PHARMACY AT THE DUBLIN EXHIBITION. 
103 
is also shown. The most interesting part of the collection is, however, two 
beautiful crystalline groups, one of Carbonate , the other of Bicarbonate of Soda. 
These are as nearly as possible alike in general contour, and are precisely iden¬ 
tical as regards the form of the crystals. The bicarbonate has of course been 
made by exposing a mass of crystalline monocarbonate to the action of an atmo¬ 
sphere of carbonic acid, and the crystals are therefore pseudomorphs. Unfortu¬ 
nately the carbonate crystals, though as well protected from the air as is possible 
in a glass case, are rapidly efflorescing, so that the specimens will soon lose much 
of their interest. 
There are several exhibitors of Fats and the Fatty Acids used in the manu¬ 
facture of soap and candles. I have already noticed those in the case of Price’s 
Patent Candle Company as possessing many points of interest to the pharma¬ 
ceutist, and, with one exception, I do not know that there is anything else which 
—beautiful as are many of the products shown—calls for description in these 
pages. The exception is an article called Wax Soap , said to be made from wax, 
and understood to be manufactured from the product well known in commerce 
as “Japan wax.” There is, however, no evidence that the soap, which is of 
particularly nice appearance, owes to wax anything more than its name. The 
fat-acid obtained by decomposing it has all the characters of that from cocoa-nut 
oil, which is well known not to be one of the best materials for the production 
of a really good soap. Japan wax is—like paraffine—a substance, of which the 
applications are very limited ; it has the curious property of communicating to 
any fatty solid, with which it may be mixed, a very marked tendency to become 
split or fissured in cooling. The great bulk of that which is imported into this 
country, is, I believe, employed in the manufacture of “ night-lights.” While on 
the subject of wax, I must not omit to notice the very good specimens of both 
Bleached and Unbleached Wax , shown in the case of Mr. J. G. Rathborne of 
Dublin (61). In connection with wax bleaching, there are one or two facts, 
which, if well known, are certainly not generally mentioned in treatises on tech¬ 
nology. One is, that the wax produced in the British Islands bleaches much 
more readily than African or West Indian wax, which are avoided by bleachers ; 
another, that it is apparently not possible to remove the last traces of colour from 
this substance, no matter how long the action of light may be continued. All 
the pure white wax sold contains a very large proportion of spermaceti; much of 
it consists of little else. It is remarkable that no chemical process of bleaching 
this substance has ever really succeeded; all which have been tried exercising a 
deteriorating influence on the wax. 
Messrs. W. J. Kane and Son, Dublin (23), who are well known as large manu¬ 
facturers of Sulphuric Acid and Chloride of Lime , show both these products. 
The sulphuric acid is exhibited of two different densities—the u brown acid,” 
sp.g. 1-750, used wholly by manure manufacturers, and the colourless concentrated 
acid, sp.g. 1-850. Nearly all the sulphuric acid made in Ireland is produced 
from the iron pyrites of Wicklow, containing a large proportion of sulphide 
of arsenic, which of course passes, as arsenic acid, into the acid itself, The 
acid is, however, prepared from Sicilian sulphur for pharmaceutical purposes, 
the manufacture of aerated waters, etc., by one maker in Dublin. 
The Messrs. Kane also exhibit commercial Hydrochloric Acid and Salt Calce 
(sulphate of soda), the latter containing 99 per cent, of real sulphate. These 
specimens, which are all very good, are put up in a slovenly manner, which is 
not calculated to produce a favourable impression upon the visitor who does not 
know the reputation of the exhibitors, or the uniform excellence of their manu¬ 
factures. 
Mr. J. Mackay, Edinburgh, has a number of Culinary Fssences , used for 
flavouring in cookery. These are very nicely put up, but do not present any 
point of novelty. 
