Vol, ii., No. 6. 
147 
THE CHEMIST AND DRUGGIST OP AUSTRALASIA. 
'motive than a desire to prejudice the continuance of the grant — probably 
fcy way of retaliation for the establishment of this Journal— and would j 
:&ppear to be part and parcel of the “fair-minded” policy to which we ! 
have previously referred. So dastardly and contemptible an action 
purely justifies the warmth of these remarks, and should go far, if it 
were necessary, to show the profession how well Messrs. Morgan Bros, 
are^ likely to serve their iiiterests in these colonies, and what any of the 
isocieties who have been induced to accord official recognition to their 
circular may expect, should they at any time, have the temerity to with- 
draw their patronage. 
To this we reply that no communication, verbal or written, 
was made by us to the Treasurer of Victoria. Copies of our 
April issue were sent in the usual routine to every one likely to 
be interested in its contents, including some of the Treasury 
officials, and, we believe, that the Treasurer saw, or had his 
attention drawn to our remarks on the balance sheet of 
the Society, which were as follow : — 
“ The balance-sheet calls for some remark as in its present form it is 
rather confusing. 
It has been generally understood that the grant of £1000 from the 
Government was for the maintenance of the College of Pharmacy. If 
this is the case it would be more satisfactory if the accounts for the in- 
stitution were separately kept.” Then follows an analysis of the 
balance-sheet. 
Is there anything dastardly or contemptible about this ? If 
the Treasurer did see it, as we presume he did, from the 
remarks of our contemporary, what harm can be done if, as is 
stated, they are in a position to prepare a thoroughly satisfac- 
tory account ? We criticise the form of the balance-sheet, our 
contemporary virtually admits that it was bad, and that a better 
one has been prepared for the authorities, and then accuses us of 
dastardly and contemptible action ! To give it the slightest 
ground for such a charge it has to bring in a proceeding on 
our part, which is entirely imaginary ! (“It is not too much 
to say that any journal which nominally appeals to a particular 
profession should most studiously avoid misrepresentation.” 
We here quote from our contemporary.) 
The Council and members of the Pharmaceutical Society 
of Australasia are responsible for the conduct of their organ, 
and they will do well to put some curb on the recklessness 
with which false and unfounded statements are made against 
ourselves. 
NATIVE PRODUCTS. 
Our readers, above all other classes of the community, are 
interested in the discovery and utilisation of the medicinal 
properties ©f native plants. Two or three particulars have 
oome under oua* notice, recently, which we will place on 
record. Many particulars have been supplied, in answer to 
our enquiries, by Baron Ferd. Von Mueller. 
In the Biverina district, we learn that Puff-balls, and one 
species in particular, are highly prized as applications to the 
galled backs of horses, so that, when a party is riding along, 
there is always a scramble to secure any specimen that may 
be discovered. This fungus belongs to ths genus Lycoperdon, 
■of which there are several species scattered over the Continent, 
and the allied genus, iiovista, has similar properties. The 
powdery spores are the part that is of use, and the fungus 
forms a sort of natural box for them. It is a question for our 
readers to determine whether lycopodium would not be 
'equally useful, and, if so, whether they would not be serving 
■a useful end by putting it up in convenient forms. If lycopo- 
'dium does not answer so well, then puff-balls might be 
•collected by the aid of small boys. 
Another fungus, Polyporus 2>ortentosus, has been shown to 
us with a statement that it is used in the manufacture of the 
pads of trusses. It is a very light elastic substance, and 
fieems admirably adapted for such a purpose, although there 
IS no conclusive evidence that it is actually applied to it. 
This fungus is dispersed through almost the whole of extra- 
tropical Australia, but occurs particularly in moist forest 
regions. There is a larger species, Polyporus igniariii-^, of 
which tinder was formerly made, which is also widely dis- 
tributed in the humid tracts of Australia, and might serve 
equally well for trusses. 
We hear of another case in which a chemist was offered, by 
a bushman, a sackful of sassafras bark, which he refused to 
buy. We \vonder if others of our readers would have been 
equally unwilling to venture on a similar small speculation. 
The bark would, perhaps, not be easy of sale, as it is not a 
recognised article of commerce ; but it is of some value for 
museum specimens, and might have been disposed of to the 
botanical authorities of one colony or another. The tree, 
however, is slow growing, thriving only on brooks in dense 
forest regions. It would be easily destroyed in any locality, 
and hard to replace, as the rearing of it would be possible 
only in deep, undisturbed forest glens. We do not recom- 
mend our readers to begin to collect this bark for sale, but we 
do suggest that, when such things are brought under notice, 
they should not pass them by indifferently, but learn all they 
can from whoever offers them, and secure specimens which 
can he submitted to competent authorities. We shall always 
be glad to assist in such work. 
