94 
THE CHEMIST AND DRUGGIST. 
March, ISS3. 
•which wc arc quite sure will be equally welcomed. The 
Juvenile Telescope 'Company having received their telescope 
from England have accepted the kind offer of Mr. Wall to give 
them two evenings per month on astronomical science, also at 
his school, so that the council seem to be thoroughly alive to 
the desirability of popularising their well conducted institu- 
tion. 
NOTE ON AN HITHERTO IMPERFECTLY KNOWN 
CALLISTEM ON, 
By Baron Feed. Von Mueller, K.C.M.G., M. & Pxi.D,, 
F.R.S., &o. 
Though the Australian vegetation has become gradually 
unfolded in most of its features, yet much remains to be closer 
observed, and even in the vicinity of larger settlements new 
or rare plants remain to be traced, as will be exemplified on 
this occasion. It was early in the year 1853 when the writer 
noticed on one of the livulcts of the Buffalo-Range a 
myrtaccous peculiar tall then fruiting shrub, which in° the 
absence of flowers was referred to the genus .Melaleuca, and 
for which, in allusion to its pine-like habit, the name M. 
pityoidcs was chosen (First General Report, 12). Six years 
later Dr. Miquel in an essay on various Australian plants 
received from me, suggested that this Melaleuca might be 
transferable to the closely allied genus Callistemon ( Neder - 
landisk Kruidkuiidig Archie f t IV., 142). In 18G3, when 
occasion arose, to revise the species of Callistemon, I ven- 
tured to refer this doubtful plant ( Fragm . Phytogr. Austr,, 
IV, 54) as a form to C. ealignus, a species singularly variable 
in its ascent from the lowlands to the highest Alps. To this 
Mr. Bentham ( Flor . Austr., III., 121) somewhat demurred, 
pointing to Melaleuca nodosa and M. pungens as very similar in 
foliage.' Matters concerning this plant remained in doubt till 
last spring, when I received flowering specimens, gathered far 
upon the Ovens-Rivcr by Mr. C. Falk, and when other 
samples, also in flower, were collected by the Rev. B. 
Scortcchini, who obtained his material at the sources of the 
Tmmaresque-River, on the boundary line between New South 
Wales and Queensland. By these means it is now clearly 
proved, that the plant should be referred to Callistemon'; 
indeed, its flowers show such close resemblance to those of 
the small blossomed variety of C. salignus, as perhaps to 
render it desirable to regard it merely as an extreme form of 
. a at species. If specific value is to be attributed to it, the 
diagnosis would be as follows : — 
Ca Hist cm on pi tyoi dcs. 
F. v. M., Systematic Census of Australian Plante. 140 
(1882). 
Leaves short, thinly cylindrical, somewhat awlshapcd, 
slightly compressed or sometimes semi -cylindrical, soon 
glabrou bracts lanceolate-linear or narrow, or’ some 
ovate-la; eolar : rachis and often also the calyces short 
• v .ny; <»1>CS of the calyx semi ovate-roundish or some almost 
i-ori.. dar, membranous, about half as long as the tube, 
sider. .:y shorter than the petals, finally deciduous; 
aens comparatively short ; filaments pale yellowish, glab- 
ro,. abo .t t wice as long as the petals, or some three times as 
loi,g ; ambers yellow; style glabrous; fruits truncate-ovate, 
rarely depressed -globular, more or less contracted at the summit- 
valves silky at the surface. 
in external aspect this plant resembles more the larger 
iwrms of Melaleuca ericifolia than even the smaller of Calli- 
stemon salignus. To the pharmaceutic profession it is of par- 
ticular interest ns the quality of the oil of' the foliage and its 
percentage remain to be ascertained yet. After Mr. Bosisto’s 
enterprising and successful efforts, to give to the distillation 
of oils from our myrtaccous trees large commercial dimensions 
local pharmaceutists should feel encouraged in effecting addi- 
tional tests of the Myrtace® in this respect, the number of 
species on record from Australia having reached to 650, 
whereby this order of plants stands with us second only to 
Leguminos®, but surpassing far the latter in technical im- 
portance. 
PHARMACY IN THE FRENCH ACADEMIES. 
A visitor to the new School of Pharmacy in Paris will 
readily perceive that French pharmacists are by no means 
disposed to forget the past history of their art. Good reason 
have they indeed to be proud of the parts played in the world 
of science by their predecessors, and M. Lefort needs no 
justification for taking the opportunity afforded *by a recent 
meeting of the Paris Pharmaceutical Society to call attention, 
specially to the extent to which pharmacy has been 
represented in the scientific academics of France. 
