6 
THE CHEMIST AND DEUGGIST OF AUSTEALASIA. Feb. 1st, 1886. 
of his remarks the president drew attention to the proposed 
esttiblishment of a convalescent home in lieu of the one so 
successfully carried ®n by Lady M'Culloch, and recommended 
the scheme to the attention of the medical profession. Two 
papers on “Post nasal growths,” and on “ A case of early 
malignant disease of the larynx,” were read by Dr. Cox, 
whilst an account of a case of decai^itation on a railway, 
which was complicated by rupture of the heart, apparently by 
shock, was contributed by Dr. Neild. 
Rabbit extermination has advanced considerably through- 
out the districts infected within the last few days. Thirty- 
^i^•e shire councils reported to Mr. Black, the officer appointed 
to administer the Act, that on the 21st January they had been 
very successful in their efforts in the general onslaught they 
had commenced against the vermin. Operations will be 
commenced by the Bhires in the North and North-western 
Districts, about forty in number, against the rabbits early in 
the present month. The heavy rains which we have expe- 
rienced lately had the effect of causing chalk and arsenic to 
be less extensively used for poisoning the rabbits than it 
otherwise would have been. A better use of this description 
of i^oison can be made at the watering places frequented by 
the rabbits than if it were placed in the burrows. The prin- 
cipal agent used in the neighbourhood of the burrows has 
been bi-sulphide of carbon. It is not the intention of the 
Lands Department to make any experiments with any of the 
specifics forwarded to them as they think that with the com- 
bined and simultaneous action of the shires, together with a 
judicious use of bi-sulphide of carbon and chalk and arsenic 
the rabbit pest can be eradicated. 
is of the opinion “ that nitro-glyceriiie compounds are in- 
jurious.” One of the misstatements complained of is that 
the evidence mostly called for was thc-t of mine-owners. As- 
a matter of fact, the records of the board show that of 
witnesses examined there was only one mine-owner, the rest 
being 59 miners and 29 managers. 
At the last meeting of the Council of Agricultural Educa- 
tion it was decided to invite tenders for the erection of the 
Dookie Experimental Farm of the i)rot>osed agricultural 
school. The plans submitted, and which the ctuncil ap- 
proved of, provide a building capable of accommodating forty 
students, and the cost is estimated at £2,000. 
That anything can possibly succeed without advertising is 
now an irreducible fallacy, and when we find a member of the 
trade indulging in a novel system of advertising we look upon 
him immediately as a man who is bound to succeed. This 
certainly applies to Mr. Francis Longmore, chemist, of Mel- 
bourne, who hit upon a caj^ital plan of advertising a new 
specific for corns. Mr. Longmore advertised that he was 
prepared to give a sum of money to those who were suffi- 
ciently sharp-witted as to guess in one word the names of two 
articles contained in a case known as Portia’s Casket. The 
one article was flesh and the other fruit. Melbourne must 
have some really clever people in her midst, for no fewer than 
1()2 sent in correct solutions. The word was .4cor«. 
Arsenic and chaff have proved the most effective means- 
against the rabbits last year. No less than 500 drums of 
bi-sulphide of carbon and 20 tons of arsenic have already 
been distributed for use on the Crown lands, and 820 men 
will be engaged in the destruction of “ bunny.” 
Recently the attention of the Minister of Agriculture was 
directed by the Bellarine Shire Council to the partial failure 
for the last few years in that district of the onion crop, and 
asked that he would cause inquiries to be instituted for the 
purpose of discovering the reason for the failure. The de- 
l)artment was furnished with samples of soil in which onions 
had been grown with poor returns, and these were forwarded | 
to Mr. W. Johnson, analytical chemist, of 'Windsor, for : 
analysis. Mr. Johnson has now reported that the cause of i 
failure is the almost total absence of those ingredients in the 
soil which are most requisite for the successful cultivation of j 
the onion, namely, phosphates and sulphur. He reports that i 
lime and other constituents are to be found in the soil in ' 
sufficient quantities, and recommends manuring the ground J 
in which onions are intended to be grown with a plentiful i 
supply of gypsum and bone-dust. A copy of Mr. Johnson’s j 
report has been forwarded to the Bellarine Shire Council'. | 
Mr. Le Capelain, the inspector for the Central Board of 1 
Health, was instructed by the president of the board to pro- | 
ceed to Mornington to ascertain the correctness of the local 
constable’s report to the effect that two deaths had taken j 
place in Mornington from typhoid fever. Mr. Akehurst, 
president of the board, received a telegram on the 2bth ult. | 
from Mr. Le Capelain, stating that filr. Swift, a resident of | 
the district, had lost a daughter, nine years of age, from 
typhoid fe\ er on the 0th of January. The local medico, Dr. 
