18 
THE CHEMIST AND DEUGGIST OF AUSTEALASIA. Jan. 1st, 1886. 
BE VIEW. 
The Cheml>iW' and Druggists'’ Diary, 1880. Eighteenth year of 
issue. Presented to every subscriber to “ The Chemist and 
Druggist.” Publishing Offices — 4‘2 Cannon-street, London, 
and Normanby Chambers, ^Melbourne, Victoria. 
The leading subject of this u'ell-kuown annual is a treatise 
on “The Pharmacy of the Pharmacopo?ia.” It fills 38 closely- 
printed pages, and its subject is really the changes that 
appear in the text of the British Pharmacopoeia, as revised 
and authorised by the General Medical Council during the 
past year. The real editors of the Pharmacopoeia are 
Professors Redwood, Bentley, and Attfield. The changes they 
have found it desirable to make are reviewed and explained in 
this treatise by a number of the best English and Scotch 
Pharmacists, whose training has rendered them specially 
qualified for the task. 
The treatise in no way takes the ])lace of the Pharmacopceia 
itself, nor will it be entirely intelligible if read without con- 
stant reference to that volume. It may be called, rather, a 
running commentary for a busy man — for one who is con- 
stantly using the new standard, and wishes, without the labour 
of research to know the why and the ■wherefore of the changes 
that appear on every i^age. 
There are short general headings, as additions, rejections, 
nomenclature, proportional and decimal parts ; then follow 
paragraphs of various length dealing with the various articles 
in the Pharmacopceia in the order in which they occur. The 
following paragraph will illustrate the character of the com- 
ments : — 
ACIDUM NITRO-HYDROCHLORICUJI DILUTUM. 
A very commendable change has been made in the preparation of this 
acid. tVlien Nitric and Hydrochloric Acids of B.P. strength are mixed, 
much Chlorine and Chloroiiitrous Acid are given off, thus : — 
2HNO, -h 6HC1 = 2NOC!;j -h Ch + 4 Ho O 
In the old method these almost entirely disappeared dm*ing the 
twenty-four hours standing, previous to diluting, and, as pointed out by 
Dr.jTilden, the finished acid was very much weaker than the B.P. stated 
it to be Tilden proposed that the acids should be diluted at once, in 
which case the reaction noted above would still take place, given time, 
with this additional : — 
2 NOCI 2 + 3 = HNO.J -I- HNO 2 -t- 4 HCl 
Hydrochloric and Nitric Acids being regenerated, and nitrous acids 
formed from the Chloroiiitrous Acid reacting with water. After stand- 
ing fourteen days, the dilute acid contains the full complement of Chlo- 
rine of these acids. 
It is, therefoi’v', about a ninth stronger than before ; but it will be 
noticed that the amount of soda solution reciuired for neutralisation is 
less. 
In addition to this long treatise, the Diary contains several 
other matters of use and interest to Australasian pharmacists, 
although it has been prepared more especially for Britons. 
There is an article on Patents in the United Kingdom and 
abroad, giving briefly their cost and duration in various coun- 
Itries. The addresses of Law and Public offices in London, of 
London doctors and Hospitals, and of London Societies are 
detailed. The usual postal information, dates of arrivals and 
departures of mails, foreign measures, weights, and monies, 
and so on, are all given. Sixpenny telegrams, which came 
into use in the United Kingdom on October 1st, have given 
rise to a novel section, which ought to be of much use in Vic- 
toria, which has enjoyed the privilege rather longer. In the 
first place, there is a telegraphic code, which represents almost 
every sentence used in ordinary transactions by a single word. 
A suggestion, that can easily be carried out, is made for codi- 
fying prices current. 
Eurther, there is a list of registered telegraphic addresses of 
all the i^rincii^al firms in the drug trade, in which nearly all 
are reduced to two words. If the materials here provided are 
brought into general use, it will be easy to order four or five 
articles, with definite instructions as to mode of delivery, 
within the limits of a sixi^enny telegram. 
The skeleton pages, as usual, provide for entries of a week 
on each page. A number of pages ruled only with money 
columns are added at the end of the diary proper, for use in | 
any ■way that the iDarticular pharmacist may desire. Stock | 
book, want book, laboratory book, Ac., Ac., are all here in ! 
embryo, and the single I’uling makes the pages useful ft>i’ a j 
greater variety of purposes than any greater complication ! 
