VoL. ii., No. 5. 
127 
THE CHEMIST AND DRUGGIST OF AUSTRALASIA. 
one, and so he had been prompted to make the investigations 
which his paper related. He finds that this peculiar charac- 
ter is due to the presence of a neutral body, having the 
properties of a glucoside, and that after chemical treatment of 
the pods this substance separates out in dirty white non- 
crystalline state, having a very faint odour and an extremely 
nasty taste. This body is soluble both in water and in alcohol, 
and the smallest amount shaken up in the former causes froth 
to arise. Its behaviour when treated with various 
chemical re-agents is then alluded to. When applied 
to the living organism it is found to be an irritant poison, 
physiologically allied to saponin, and it is also chemically 
similar to that substance ; it has been regarded as being iden- 
tical with it. 
The third paper was entitled, 
the Physiological Action of Daphnandba Repan- 
DULA.” 
It was whilst located on the Johnstone River, where also 
the author discovered a new species of Daphnandra, that he 
found out the poisonous properties possessed by plants of 
that genus, an observation which he has recently communi- 
cated to the Royal Society of New South Wales. All parts of 
this Daphnandra repandula have a peculiar transient bitter 
taste. When the bark is first removed from the tree its inner 
surface has a yellow color, and remains free from microscopic 
organisms when kept. The action of different chemical 
bodies on this infusion having been referred to, the method 
adopted in procuring an extract of the plant was described. 
This extract is found to be of a hard consistence, soluble to 
any extent in water, and to be remarkably rich in alkaloids. 
It neither contains gums nor resins. It is very poisonous — a 
grain is a fatal dose for a frog, and ten will kill warm-blooded 
animals. The method of preparing the different alkaloids 
was then described. These are all colourless when pure, and 
crystalline, as are also their salts. The active one can be 
easily separated from them, being soluble in water. Experi- 
ments with this show that in the frog at least its poisonous 
effect is chiefly due to its action on the motor ganglia of the 
heart — an action which is carefully described. To some 
extent it is antagonistic to strychnia. It does not injure 
muscle when administered through the circulation, and the 
primary cause of death in these animals, to which it had been 
given, appears to be loss of the reflex function of the spinal 
cord. In the case of warm-blooded animals it causes asphyx- 
ial convulsions of a non-violent character. The paper further 
related to the changes which this drug exerted in the appear- 
ance and in the functions of different organs of the body, and 
to the fact that it powerfully affects even fish, insects, 
molluscs, and infusoria ; when topically applied to voluntary 
or involuntary muscle, nerves, cilia of frog’s pharynx, gill of 
mussel, thin-skinned insects, it paralyses each and all of them 
rapidly. Daphnandra has also a curious action — namely, that 
of retarding the development of septic organisms, such as 
bacteria in beef infusion ; it will also deodorise putrid meat. 
It checks the growth of the yeast plant, and kills some water 
plants. Daphnandra micrantha, Benth, a shrub growing in 
the neighbourhood of Brisbane, contains likewise a similar 
active principle, so that there is some prospect of not only 
the subject of the paper but of other species of the same 
genus also being found to be of use— at least, medicinally. 
A New Plan for Melting AVax. — Messrs. A. B. Edman and 
Co., of the Italian Apiary, Eight Mile Plains, on the Logan, 
Queensland, uses a solar wax-melter, by which wax is obtained 
without the slightest discolouration. A tin box, trough shaped, 
has a false bottom laid in it, and on this are placed the wax cap- 
pings and combs desired to be melted ; over this is laid a 
pane of glass, supported by rabbets on the inside of the box, 
a space of half an inch is allowed, and then another pane of 
glass is laid ; it is essential that these glass panes fit 
accurately to the box so as to prevent the escape of the heated 
air below. All being ready, the box, with the wax in it, and 
the panes of glass fixed, is placed out in the full sunshine ; 
then a reflector, the same size as the panes, is fixed at right 
angles with t he glass so as to reflect the sun’s rays upon it. 
