VoL. ii., No. 6. 
THE CHEMIST AND DRUGGIST OF AUSTRALASIA. 
155 
Mr. P. Dutton, who has been carrying on business at Ken- 
sington for about five years, has been appointed dispenser to 
the “ United Friendly Societies’ Dispensary,” which is to be 
opened here on July 1st. There are about 1,500 members 
belonging to different lodges who will be entitled to medicine, 
&c., and in addition it is intended to supply to the general 
public. As an indication of the bad state of the drug trade 
here it may be mentioned that out of nine applications for the 
position of dispenser three were from men engaged in busi- 
ness here — one for about 20 years, another for about as many 
months, and the third, as stated, for about five years, while 
two have offered to sell the whole of their different stocks 
and fittings to the society. 
Mr. R. Quesnal is at present staying in Dunedin, repre- 
senting the firm of Francis Forrest and Co,, and has just 
distributed to the leading drug stores handsome show cards 
advertising Pears’ soap. 
The New Zealand Medical Association have just concluded 
a conference held at Wellington, which was attended by doc- 
tors Maunsell and De Zouche as representatives from Otago. 
The delegates waited on the Premier on May 14th for the 
purpose of obtaining his assistance (which was promised) 
towards getting measures passed by Parliament so that only 
medical men should be allowed to perform vaccination. 
(from our own correspondent.) 
Wellington, April 22nd, 1887. 
Messrs. Kempthorns, Prosser & Co. have again secured 
the contract for the supply of drugs, etc., to the Wellington 
hospital. Four other tenders were sent in. 
Mr. Thos. Gtordon has opened a shop in Lambton Quay, 
Wellington, and Mr. J. D. Keir has opened in Carterton, each 
of these gentlemen were supplied throughout by the Welling- 
ton branch of Messrs. Kempthorne, Prosser & Co. 
We mentioned last month that the salvage stock of Messrs. 
Barraud & Co. was sold for £510. The purchaser was Mr. 0. 
I. Kempthorne, on behalf of the Wellington house of Messrs. 
Kempthorne, Prosser & Co. After the sale, the goods were 
marked at actual cost to the Company and lists supplied to 
the trade, an opportunity thus being afforded to secure any 
of the lines much below ordinary wholesale prices. This mode 
of reselling the stock has given great satisfaction to the trade 
generally, as it was felt that had a retailer been the purchaser 
great cutting of prices would have been the result. Messrs. 
Barraud & Co. retire from business. 
Mr. Evan Prosser, of Sydney, has paid a visit to New Zea- 
land and at the present time is at Dunedin. 
Mr. James Henton, the Auckland manager for Messrs. 
Kempthorne, Prosser & Co., has just concluded a well-earned 
holiday, having visited Melbourne and Sydney. 
At the present moment “ Warner’s Safe Cure ” is the great 
article of sale in New Zealand, and we hear on good authority 
that in some districts the hotel-keepers have stocked this line 
and are selling it in the ordinary way of trade as a sixpenny 
drink. The run on this line has been unprecedented in the 
colony. 
Mb. R. H. Roe, representing Messrs. F. Steam & Co., of 
Detroit, U.S.A., is now doing business in the Westland Dis- 
trict of New Zealand, and has no reason to complain of the 
amount of support given him in the Southern cities. 
Mr. Davies, of the firm of Scott & Bowne, New York, has 
been looking up the medical men of New Zealand in the in- 
terest of Scott’s Emulsion, and is well satisfied with the popu- 
larity this medicine is obtaining, and the efforts made by the 
firm’s agents to extend the business. 
Mr. W. F. Barraud, Wellington, has secured the appoint- 
ment of part of his premises as a perfumery bond. 
Accidents with Phosphorus. — Two unusual accidents have 
recently occurred at Wiiiton. On April 16, a boy, three years of 
age, named C. D. Moore, was severely burnt about the body by 
phosphorus, which he had somehow managed to get hold of. 
His mother and a Mr. Hawkins were also severely burnt about 
the hands in endeavouring to rescue the child. 
Mr. J. Mortimer, of the North Branch, near Milton, Dun- 
edin, died on April 26 from inhaling the fumes of phosphorised 
grain. 