I he first Academy of Sciences in France was founded in the 
year 1666, Louis XIV., at the instigation of his famous 
finance minister, Colbert. It was intended to be devoted to 
practical science rather than to the reading of papers, and 
with this object laboratories were maintained at the royal 
expense at the place of meeting, in which experiments and 
observations were made and the results obtained were 
discussed by the members in common. Animal and vegetable 
products, minerals, and especially mineral waters, were 
submitted to such analysis as was then possible, and it was 
onl} T natural that after a few years pharmacists should bo 
called to take part in the work. The first pharmacist 
admitted into the Academy of Science?, in 1686, was Moses 
Charras, the author of a Pharmacopee gaUniquc ct 
chimiquc and next, in 1600. came Nicholas Ldmery, the 
author of the Cours do Chimie. Then followed Boulduc r 
Geoffroy, Rouelle, and Cadet de Gassicourt. But the revolu- 
tionary wave that swept away men did not spare institutions, 
and a few months before Lavoisier was sent to the guillotine 
the academies in France were suppressed as useless. In 1795, 
however, the Convention established a new “Institut des 
Sciences ct dcs Arts,” which included all the academics as 
they now exist. In the new Academy of Sciences, ns in the 
old, pharmacists have taken an honourable place, as will bo 
seen from the following roll of names: — Rayon, the two 
Pelletiers, Vauquelin, Parmentier, Baumb, Doycux, Proust, 
Serullae, Robiquet, Lesson, Gaudicbaud, Balard, Bussy, 
Gerhardt, Lecoq, Planchon, Berthclot, Chatin, Girardin, and 
Milne-Edwards. Each of these men was a legally qualified 
pharmacist ; but there have been others also who commenced 
their scientific career in a pharmacy, among whom may bo 
mentioned Dumas, Frbmy, and Trecul. 
The Academy of Medicine was founded in the year 1820, 
by a decree of Louis XVIII., and one of its duties was to be 
tO' reply to questions of the Government, on all subjects 
affecting the public health, and particularly in respect to new 
and secret remedies, and natural and artificial mineral 
waters. Originally the academy was divided into three 
sections— medicine, surgery and pharmacy — and the first nine 
nominations to the pharmacy section were — Boullay, Deyeux, 
Fabre, Henri, Laugier, Pelletier, Planche, Robiquet, and 
Vauquelin. Amongst the earlier elections by the academy 
itself were — Boudet, Deromc, Caventou, Guibourt, Labar- 
raque, Bussy, Chevallier, Derosne, Frbmy, and Serullas. 
•Since the year 1829 the Academy of Medicine has been 
divided into sections, of which that devoted to pharmacy 
is the eleventh, but pharmacists frequently figure in other 
sections. The list given by M. Lefort, of errynent pharma- 
cists who have been connected with this academy aa 
members, associates or correspondents, is too long for 
quotation here, and this is the less necessary since it includes 
many names that have already been mentioned. At present 
there is only the one class of members, limited to one 
hundred, and amongst them are included many whose names 
have frequently appeared at the head of articles published in 
these pages. — Pharmaceutical Journal. 
PERUVIAN AND WATTLE BARKS. 
Part of the following letter appeared recently in the 
columns of the Ary us, respecting the production of Cinchona 
bark in Ceylon 1 “ Enquiries of a most important nature are 
now being made with regard to the growth of wattle bark for 
tanning purposes. It appears there is a demand for Mimosa 
seed in Ceylon for the dual purpose of growing it for its bark, 
as well as a shelter for young Cinchona trees. Connected there- 
with a discovery has been made that the medicinal properties 
of Peruvian bark resides in the outer cuticle, which can be ex- 
cised from the tree without causing its destruction. Now, if 
the same holds good with regard to wattle bark, an annual 
crop can be obtained from it, whilst still affording shelter to 
the others. Since the above appeared in print, a letter has 
been received from Baron Von Mueller on the subject, in 
which he expresses an opinion favourable to the hypothesis and 
if labour was as cheap in Victoria as it is in Ceylon, there is 
not the slightest doubt that the discovery would be of vast 
importance both to the growers and users of wattle bark, and 
remove one of the causes of anxiety with regard to its produc- 
