628 
ATTENDANCE OF CHEMISTS IN SUDDEN ILLNESS. 
this protection the cloth, if exposed for a sufficient time, will rise in relation to the sur¬ 
face round, just like a glacier table. 
But though the cloth is not so good an absorber as the snow, it is nevertheless a very 
powerful absorber; it comes near the snow in this respect. And when, as in the case of 
the black cloth, we have added to the absorption of a large portion of the dark rays by 
the cloth, the absorption of the whole of the luminous rays by the dye, the sum of the 
absorption of both classes of rays exceeds the absorption by the snow of the dark rays 
alone. The black cloth will, therefore, sink in the snow. This is the explanation of 
Franklin’s experiment. 
The lecturer concluded by referring to various experiments on the transmission of 
radiant heat through rock salt; to the influence of science as a means of intellectual 
culture ; and to the necessary defects of any system of education in which the study of 
nature is neglected or ignored. 
THE ATTENDANCE OF CHEMISTS IN CASES OF SUDDEN ILLNESS. 
The following letter, signed “E. F. P.,” appeared in the ‘ Times’ of May 2nd :— 
“ Sir,—As an eye-witness of a very sad occurrence, viz. the awfully sudden death of 
Lady Knight Bruce, I trust you will permit me, through the medium of your widely- 
read columns, to offer a few remarks with regard to the etiquette—law I hope it is not— 
which forbids any chemist to leave his simp, even to render assistance in the most urgent 
cases where a doctor’s services cannot be obtained at a moment’s notice. 
“.In the case to which I have above alluded, no professional aid could be procured 
until too late to be available, although four medical men were summoned as early as 
possible. 
“ Two chemists in Oxford Street refused to do more than send for a doctor, notwith¬ 
standing they were informed of the pressing need of instant succour. 
u Those around the unfortunate lady did all in their power in the hope of restoring 
her to consciousness, but unprofessional efforts must be uncertain and often misguided. 
“ Under such truly distressing circumstances it does seem strange that chemists are 
not permitted to attend personally.” 
The above case is well put by our contemporary ‘ Punch,’ as follows:— 
“non-intervention in emergencies. 
“A correspondent of the ‘Times’ animadverts upon the etiquette—law he hopes it 
is not—‘which forbids any chemist to leave his shop, even to render assistance in the 
most urgent cases where a doctor’s services cannot be obtained at a moment’s notice.’ 
Referring to a sudden seizure of illness ivhich terminated in the death of a lady, he 
says— 
In the case to which I have alluded, no professional aid could be procured until too 
late to be available, although four medical men were summoned as early as possible. 
Iwo chemists in Oxford Street refused to do more than send for a doctor, notwithstand¬ 
ing they were informed of the pressing need of instant succour. Those around the un¬ 
fortunate lady did all in their power in the hope of restoring her to consciousness, but 
unprofessional efforts must be uncertain and often misguided.’ 
It is the profession and business of a chemist and druggist to make and sell medi¬ 
cines, not to practise physic. He must needs know how to prepare sal-volatile, and he 
may have lancets to vend, but he may not know the difference between coma and 
syncope, and whether a person in a fit requires bleeding or a stimulant. He would 
render assistance at the peril of the patient, and also at his own. He has before his 
eyes the possibility of making a fatal mistake, and the horrible fear of a trial in a felon’s 
dock, resulting, at the least, in ruinous law expenses consequent on a verdict of man¬ 
slaughter returned against him by a British jury, under the direction of a British 
coronei. Enforce responsibility,’—that is a British maxim. Its necessary correlative, 
unfortunately, is ‘ Run no risk.’ ” 
