17 
VoL.ii., No. 1. THE CHEMIST AND DEUGGIST OF AUSTRALASIA. 
1 
ENTERTAINING VISITORS AT INTERCOLONIAL 
GATHERINGS. I 
To the Editor of The Chemist and Druggist of Australasia. 
Sir, — I read with much pleasure the remarks you made in 
the last issue of your journal on the subject of entertaining 
visitors. Australians are as independent a people as are to be 
found anywhere, and chemists are the most independent of 
Australians, consequently the obligations under which a rep- 
resentative visitor is laid are generally felt to be irksome in j 
the extreme. If the ticket plan you advocate was adopted, it i 
would undoubtedly tend to popularise Intercolonial gatherings, | 
and a person would not then feel obliged to participate in 
every entertainment provided for him, whether it accorded 
with his tastes and inclinations or not, or, participating, would 
feel himself more of a free agent. I am with you in the matter > 
of the broadening of the constitution of Conferences also, and | 
I am sure that if our South Australian friends wdll go in for an 
International Conference on the lines indicated by you, they 
will meet with enthusiastic support from all quarters, and 
■will score a success which will be gratifying to themselves, 
and beneficial to the interests of Pharmacy. 
I am yours, &c., 
Victoria, 7/12/86. INDEPENDENCE. 
PHARMACY IN QUEENSLAND. 
AVe have received two further letters on this matter.] 
To the Editor of The Chemist and Druggist of Australasia. 
Sir, — Yours of the 2nd instant to hand, you direct my 
attention to a letter in the last number of the Chemist and 
Druggist on Pharmacy in this Colony. In reply to your 
remarks I may say, that I am desirous of seeing the Society 
resuscitated, and, that some months ago I received a circular 
from the secretary soliciting my subscription, and stating that 
it was the w'ish of the members in Brisbane to place the 
Society in a state of renewed activity. About two months 
since I sent my subscription, but have heard nothing further. — 
Yours truly, 
S. SAUNDERS. 
To the Editor of The Chemist and Druggist of Australasia. 
Sir, — I was away South wTren your letter of 3rd September 
arrived, consequently I was unable to send on any reply in 
time for the conference. As regards the resusciation of the 
Queensland Pharmaceutical Society, I am quite at one with 
Queensland Pharmacist, believing it would be a great benefit 
to the trade in many ways. Although 2,000 miles away from 
Brisbane, I shall always be only too pleased to join wdth the 
Southerners in any matter that may be likely to be a benefit to the 
trade, or that would in any way tend to raise the standing of 
the Pharmaceutical Society in Queensland, and will for\vard 
my mite to the funds when called upon. — Yours truly, 
H. THOMAS. 
Normanton, Nov. 30, 1886. 
25 j 24. W.D.E., Sydney. — Thanks for your kind ex- 
pressions. 
60 I 23. W.J.G., Queensland. — Dentistry. The book on 
surgical dentistry that finds most favor -with chemists is 
without doubt Tomes’ “Manual of Dental Surgery,” pub- 
lished by Churchills, London, at 14s. This is shown by the 
post-card competition for enumerating the twenty best re- 
ference books for chemists in our parent journal. The Chemist 
and Druggist, published on Sei)tember 25, p. 411. 
29 1 18. J.R., H.E.W., Barraba, N.S.W.— By reference to 
page xxi. of Tlte Chemist and Druggist for May 24 (to which, 
indeed, you refer) you will find that the glass barrels you 
mention are made by Messrs. Mawson & Swan, Newcastle, 
and that Messrs. Kempthorne, Prosser, & Co, are agents in 
New Zealand. We cannot ourselves undertake agency 
business. 
R. M. writes : — Do you or any of your readers know of OIL 
OF GLADNESS ? The only allusion to this that we know of is 
in Psalm 45, 7, “ Anointed Thee with the Oil of Gladness above 
thy fellows,” which is also quoted in Hebrews 1, 9. As we 
speak of a face shining with joy the Jews seem to have con- 
sidered a face shining with oil to be inseparable from great 
joyousness. It is possible that some compound oil has re- 
ceived this name, and we shall be glad to receive information 
from our readers. 
20 I 24. Enquirer. Spirit of Nitrous Ether.— So many 
formulae for the manufacture of Sp. Aeth. Nit have beed pub- 
lished toat w'e find it impossible to say which you desire. The 
following -was devised by Mr. A. C. Abraham and published at 
the meeting of the British Pharmaceutical Conference in 1883. 