The letter of Ora et Labora, under this 
Queensland heading, in our London journal of March 
Experiences. 12, has excited a good deal of adverse criti- 
cism. A friend has sent us the Cunnamnlla 
Express of April 27, which printed the letter, and dignified it 
by making it the subject of an Editorial article. We regret 
that we cannot afford space for all the remarks, which would 
extend to nearly a page of this journal, but we give a faithful 
abstract of them. Ourcontemporary isemphatic,but apparently 
forgets that the discussion is on matters of taste, on which 
dispute is useless. Moreover, the argument would have been 
more convincing if the detailed assertions of the absence of 
the refinements of life — music, art, museums — of luxuries 
such as fish, vegetables, milk (during certain seasons), and of 
free libraries, clubs of various kinds, and so on, had been 
refuted in equal detail. It says : — 
The untruthfulness and absurdity of the letter are apparent, and can 
only be the outcome of the senile vapourings of a diseased min'd. Why 
does not the writer return to the “ half a loaf in old England ? ” Surely it 
must be that he has found “the whole loaf in Australia” rather too good 
a thing to be lightly parted with. No doubt, he greatly misses the 
highly intellectual and pleasing society of the English Lord St. Leonards 
and Lord Deerhurst’s type. But “ Ora et Labora ” says that his business 
Just enables him to pay expenses, though he further on adds that he 
could have done better in England. The advertisements in The Chemist 
and Drugijist indicate that even “at home” chemists are sometimes 
disappointed in their hopes of becoming millionaires. One advertise- 
ment states “a good business for sale, returns over £400 per annum ; ” 
another “ £300 or more and still another “ £050, increasing.” . . . 
. . . . He says: — “The only portion of the trade I have unopposed 
is the dispensing, wliich is done at Brisbane prices though we are several 
hundred miles away from that town.” In our experience of trades- 
people in up-country towns, we are inclined to think the writer of the 
letter is a rara avis or, what is more probable, a confirmed lunatic. If 
tlie letter has the effect of keeping away immigrants of the same nature 
as its author, it will have achieved a very desirable end; but it is quite 
possible that it may keep away a very desirable class of colonists, and it 
is to be hoped that some chemists will be found to take up the cudgels 
on behalf of the land of their adoption. 
One portion of the letter, that referring to restrictions on the sale of 
poisons, unquestionably points to a glaring omission in the legal statutes 
of the colony. No one can deny that it is highly desirable— nay, abso- 
lutely imperative— that the sale of poisonous compounds should only be 
in the hands of those persons who. by examination tests, have proved 
themselves competent to deal with such matters. But this is a subject 
which the Government has intimated that it will deal with shortly. 
Restricting the sale of ordinary patent medicines by storekeepers 
would be a great calamity to Australian ljushmen, inasmuch as on 
stations, and in many townships far remote from a chemist and 
druggist’s shop, many valuable lives have been saved by some of these 
simple household remedies. 
We referred last month to a suggestion 
The Proposed made by the Melbourne City Council, that 
Labelling of all packets of mixed articles of food should 
Mixtures. bear labels stating the percentage of the 
principal ingredients. The Cocoa and 
Mustard Manufacturers’ Association have since waited upon 
the Acting Chief Secretary of Victoria to oppose this recom- 
mendation, urging that it would be an unjust interference 
with the trade, which would be seriously hampered by such an 
alteration of the law. The mixing of the ingredients was 
done by machinery, was mechanical and not chemical, and it 
would be impossible to state the exact constituents of each tin 
or package. Surely this is rather a side issue. The variation 
in the mixing cannot be very great, or all character for uni- 
formity would vanish, and the difficulty raised would be 
evaded by requiring the approximate percentage to he stated. 
The real objection is much stronger, and rests on quite 
different grounds. The principle involved once admitieci, will 
be extended to an inconvenient extent. 
In the articles on Eucalyptus Oil, pub- 
Ch.affey Bros. lished recently in our columns, the 
and writer, Mr. Win. Sutherland, remarked 
Eucalyptus Oil. that the clearance of the mallee on the 
Mildura run, now in the hands of 
Chaffey Bros., would oiler a capital opportunity for the 
economic distillation of the oil. We learn that this source of 
income has not escaped the irrigationists, and that distilling 
plant will shortly be placed upon the run. 
