VoL. i. Noi 1. 
THE CHEMIST AND DEUGGIST OF AUSTEALASIA. 
find them of the greatest benefit. They make the routine of 
business mote interesting, and the whole_ daily life 
pleasurable. The pecuniary benefit, which is smaller, is still 
not to be disregarded. Personal imiorovement and qualifica- 
tion, by making the individual services more valuable, is the 
surest way of getting a higher rate of remuneration. 
■ We would call attention here to the offer made m our 
students’ column, on page 4. 
PROFESSOR REDWOOD. 
The movement going on at home to provide a testimonial to 
Professor Redwood is one in which Australian pharmacists 
have as great an interest as any living in the heart of 
London. 
It was probably with some feelings of regret that the 
announcement was received of the appointment of Dr. 
Theophilus Redwood to the post of Emeritus Professor to the 
Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. To hear of the 
retirement from any post of activity of a man who, like him, 
has been the honoured and beloved instructor of many gene-' 
rations of students, must create mingled feelings in the hearts 
of all who have known him. Those who have seen him 
only during recent years can discern no failure iri energy, 
clearness of thought or speech, or expanse and minuteness 
of knowledge. What he was in his younger days must be 
known to many of his old pupils in these colonies. They 
might, perhaps, trace some loss of youthful fire in the veteran 
pharmacist ; but they would be compelled to confess that its 
absence is more than compensated by enlarged experience. 
Professor Redwood stands almost alone for the extent and 
diversity of his knowledge of pharmaceutical subjects. Others 
have made their mark in chemistry or botany, scientific or 
applied. We have many thoroughly equipped pharmacists 
coming forward ; but, for all this, we have no one who will 
altogether bear comparison with Professor Redwood in the 
peculiarly pharmaceutical bent of his knowledge and experi- 
ence. This impression is confirmed by every meeting and 
conference on iDharmaceutical subjects that he attends. 
It will be noticed from the reports in the November issue of 
The Chemist and Dru<}(fist that the testimonial to Professor 
Redwood is to take the form of a scholarship ; but there is 
also a desire to give the movement some more personal 
feature. 
It cannot be doubted that many pharmacists in Australasia 
will desire to have a share in this mark of recognition of the 
services Professor Redwood has rendered to pharmacy. Most 
of them will naturally like to send their contributions direct, 
with some expression of their own personal feelings. But we 
shall be very pleased to act as intermediaries in any cases 
where this is not desirable ; to receive contributions, acknow- 
ledge them in these columns, and transmit them to the lu’oper 
authorities in due course. We trust that by this means, some 
who would think it hardly worth while to send home the small 
sum they desire to contribute, may be led to take their part in 
a movement which deserves the sympathy of all pharmacists 
of English blood. 
INSECT FLOWERS. 
These are attracting more than usual attention in Victoria 
at the present time, owing to a suggestion made by Mr. C. 
Watt, of Brunswick, to the Minister of Agriculture, that if 
Xfianted in the Geelong vineyards the pyrethrum might 
destroy the phylloxera, with which they were infected. Baron 
Von Mueller thought that the experiment ought to be tried, 
but did not prophesy success. The department immediately 
sent to England for a supply of seed, which was received 
about the middle of December. It was announced that some 
of the seed would be raised at the Dookie experimental farm, 
and that any i)erson wishing to test the plan in vineyards still 
infected could obtain a supply of seed from the department. 
Numerous applications were made in response to this offer. 
The seed will be distributed also amongst persons who wish to 
see if the plant can be profitably grown for commercial pur- 
poses. It is understood that a very large trade in the pyi*eth- 
I’um seed is done n California, where it is extensively grown 
for the manufacture of insect j)owder. The imj)orts of the 
seed to this colony for the purpose are also large. 
For the information of our readers we x^rint some extracts 
from a x^aper on the “Comparative value of various species of 
Pyrethrum,” x^^^lisl^ed in the Canadian Entomologist for 
1879 
“The Pgrethriims are hardy xff ants which bloom abundantly 
the second year from seed. The x^owder is prepared from the 
half-opened flowers gathered during dry weather, and dried in 
the shade, under cover ; but the process of gathering, drying, 
and preparing involves so much time that their culture can 
only be made profitable where labor is cheap. Single flowers 
are much more x^owerful than double flowers.” We may 
further remark that the herb is worthless as an insecticide. 
It is not the vax>our from the flowers that is x^oisonous, but 
some non-volatile resinous constituent. It is not sufficient to 
enclose an insect in a limited space with a number of the 
flowers. They must be finely powdered, and the powder must 
be distributed in such a way that some of it enters the i}^outh 
or breathing x>ores of the insect. It then x^roduces a kind of 
paralysis, the insect showing signs of life for many hours after 
it has lost the power of movement. 
CARDVVS ARVEESIS. 
It is against the Carduus arvensis (Cnici(s arvensis, Cirsinm 
arvejise) that the Thistles’ Act Amendment Act, 1885, is prin- 
cipally directed. It is the common British thistle, one of the 
weeds most difficult of all to eradicate, but not without its 
uses. Loudon tells us that before the introduction of naked 
fallows and turnips, it formed the supx^ering of housed cattle 
in Scotland during five or six weeks of every summer. 
We refer to it here, as Mr. E. B. Shuttleworth, of Montreal, 
has just announced the discovery of an alkaloid in the flower 
heads. He proposes for it the name of Circine, as derived 
from the Cirsium arvcnse. He obtained it by Dragendorff’s 
method, treating 10 drachms of the air-dried heads first with 
X)etroleum ether, and in succession with ether, chloroform, 
alcohol, and water. The alcoholic extract gave distinct re- 
actions, showing the x>resence of an alkaloid, which has not 
yet been isolated. No characteristic reactions have been 
observed. 
Wk desire to call the attention of all apprentices and 
students in New Zealand to the gold medal in x^harmacy 
offered by the Pharmacy Board. It is surx)i'ising that only a 
single competitor should have sent in his name for the last 
examination. Naturally the Board decided that as there 
would be no comx)etition, it was advisable not to award the 
medal for 1885. But it is much to be hox>ed that the same 
apathy will not prevail again. The subject given for competi- 
tion is interesting in itself, and the x^rospect of securing so 
handsome and honourable a distinction ought to stimulate to 
vigorous exertion every young xhiarmacist in the colony. The 
true British sx^irit will have much deteriorated if the next 
examination does not bring to the front a crowd of comxjeti- 
tors. 
The new Queensland Licensing Act seems to leave a loop- 
hole for an offence which rumour says is very common in 
some of the American States. From the allusion to the Act 
in our Queensland letter, it will be noticed that the xHoyisions 
of the Act are not to ax^ply to any apothecary, chemist, or 
druggist who administers or sells any spirits as medicine, or 
for medicinal or chemical x^urposes. In the States referred to 
it is said that lithograxihed x^rescriptions for good stiff drinks 
of various kinds can be easily obtained. These can be pre- 
sented to a druggist as often and as many times as their 
holder wishes, and on each occasion he is able to obtain a 
drink without any infringement of the letter of the law. It is 
not to be sux^x^osed that the Queensland pharmacists will lend 
themselves to such xwactices ; but it will be well for them to 
be on the watch lest some black sheex> may injure the common 
reputation by adopting the lucrative business of sly grog- 
selling. 
Below we give some recent decisions of the Commissions 
of Customs for Victoria, relating to goods in which our readers 
are more or less interested 
