536 
THE CHEMIST AND DRUGGIST 
October 5, 1895 
Notice to Retail Buyert :~2t 
should be remembered that the 
quotations in this section are 
invariably the lowest net cash 
prices actiuxlly paid for large 
fumntitUs In many eases allowances have to be added b^ore 
9Tdinary prices can be ascertained. Frequently goods must be picked and 
sorted to suit the demands of the retail trade, causing much labour and 
ihe accumulation qf rejections, not all of which are suitahle even for 
manufacturing purposes. Further points which should he borne in mind 
■are that distributor generally has to bear the hulk of the freight-charges 
on the goods on their way from the producer to the retailer, and that for 
many articles the range of quality is very icUle. 
4S CANITOIT STREET, B.O., Octoher 3. 
f N the drug-market dealers generally report another ratter 
^ quiet week, although the position of the leading drugs 
■and chemicals remains extremely firm, most of the changes 
that have occurred being toward higher prices. It seems, 
however, that fewer orders have been passing for consump- 
*tion, and speculation has also been rather more subdued. 
‘This, at any rate, is the case in the departments with 
«which this journal is specially concerned. In the Com- 
mercial Sale-rooms there has, however, been a great 
'deal of excitement, especially in the Su/jar market, 
which has advanced by leaps and bounds since 
'Tuesday, in consequence of the publication of an esti- 
tnate showing that the output in Europe is likely to be about 
25 per cent, below that of last year. In chemicals, Citric 
and Tartaric acids, as well as Cream of tartar, have been 
•decidedly quieter, although the price is maintained. 
tGlycerine is still tending higher, and Qidniiis has 
made another trifling advance. Camphor very firm, 
5but quiet. To-day’s drug-sales passed off rather 
.quietly, and the principal changes are as follows : — 
JSueJia leaves and Tbiaevoll// senna are dearer and in strong 
demand. Tpecaouanha wa,s steady to slightly firmer. JCiU' 
d?arb sold fairly well at unchanged prices. Fine Sumatra 
.benzoin went about 5^. lower. Cape aloes is easy, and 
reduced prices were accepted for Kamala, Ergot of rye, Soy, 
and Cardamom seeds. There are no changes in Kola nuts^ 
Dragon's blood, Camphor, Cuttle-fisb, Cantharides, or Cubebs, 
but Cascarilla is still tending slightly lower. Jamaica bees- 
jTvax is unaltered, Madagascar is slightly firmer. Vanilla sold 
well, Tahiti variety being dearer. Essential oils are generally 
tending higher ; this is specially the case with Italian oils of 
•Star anise. Cassia, Citronella. and Lr mongrass. Menthol is s.\so 
dearer. Cumin-seed and Chamomiles have advanced, and for 
Jfapan 7vax somewhat higher prices are asked. Soammong re- 
mains very dear. Cod-liver oil is moving upward. In articles 
connected with the drug-trade we have to report an advance 
■in Tartar emetic. Glycerine is also slightly firmer. Gum 
.oUljanum and Cocoa butter dearer. Arsenic shows no change. 
fjuiclisilver has been reduced in price, and though 
25. lower at auction, closes steadily. In Spices, Chillies 
remain firm, Macs and Nutmegs steady, while Black and 
IV 'kite pepper are exsier. Rape oil and Cotton-scei oil 
^remain firm. Turpentine is dull, and Petroleum lower, at 
from 6^^. CO ; ditto for American oil, according to 
brand; and from 5|^7. to for The Bank-ra’ie 
remains at 2 per cent., and Bar silver is quoted at 
per oz. — an advance of since last Thursday. 
A singular document was addressed at the beginning of 
this month to their wholesale customers (or a 
Ci'rcula^* select number of them) by the English re- 
sublimers of iodine. It runs as follows : — 
October 1, 1895. 
Dear Sirs, — 
Iodine Preparations. 