A Handbook of the fishes of New Zealand has been pre- 
pared under the instructions of the Commissioner of Trade 
and Customs, by Mr. R. A. A. Sherrin, and we have been 
favoured with a copy. We turned to it eagerly, hoping to find 
an account of local manufactures of fish oils, including some 
of medicinal value, <i^c. In this we were disappointed. De- 
scriptions of the method of manufacture of these oils in other 
parts of the world are given very fully and precisely, so that 
anyone wishing to start in the industry will have removed all 
difficulties that can be treated in writing, but there seems to 
be no attempt to gather in the harvest of the southern seas in 
this direction. At the same time the handbook is a very in- 
teresting and comprehensive work, focussing all the scattered 
information on its subject, and likely to do much to help on 
the establishment of the manufactories now wanting. 
A Chemist Poisoned by Morphia. — Mr. James Macpherson, 
M.B., of Invercargill, relates in the Australian AledicalJournal 
of February, how on the morning of September 8th last, a 
chemist in that town came to his house in a state of great 
mental trepidation, and informed him that a few minutes 
before he had taken a large quantity of acetate of morphia in 
mistake for pepsin. Apomorphia was administered sub- 
cutaneously without effect ; it was followed by an ounce of 
ipecacuanha wine and 20grs. of sulphate of zinc. This pro- 
duced no effeet till some time after. While the stomach 
pump was being prepared a further dose of about 40 ounces 
of tepid water was administered. This produced profuse 
emesis, which was repeated about six times till the ejected 
fluid was tasteless. Symptoms of narcosis then appeared and a 
subcutaneous injection of atropine sulphate was administered ; 
after an hour and a half brisk walking and a cup of strong 
coffee, he was out of danger. The patient having partaken of 
hard boiled eggs at breakfast had some dyspeptic symptoms, 
and going to the dispensary, took from the shelf a bottle con- 
taining, as he thought, pepsine, and took from it as much as he 
could lift on the point of a spatula. He stirred this into some 
cold water, added a little tincture of cardamoms, and drank it 
off. The unusual bitterness of the draught took his attention, 
and on looking at the bottle, he found to his horror that he 
had taken acetate of morphia. He hastily swallowed some 
vin. ipecac., and rushed off to the doctor. A similar quantity 
of morphia was found to weigh I5grs. The poison must have 
been in his stomach from 18 to 20 minutes. 
Uses for Volcanic Dust. — In certain parts of the United 
States of America (Western Kansas, Eastern Colorado, and 
Wyoming), occur beds of volcano dust which was supposed 
to have been produced by the action of geysers, and so named 
Geyserite. Submitted to microscopic examination samples 
were found to consist almost entirely of minute particles of 
amorphous glass, such as originate from the fine pulverisation 
of a glassy pumice, with only occasionally a fragment of a 
greenish mineral that was apparently hornblende. As a 
matter of economic interest it is mentioned that in Kansas 
and Nebraska the dusts are collected and sold in paper pack- 
ages as “ diamond polishing powder,” or put into soap which 
is sold for general scouring as well as for dental use under 
the name of “ Geyserite soap.” These statements occur in a 
recent article in Nature, and suggest a means of turning the 
eruption of Tarawera to account in a small way. 
The following appeared in a New Zealand paper not long 
ago. Not being acquainted with the chemist of Waikouaiti, I 
cannot vouch for the truth of the narrative, but if correct, our 
brother “ pill driver” should certainly seek a wider field to prac- 
tice his calling : — “ Scene : The shop of a chemist and druggist 
in the rural township of Waikouaiti. A warm morning. Enter 
a young woman who looks heated as if from a long walk : ‘ I 
want a dose of castor oil, please ; and can you put something 
in it to take away the unpleasant taste ?’ ‘ Certainly,’ is the 
reply, ‘ that is quite easy. Will you take a seat ?’ Young 
girl takes a seat. ‘You seem hot,’ continues the obliging 
chemist, ‘ would you like an effervescing draught ?’ ‘ Thank 
you, I should very much.’ The effervescing draught is pre- 
pared, handed fizzing across the counter, and the young girl 
drinksit. Then she sits andwaits. Presently she asks again 
for the castor oil. ‘ The castor oil,’ says the man of drugs, 
with a smile of professional acuteness, ‘ why you have just 
taken it.’ ‘Good heavens!’ shrieks the girl, throwing up her 
arms, ‘it wasn’t for me; it was for my mother!’ Falls back 
fainting into the chair. Despair of the druggist. Tableau.” 
[We are always glad to meet old friends. This happens to 
be one of them. We met him years ago in the United States; 
then he travelled to England, and goodness knows where he 
will turn up next. — Editor.] 