■would permit. | 
We must not close without an allusion to the advertise- j 
ments, which are, in themselves, one of the most useful fea- 
tures of the publication, and the cause of the ability of its 
publishers to adapt it so fully to the wants of their sui^porters. 
It is not too much to say that the man who knows most 
about the British markets will learn much from this section, 
while for others it is a perfect mine of information that needs 
only to be sifted and digested to make it invaluable. The 
firms who advertise seem more numerous and varied than 
ever. 
The Eoeest Flora of South Australia, by J. E. Brown, 
F.L.S., Conservator of Forests for the Government of South 
Australia. Large folio. 
This very handsome work is published in quarterly parts> 
containing four full-page coloured lithographs, each devoted 
to the illustration of a single species. As a rule, we are pre- 
sented with a picture of a flowering branch of natural size, 
the usual dissections of the flower and fruit, with sections of 
the stem and bark, showing the colour and veining of the 
wood. 
The parts before us (parts 4, 5, and 6) illustrate Ducalyptus 
paucijlora ; E. 2 )aniculata ; E. odorata; E. gracilis, both white 
and red mallees; Dodomva lohulata ; D. microzyga ; Eremo- 
2 )hila lonyifoUa ; Hakea multilineata ; Acacia decurrens (the 
black wattle); A. longifolia var. sophone ; Bursaria spinosa; 
Myoporum iimdare ; Melaleuca squarrosa, and Fittosporuni 
phillyceroides. 
The text is divided into headings, specific name, vernacular 
name, local distribution, i)opular description, and botanical 
description, under each of which interesting information is 
given. The work is not repulsively scientific, care being taken 
to make it useful for reference by unscientific readers. It is 
really an edition de lu.ve, and w’ould be an ornament to any 
drawing-room table, quite apart from its scientific value. 
Magnificent works like these are the luxuries of governments. 
The return they yield is not in money, but in the development 
of the resources of the country, which, nevertheless, takes 
place often so slowly that the influence of such publications is 
overlooked. 
One unobtrusive feature of the work increases its value con- 
siderably. The colouring of the illustration is criticised in 
the text, attention being called to any excess in the brilliancy 
of tints. Th is gives the student unusual confidence that he 
can rely on the accuracy of the illustration 
EXCHANGE COLUMN. 
We propose to devote i^art of our space each month to a feature 
which has proved very useful and interesting to all British 
readers of “The Chemist and Druggist” under the title 
of “Exchange Column,” All pharmacists are familiar with 
the accumulations of small quantities of goods, which a tem- 
porary demand has led them to stock. The change of fashion 
has left these articles as so much useless lumber on their 
hands. But it is the constant ex 2 )erience that a demand may 
exist in some localities, for the very goods which are utterly 
unsaleable elsewhere. Our “ Exchange Column” will provide 
a ready means of communication between those who would be 
willing to buy, and those who would be glad to sell. 
This column is especially for the advantage of the retail 
2 )harmacist. It would be entirely against the si>irit in which 
it is designed to allow a manufacturer or imj^orter to use it to 
advertise his business. All announcements with that ten- 
dency will be rigidly excluded, and the sj)ace allotted will be 
devoted to advertisements of surplus and second-hand goods. 
Terms. — Amiouncomeiits are inserted in this column at the rate of 
one halfpeniiv per word, on condition that name and address are added 
Name and address to bo paid for. Price in ligures counts as one word. 
If name and address are not included, one penny per word must be 
paid. A number will then be attached to the advertisement by the pub- 
lisher of “ The Chemist axd Druggist of Austeal.^.sia,” and all cor- 
respondence relating to it must be addressed to the “Publisher of The 
Chemist and Druggist of Australasia, Normanby Chambers, Mel- 
bourne,” the envelope to be endorsed also with the number. The pub- 
lisher will transmit the correspondence to the advertiser, and with tl>at 
his share in the transaction will cease. Stamps of any colony will be 
accepted in payment, and all advertisements must be paid for in advance. 
Address Wanted. 
David Ambrose Gibbs, chemist, registered in Ne'w Zealand,, 
last heard of in South Australia. 15/15. 
Books. 
Wanted— Hooker’s Essay on Flora Tasmania. H. B. 21/3. 
