Vol, ii., No. 4. 
THE CHEMIST AND DRUGGIST OP AUSTRALASIA 
111 
THE PHAKMACEUTICAL EXAMINATION UNDER THE 
MEDICAL COURT OF EXAMINERS OF TASMANIA. 
[By a Recent Examinee.] 
Having recently passed the above examination, I thought a 
few notes resj>ecting it might be of interest to your readers. I 
therefore forward this for insertion in your journal if you 
think it worthy of a space. The above examinations are held 
at the Hobart Hospital, and are conducted by not less than 
three of the members of the Medical Board or Court of 
Examiners. The examinations are not held at regular 
intervals as in Victoria. When a candidate wishes to go up 
for examination he is required to give notice of such inten- 
tion to the Secretary, and at the same time to forward his 
indentures of having served not less than three years’ appren- 
ticeship, together with certificates of character and ability. 
These being satisfactory, he receives notice to present himself 
on a certain day. The examination is conducted viva voce 
throughout and is divided as follows : 1st, Translation from 
any part of Cajsar, and reading and translating autograph 
prescriptions ; 2nd, Materia Medica and Pharmacy ; 3rd, 
Chemistry — Attfield being the text book. I was exempted 
from the Caesar in virtue of my certificate of having passed 
the Victorian preliminary examination, but had to read and 
translate a number of prescriptions. I w’as then shown 
various specimens of drugs and compounds of the Pharma- 
copoeia, including simple and compound powMers, tinctures, 
crystalline salts, scale preparations, etc., -svhich I was required 
to recognise, to state their therapeutic action, scale of doses, 
and if poisonous, to describe the antidote. In compounds, 
I was also required to state their constituents and propor- 
tionate parts. I was next examined in Chemistry. The 
following are some of the tests given to me : Recognise the 
following specimens, give doses, antidote, action, and use — 
podophyllin, opium, elaterium, oxalic acid, hydrarg. subclilor., 
zinci sulph., iodoform, ferrum redact., pulv. ipecac, co., 
pulv. jalapse co., magnes. sulidi., potass, iodid., potass, 
bromid., etc. For what is enema of infusion of quassia used? 
In what cases are very large doses of calomel given? Describe 
the process for making ferrum redact, and what is it? 
Describe the process for making iodoform ? Cocain hydrochlor. 
from what and how is it made ? From what are potash salts 
obtained? What is potassium and how' obtained? What is 
the action- of potassium when throwm on w’ater? What 
antidote would you give for hydrochloric acid, and what 
chemical action w'ould take ]place? The above are some of 
the questions asked me among many others. The time 
occupied in the examination varies according to the capacity 
of the candidate. I am inclined to think that my certificates 
from the Victorian Pharmacy Board for Materia Medica, 
Botany and Chemistry, tended considerably to abridge the 
time occupied in mine. Another candidate, w'ho had been 
apprenticed in Tasmania, w'as much longer under examina- 
tion. I may state that I experienced the greatest courtesy 
from Drs. CoVerdale, Perkins and Crowther (my examiners) 
and Dr. Lever (the Secretary). I would also note the 
liberality of the Court in not demanding any fees from a 
candidate until he has passed, the only jjayable being T2 2s. 
on receipt of license. In conclusion, I would remark that 
although the examination is not so crucial a test of study as 
that required by the Victorian Pharmacy Board, it is a very 
good test of practical competency, and I feel assured that no 
one could present himself for examination wdth any prospect 
of success unless he had a good knowledge of the Pharma- 
copeia and Attfield’s Chemistry. None but a holder of this 
license is allowed to vend medicines of any kind in Tasmania, 
except country storekeepers under special conditions, where 
there is no resident pharmacist. No Co-operative, Federal, or 
other cheap store competition there. Surely our insular . 
brethren are much to be envied in the 2 ^ossession of a . 
measure of legislative protection not enjoyed by the pharma- 
cists of (rreat Britain, or any other of her de 2 )endencies as far 
as I am aware. 
[copy of license.] 
Court of Medical Examiners, Hobart Town. 
is hereby licensed to vend 
Medicines and Drugs in the Island of Tasmania and its 
dependencies, under the provisions of the Act Oth of Victoria, 
Ko.2 , Given under our hands this day 18S. . 
j- Members 
: APOCYNUM CANNABINUM. 