The reflector can be made of bright tin, but looking-glass is 
preferable. The surface of the glass feels pleasantly warm, 
but apparently not near the heat required to melt wax ; but 
under the glass, the temperature is absolutely scalding. 
For melting wax the apparatus is simply perfect ; it is no 
trouble, and the quality of the wax is never injured, for there 
can be no burning or discolouration. 
Use for Bananas. — It is stated that missionaries in the 
Congo region have discovered that a beverage made of 
bananas is prevention of malarial fevers. Acting upon this 
hint, the Banana Liqueur Company have produced a beverage 
in either an alcholic or non-alcoholic form. It can be used 
with equal advantage as a liqueur diluted with hot or cold or 
soda water. Jamaica bananas are used, but this may provide 
a hint for Australasian chemists. 
PHARMACY IN QUEENSLAND.— ANOTHER VIEW. 
To the Editor of The Chemist and Druggist of Australasia, 
Sir, — I am quite prepared to endorse all that your corre- 
spondent “Retailer” has written in his letter, which you 
print in your issue of March 1st. I have already ventilated 
my personal grievances in your columns, so will not refer to 
them again. AVe chemists in Queensland have a common 
grievance which we ought to remove as soon as possible ; that 
is, as your correspondent points out, the want of a “ Poisons 
Act,” or better still a “ Drugs Act.” Can we not combine and 
agitate systematically until we get one before Parliament ? 
In this young colony we might with advantage to ourselves 
learn by the observation or experiences we have had of the 
working of “Poisons Acts’* in England and the southern 
colonies — we know in what these acts are deficient ; actually 
they do not afford adequate protection either to the public or 
to the chemist. One Act allows its provisions to be evaded by 
granting licences to unqualified persons to sell poisons under 
certain conditions ! Another Act falls short of its require- 
ments by allowing unqualified persons to conduct a chemist’s 
business by nominally forming themselves into a company I 
Another Act prohibits the sale of poisons by any but qualified 
chemists, yet permits the most dangerous poisons to be sold 
by grocers and storekeepers under the protection of a patent 
medicine stamp I ! Might I humbly suggest that we should 
get some one to prepare a bill on the basis of the English and 
colonial Acts, taking care that no such anomalies as cited 
above creep into it ; copies of this document might then be 
submitted to chemists in the form of circulars (after your ex- 
cellent method of conducting inquiries) for them to append 
any appropriate remarks and to erase what they consider 
objectionable. The bill modified according to the aggregate 
opinion might then be put into the hands of an advocate in 
Parliament. 
There are some other mistakes which I think most chemists 
are agreed should be rectified. Regarding the examinations 
as conducted at present, and the lack of educational advan- 
tages in Queensland, it is not possible that the southern colo- 
nies can (with justice to their own qualified men) estimate 
the Queensland diploma as equivalent to theirs ; as a matter 
of fact, it is not and cannot be, until there be uniformity m 
the examinations throughout the colonies. To secure this it 
might be desirable to have examination papers (previously 
prepared by examiners of each colony) sent under seal from a 
common centre to each branch which is under a superinten- 
dent, who distributes the papers to each candidate and sees 
fair play, &c., on the same principle as the preliminary exa- 
mination is conducted in England. Part of the examination 
might be viva voce, each superintendent being supplied with 
a list of questions to put to the candidates under his super- 
vision, or if practicable, we might employ examiners from 
Victoria and New South AVales to examine in Queensland, 
If this will elicit some further correspondence from abler 
men than myself on the important questions referred to. it 
will, I hope, be sufficient apology for my troubling you with 
this letter, and if some one will take the initiative in drafting 
an efficient Poisons Act for Queensland he will be a public 
benefactor, 
I am. Sir, yours obediently, 
ORA ET LABORA. 
[Our correspondent seems to overlook the quarterly exami- 
nations now conducted by the Pharmacy Board of Queens- 
land ; these seem to be as severe as those of the southern 
colonies.J 
