VoL. i., No. 4. 
THE CHEMIST AND DEUGGIST OF AUSTEALASIA. 
6o 
Stubcnts’ Corner. 
“ Competition is the best training'^ 
We in’opose to devote part of our space monthly to students 
in the ranks of pharmacy. 
Their position is not altogether an easy one. Too often 
isolated, and without the stimulus of intercourse with others 
engaged in the same occupation and studies, they find them- 
selves baffled by difficulties that are easily surmounted with a 
little help, and are tempted to waste time that could be profit- 
ably and pleasurably spent in preparation for the enforced 
curricuhun. 
Por many years the “Student’s Corner ” has been a much 
appreciated featu^'e in The Chemist and Druggist. 
The competitions have been open to all, and some continental 
students have engaged in them, but the great distances have 
prevented the entrance of colonial competitors. Although this 
matter has engaged our attention, we have been unable, to our 
regret, so to arrange the regulations as to do away with this 
difficulty. We now bring the “ Students’ Corner ” to the very 
doors of our Australasian supi^orters, and we trust that many 
students will avail themselves of the advantages it offers. 
For the present, the competition will consist of written 
exercises. 
Questions will be set each month relating to chemistry, 
botany, and materia medica. Each sheet should bear some 
nom de 'plume or motto, and an envelope bearing the same 
legend, and containing the competitors’ real name and address, 
should accompany each exercise. 
All papers will be examined by a com 2 ?etent authority. The 
names of the successful candidates will be published, and the 
mottoes or noms de plume of the others, in order of merit. 
The prizes, to consist of books, published at about the value 
of 10s. for the first, and 5s. for the second, will then be 
forwarded to the w’inners as soon as their choice can be ascer- 
tained. 
QUESTIONS SET IN MARCH ISSUE. 
1. Mention three distinct ways in which chlorine can be 
prepared. What are its leading chemical properties ? 
2. Give an account of some of the different w'ays in whic 
fertilization of flowers is accomifiished. 
3. State the official plants belonging to the labiate family 
— the parts used and their pharmaco 2 )oeial preparations. 
Nota Bexe. — By a fortuitous circumstance two typographi- 
cal errors crej)t into question 3, and were unfortunately over- 
looked in the proof sheets of our last number. For habiate 
family et seq, read labiate family {Labiates), the 2 )arts used, &c. 
Answ'ers are to be sent to the Editor on or before the 20th 
April. We thus allow competitors five days longer than 
announced in our ju’evious issue. The prize list will aj^j^ear 
on the 1st of May. 
COMPETITION No. 3. 
‘^Let a man piride himself in his ow7i business.’’^ 
Herbatiium Prize. 
Mr. Blackett, President of the Pharmacy Board, has kindly 
offered a i^rize of £2 to the student who makes the best 
Herbarium, collected in the Colony of Victoria, between the 
1st January and 1st December. Comioetitors must be minors. 
The Redwood Fund. 
Subscribers will jfiease note that the 1st proximo is the last 
day that we can receive subscriptions at our office for this 
commendable object Any sums from five shillings ujiwards 
will be gladly received for transmission to the 2 >arent fund 
committee. 
Early Closixg Movement. 
We understand that the chemists of Collingwood and 
Fitzroy have agreed to close their shops at 9.30. This is a 
step in the right direction, but it might easily have been made 
8 o’clock without serious inconvenience to the public or loss 
to the iiroprietors. 
Year-book of Pharmacy. 
We are anxiously expecting this work, which has for some 
years been under the able editorship of Mr. Louis Siebold, 
F.C.S., of Manchester. When it arrives we will make some 
comment upon its merits. 
College of Pharmacy. 
It is announced that Mr. Blackett and Mr. M‘ Alpine will 
conduct the classes at this College, iDending the arrival of the 
]orosi)ective Director, Mr. Jackson. 
The Pharmaceutical Register of Victoria. 
This record of registered pharmacists is now ready. It is 
published at half-a-crown, and can be had at the Society’s 
offices in Swanston Street. 
Quinine Production. 
There are now seventeen quinine factories in the world — six 
in Germany, four in America, three in France, two in Italy, 
and two in England. The annual production amounts to 
about 2,250,000 ounces. 
Research Grant. 
The Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain has made a 
grant of £50 to the new 2 >rofessor of chemistry (Mr. Dunstan), 
towards the expenses incurred in connection with the use of 
octagon laboratory. The consideration of the in’ojiosed 
scheme for a special research laboratory was jiostjioned for the 
present. 
PHARiucY Act of Queensland. 
We have to draw the attention of our readers to the regu- 
lations of the Pharmacy Board of Queensland (in jiursuance 
of the provisions of the “ Pharmacy Act of 1884 ”), published 
in the Queensland Gazette of March, 1886, and ap 2 >roved by 
the Governor and Executive Council of that colony. 
rules. 
(fl) Answers should be written on foolscap or quarto 
sized paper, and on one side only. 
(b) Candidates must confine their attention strictly to th 
questions. 
QUESTIONS. 
1. Write an account of all the physical jihenomena ob- 
servable, and the chemical changes that occur, when a frag- 
ment of potassium is thrown on the surface of -water. 
2. State clearly in a tabular form the structure of a seed, 
and further mention its varying conditions. 
Insertion of Antidotes on Poison L.vbels. 
The law of Michigan directs that this shall be done. The 
difficulty has been to put them in full, on each and every 
poison label. Mr. J. S. Dunn, of that city, proposes to 
classify all poisons in ten groups, and that the sxiecific anti- 
dotes of each group will include all the antidotal treatment 
that can be employed to advantage, so that by means of ten 
sets of labels which are comjilete in this respect, it needs only 
to have the name of the article written or printed in to make 
the fulfilment of the law, and in greater accuracy than the 
labels now have. We commend the proposition to pharmacists 
in Australia. 
3. Give a description of saffron and its adulterations. What 
prejiarations does it enter into ? Discuss the merits and 
demerits of the use of this drug in such a way. 
Rei:)lies to April set of questions to be forwarded to our 
office not later than May 15th. 
Results will be published in our June number. 
For further conditions see remarks at the head of the 
section “ Students’ Corner.” 
A L.arge Collection op Skulls. — The Natural History 
Museum at Vienna has lately been presented with 708 skulls 
collected through a series of years by Dr. Weissbach, who was 
for a long time director of the Austro-Hungarian hospital at 
Constantinoifie, and was a very distinguished anthropological 
investigator. Of the collection 195 are pure Turkish skulls, 
131 Greek, 96 Servian or Croat, 48 Hungarian, 43 Armenian, 
and 29 old Byzantine. There are also skulls of Maronites, 
Albanians, Koords, Asiatic Jews, &c. 
