 
of such recognised schools should be published. 
“ The fourth recommendation of the committee was that the 
minor examination should be divided into two parts, with 
an interval of not less than six months between the first 
and second portions of it. It was proposed that the first 
portion should be a written examination, to be conducted 
under suitable regulations in London, Edinburgh, and certain 
provincial centres to be agreed upon by the council, and 
that it should consist of the translation of prescriptions 
from Latin into English and from English into Latin, also 
of pharmacy and theoretical chemistry and botany. Candi- 
dates would not receive any certificate on passing this part 
of the examination, but would be entitled to present them- 
selves after an interval of not less than six months for the 
second part of the examination, which it was proposed 
should be essentially viva voce and experimental, comprising 
chemistry and practical chemistry, botany and materia medica , 
and practical dispensing. 
“ The fifth recommendation was that these proposed regu- 
lations should come into operation on the 1st of January, 
1886.” 
fiotcs ant Abstracts. 
How to Distinguish Saliva Spots in Clothes from 
others of Similar Appearance.— Dr. Cervera gives a 
simple mode of distinguishing salivary stains from spermatic 
and others of similar appearance with which they may be 
confounded. This distinction is often of importance in medico- 
legal cases. The piece of cloth containing the spot is by 
capillarity moistened with a saturated solution of ferric 
chloride. Chemical reaction will give rise to a blood-red 
colour in the case of saliva, but not in stains due to other 
fluids. Carotid saliva, especially after meals, contains the 
sulpho-cyanide of potassium, a substance which strikes an 
intense red colour in contact with ferric salts, although these 
may be present only in minute quantity. Such reaction does 
not take place in the case of pus, nasal or vaginal mucus, 
spermatic or gonorrhoeal fluid. — Cron. Med-Quir de la Hah. 
Worse than Prescription Latin. — According to Harper's 
Weehly , the members of the New York Medical Cub were 
invited to an entertainment a few years ago by Dr. H. D. 
Paine, of that city, in the following terms : — “ * Sciens, 
Socialite, Sobriete.’ — Doctores — Ducum nex mundi nitu 
Panes ; tritucum at ait. Expecto meta fumen tu te & eta 
beta pi. Super attento, uno. Dux, liamor clam pati, sum 
parates. homine, ices, jam, &c. Sideror hoc. Anser. ‘Festo 
reasonan floas sole.’ ” 
Anti-Asthmatic Powder. — 
Potass^ nitratis 1 aa 5 ss 
Pulv. anisi fructus ) ^ 
Pulv. stramonii folior ... J j. 
Misce. A thimbleful of the powder placed on a plate is 
pinched into a conical shape and lighted at the top. It burns 