! A case has recently been authenticated, in which the use of 
I the above-named drug has proved of almost magical effect in 
; the relief and ultimate cure of dro^Jsy. 
I Mr. , a gentleman residing in New South Wales, 
j suffering for some years with dropsy in its most acute form, 
I w'ithout receiving any marked benefit from the treatment of 
I his medical advisers and others, resolved, while on a visit to 
I England some time back, to consult some of the leading 
I medical men there ; amongst the different treatments tried, 
there w'as only one which gave the much looked for relief, 
I viz., the infusion of, what is commonly called, American 
I Indian Hemp, administered once or twice a day in half ounce 
i doses. The result was magical ; the second dose alleviating 
all pain, and rapidly diminishing the much swollen legs to 
their normal condition ; after a few days treatment entire re- 
lief and restoration to usual good health resulted. 
In conjunction with the infusion was taken Tincture Lyco- 
pus Virginicus 2x, 5 to 10 drops for a dose, as a sedative for 
I over action of the heart, in place of digitalis, and gave better 
I results without any cumulative effect. 
! Description of Apocynum Cannabinum or American Indian 
I Hemp ; natural order Apocynacem ; the plant is similar in ap- 
I pearance to Apocynum Androsyemifolium (Dog’s Bane), and is a 
j perennial herb, growing in copses, on the borders of woods, 
; &c., in Canada and the United States. Its common name re« 
fers to the strong fibres of the stem bark, which somewhat re- 
j sembles the bast fibres of hemp. This plant differs from 
; dog’s bane in having a more erect stem and branches, oblong 
I or ovate lanceolate leaves, smaller flowers, with a greenish- 
white erect corolla, and more slender follicles ; the root is 
’ horizontal, several feet long, one quarter to one inch thick, 
slightly branched and beset with fibres ; when dry, longitudi- 
nally wrinkled, and the thinner portions somewhat annulated 
by deej) transverse fissures ; it has a brownish-grey color ex- 
ternally, and under the thin corky layer a fleshy whitish bark, 
which is one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch thick, con- 
j tains laticiferous vessels, and encloses a white porous wood, 
I composed of several rings, and radiates by finely medullary 
j rays ; it is inodorous, and the wood tasteless, but the bark 
I developes gradually a very j>ersistent bitter taste ; the root is 
; usually mixed with the lower portions of the stem, which has 
I a smoother bark and harder wood, the latter enclosing a cen- 
i tral j)ith ; a bitter, crystallisable active princii^le has been 
j isolated from it, viz., Apocynina, and the in'esence, among 
^ others, of the following widely distributed proximate consti- 
' tuents have been detected, viz.. Tannin, Gallic Acid, Gum, 
I Starch, Resin, and Wax. 
j Lycopus Virginicus, or Bugle Weed, N.O. Labiahe ; the 
entire plant is used in making the mixture, it is a perennial 
I herb, growing in woods and shady moist places in Canada and 
I the United States, southward to South Carolina. It has a 
somewhat mint-like odour, and a bitter and slightly aromatic 
taste, and somewhat resembles, and has not unfrequently 
been found growing with the water Horehound, Lycopus 
j Europieus, which is also indigenous to North America as well 
as Europe. 
! New Metric Abbreviations.— The International Commit- 
I tee of Metric Weights and Measures have adopted the follow- 
i mg system of abbreviations : Italics are employed, with the 
: ex})onents 2 and 3 to denote square and cubic measure : Meter 
! III, decimeter -^dm, centimeter millimeter —mm, 
I kilometer = Jon, Meter square =in- 2 , meter cube " and so 
I on for the rest. Liter deciliter - etc. Kilogram - A,y/, 
dekagram- dJcf/, gram— decigram— d//, centigram— tv/, and 
milligram^?ay. 
I “ My husband is so poetic,” said one lady to another in a 
: street car the other day. “ Have you ever tried rubbin’ his 
jints with hartshorn liniment, mum ?” interrupted a beefy 
looking woman with a market basket at her feet, who was 
sitting at the lady’s elbow' and overheard the remark. “ That’ll 
straighten him out as quick as anything I know of, if he ain’t 
got it too bad.” 
The Western Australian Essential Oils Manufacturing Com- 
pany, Perth, resolved on February 16, that the company 
should be w'ound up voluntarily. 