We are glad to be able to bring under your notice tlie highly important 
concession which we are in a position to introduce for orders in Iodine 
Preparations, thanks to tlie support we have received from The United 
Iodine Makers. In thus identifying the various interests of the Iodine 
Producers, Iodine Converters, and Druggists, we rely on you to co-operate 
heartily in this direction by giving your orders exclusively to Members of 
tlie Iodine Preparations Combination. The Protection alluded to is a 
“ reduction clause,” which we concede to you for ^Deliveries made within 
three weeks preceding a reduction in the price of Iodine. The difference 
in price will be restituted to you in “kind” by delivering to you the corre- 
sponding quantity of Iodine of Sodium, Iodide of Potassium, Iodoform, 
and Resublimed Iodine, free of charge, necessary to reduce the price of the 
original Delivery to the reduced figures. As an illustration of the working 
of this plan, suppose that 1 cwt. of Iodide of Potassium had been bought 
at 11s. ^d.. Iodine then being per oz., if Iodine falls to 6d., the price of 
the Iodide would be 8s. per lb., and should this occur within twenty-one 
days of the original invoice the adjustment would be made by giving to 
the buyer 49 lbs. of Iodide free. Thus : — 
s. 
d. 
112 lbs. at 11s. 6(/. per Ib,.^ ,♦ 
.. 61 8 
0 
8s. „ 
.. '44 16 
0 
The difference •• •« 
19 19 
0 
is equal to 49 lbs. at 8s. The buyer has thus 161 lbs. Iodide at the equivalenfe 
of the lower price. 
We hope that this arrangement will be found to work to our mutual 
satisfaction. We are. Dear Sirs, 
Tours faithfully. 
The arrangement is likely to be to the advantage of the 
Iodine Ring, whose hand is clearly traceable all through the 
circular, and to a few wholesale drug-firms, bat the 
majority of the drug trade, we shoald think, will 
receive this “ highly important concession ” with what the 
author of “The Gentle Art of Making Enemies,” called 
“ feelings of chastened and respectable joy.” The throne of 
the Iodine Combination has long been as shaky as any 
South American presidential chair, and the present move 
looks very much like a desperate attempt to shore up the 
dilapidated structure by enlisting the support of the 
resublimers and the drug trade generally. In the days of its 
glory the Iodine Combination was a very Swellfoot the 
Tyrant for disregard of the equitable claims of the manu- 
facturing middleman and the consumer. It dictated its own 
terms, its agents sometimes arbitrarily refused to sell to 
people willing to pay its price, and when an outside 
producer ventured to place a few tons on the market on 
his own account the syndicate crushed him by inoving 
its prices down without warning, and without thinking 
of giving the resublimers any benefit in the shape of a “ falling 
clause.” And what does tire present concession amount to ? 
Other and more enlightened combinations allow their custo- 
mers the benefit of a “ falling clause ” without reserve, if 
prices break they invoice all the goods bought within a 
certain period previous to the break, which are found unsold 
in the purchaser’s warehouse, at the reduced price. But all 
the Iodine Ring propose to do (for the re-sublimers, we 
presume, are simply offering to their customers the same 
“ concession ” which the combination grants to them) is to 
fill up the trade, in case of a sudden break in the market, 
with more iodine-preparations than they will probably be 
able to get rid of. The inevitable result, we should say, of 
the congestion of the iodides-market, which will follow the 
first rupture of the combination-price, will be to increase 
the panic by causing overloaded holders of iodine-prepara- 
tions to throw their surplus upon the open market. Again, 
the “ concession ” is to be given only on goods invoiced 
within three weeks of the reduction, a space of time which 
is much shorter than that usually accorded under the falling 
clause. And if the lodiie Ring, engaged in a life and death 
struggle with outside producers, should find itself compelled 
to lower its prices more than once within a short period — 
say, first from 9^7. to , and then, almost immediately, from 
dd. to 2d. per oz. — will they halt at the ^d. with their falling- 
clause ? Altogether it looks as if the Iodine Ring know that 