Hooper, certifled as to the cause of death. The other case 
was that of a Miss Rose, who died at G-eelong on her arrival 
from IMornington, of typhoid fever, after a couple of days 
jllness. I 
The Central Board of Health recei^•ed a report of nine cases ^ 
of typhoid fever on the 27th ult., three of which terminated | 
fatally, namely, two at i‘raliran, and one at Cfoornong, in the 
handiiurst district; the other cases were one at Sandridge, 
two at Laneefleld, and three at Yea. Ylr. Akehmst, the pre- 
sident of the Board of Health, states that the sev«’al local health 
officers are taking every precaution to pre^'ent the disease 
from spreading. 
In consequence of several statementshaving latelyappeared 
in one of the up-country journals in reference to the outcome 
of the iiKjuiries lately conducted by the Noxious Fumes 
Board, and which are decidedly misleading, the Secretary of 
biines is desirous that they shoiild be corrected. One para- 
graph states that the report of the board is to the effect that ; 
the use of lithofracteur is not injurious to health, whereas ' 
the report contains one passage as follows : — “ It is an 
established fact that nitro-glycerine compounds (under which 
head are included dynamite, lithofracteur, blasting gelatine, ' 
cYc.) frequently produce deleterious effects on the human 
subject.” The board furthermore states hi its report that it , 
Mr. Levien, the Minister of Mines, has forwarded a letter 
of thanks to Mr. R. L. J. Ellery, the chairman of the board 
appointed to report upon the use of nitro-glycerine compounds 
in mines, and the best means of rendering innocuous the 
fumes arising from their combustion. Effect will be given to 
Mr. Ellery's recommendation. 
TTie IMinister of Defence has appointed Dr. J. H. Browning,, 
the health officer at the Quarantine vStation, Point Nepean, to 
act as medical officer to the artillery forces stationed at 
(^ueenscliff and the other points about the hay. 
The committee of the Melbourne Central Board of Health 
has reported on their test examination of Alters. They how- 
ever contented themselves with simply mentioning which was 
the best filter, but this information being insufficient for the 
president, he has called for fuller particulars. 
A correspondent of the Tr<7 calls attention to the rotten 
rubbish and decomposed fruit used in the manufacture of 
Victorian jams. 
Typhoid fever has been rather prevalent in the colony the 
last few weeks, and a couple of cases were reported in the last 
week of January. One of the patients lived at Carlton, and 
was removed to the iSIelbourne General Hospital, where he 
succumbed to the attack. The other case was reported from 
near Murtoa, in the Wimmera district. 
A correspondent signing himself “Cave Canem” writes to* 
the Arffiis, describing what he believes to hav.e been a clear 
case of which “ crast his ’een” on the Burwood road. 
“ Cave Canem” must have made a discovery indeed, for 
is an unknown quantity in this “land of the blessed.” 
On January lltli a woman named Mary Healy died in the 
Honueopathic Hospital. »She fell and hurt herself so severely 
that she asked lor a medical man, hut instead of finding a 
duly qualified medical practitioner, the Rev. R. V. Danne^ 
Congregational minister, was called in, and in place of minis- 
tering to the mind, he attempted to deal with the more scien- 
tific pursuit of medicine. He prescribed for her, but as the 
patient got worse she was removed to the Homceopathic 
Hospital, where she died. The mortem examination re- 
vealed that she was suffering from em]>yctmia, and that the 
case hud been rendered much more difficult of treatment 
owing to the severe irritation on the surface of the body caused 
by the poultices applied by Mr. Danne's directions. At the 
inquest the parson stated that he had frequently received fees 
for medical advice, and had for two years attended lectures in 
the medical course at the YIelbourne Hospital. The jury- 
added a rider to their verdict that Mr. Danne should be highly 
censured for not calling in a properly (pialified medical man. 
The proclamation declaring all ports in Queensland and 
Northern Territory of South Australia infected with cholera, 
has been revoked. 