Acid, nitric 4^ A- oz. 
Calc. carb. praecip. . . oz. 
Combine by pouring the acid on the chalk in a large flask. 
Acid Sulphuric 3 fl. oz. 
Sp. rect • . 1 pint. 
Mix gradually and pour on the nitrate of calcium. Distil and receive 
the distillate in 
Sp. rect pints. 
The product ■was 41b. lOoz., or 87^ fluid ounces, sp. gr. *8463; 
proportion of nitrous ether separated 3 to 4 per cent. 
Filter.— The best filter for cooling and purifying water " 
This is very difficult to select. The Pasteur-ChambeiTan" 
filter, perhaps, secures the most perfect purity, but its use re- 
quires considerable pressure. The Central Board of Health 
of Victoria recommend as the result of comparative experi- 
ments the Farqubar-Oldham and the Judson’s Perfect Parity 
Filters. You will find it better to make the operation of cooling 
your water distinct from its filtration. Cooling by evajiora- 
tion is the best plan, and we suggest standing your filter in 
a pan of water, and enveloping it with a jacket of thick 
flannel or felt. While the edges of the jacket are in water 
capillary attraction ■will raise a sufficient supply to allow for 
evaporation and consequent cooling of the wffiole filter. 
Manufacture of Chemicals. — There is no book giving 
practical formulie for the manufacture of chemicals such as 
give processes for making perfumery and the like. ^ Practical 
experience has more to do with profitable results in this in- 
dustry than in some others. Watt’s “Dictionary of 
Chemistry” is the most comprehensive work, and gives toler- 
ably full details in most instances. Spons’s “Encyclopedia 
of Manufactures” (2 vols.) gives good accounts of the manu- 
facture of the more important chemicals, such as tartaric 
acid, bleaching powder, &c. If you w'ill tell us what par- 
ticular chemicals you wish to manufacture we will endeavor 
to get the best information for you. 
J. D. E., Victoria.— The formula for Liquor Cocci, which 
appeared in THE CHEMISTS’ AND DRUGGISTS DIARY 
for 1884 was as follows : — 
Boil for twenty minutes in a porcelain dish 1 oz. of 
cochineal (in coarse powder), and 1 oz. carbonate of potash, 
with 7 oz. water; then add gradually a mixture of 1 oz. of 
jyotash alum (this is better than ammonia alum) and 1 oz. of 
cream of tartar. When effervescence has ceased, filter, 
washing the residue -with proof spirit to 8 oz. In the filtrate 
dissolve 4 drms. of salt and 6 oz. of sugar, and make up to 
16 oz. with water. This liquor does not become mouldy, 
I musty, or ropy, even in the hottest summer weather, or the 
I closest kitchen. Liquors prepared from carmine and am- 
! monia cannot be recommended, as they are liable to de- 
I colorisation by acids, and so are practically unfit for culinary 
i purposes. 
I The Pharmacy Examinations in Queensland. — A corres- 
I pondent writes : — I would like to point out the mode in which 
i the examinations] are conducted here ; if the board will only 
I look ahead a little they will see the danger of it, especially as 
! they are desirous of getting their certificates recognized at 
i home. It is this. — A man is fairly well up in say — Botany, 
! obtains the necessary number of marks to pass, and fails in 
j the other subjects on presenting himself again he is not 
' examined in this subject and eventually scrapes through. At 
j the first Examination it was not known that this course would 
be adopted, and I consider it unfair to those who took the 
trouble to get fairly well up and passed at the first attempt. 
This system of scraping through has already commenced in 
Brisbane, and I trust you will take the matter up before it 
gets a firm hold, as you must know well our certificates ^yill 
never be recognized if they continue to conduct the examin- 
ation in this way. At the minor at home, a man either fails 
or passes, and the sooner this is adopted the better it will be for 
all. _ , 
Restoring “Perished” Rubber Goods. — Can our readers 
suggest a plan for softening a quantity of teats and enemas 
that have become quite brittle ? Ammonia has been tried, 
! hut failed. We have heard of exposure tc the vapor of carbon 
j bisulphide, but we do not know if it was entirely successful. 
I “A Victorian.”— We are much obliged to you for your kind 
j expressions in our favor, but our rule not to regard anonymous 
' contributions prevents its publication. 
