JuJj 27,1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
G1 
THE DUBLIN EXHIBITION. 
The usefulness of exhibitions to manufacturers is 
somewhat doubtful. It is evident that to be of much 
value they should not be too frequent, and should at 
least be international. The Dublin Exhibition of 
1872 is too soon after the excellent one of 1865, 
therefore there is very little novelty in the manu¬ 
facturing portion, whilst the foreigner is unrepre¬ 
sented. 
In spite of this, however, it will probably be a 
success, owing to the great attraction of the Loan 
Museum and the Fine Arts collection. Although 
there is very little that is new hi the chemical and 
allied branches of manufactures, still some pro¬ 
ducts of interest present themselves ; and it is time 
well spent to watch the slow changes observable 
even in the fashions of chemical and pharmaceutical 
products. As we enter the west gallery from the 
southern stairs, almost the first thing the visitor 
stumbles across is a little case of some interest to the 
pharmaceutical chemist. It is in the form of wire¬ 
weaving contained in the case of Messrs. Bryan, 
Corcoran, Witt and Company, Mark Lane, London. 
Brass wire for sieves is shown containing 150 holes 
in the square inch; but this is greatly exceeded in 
fineness by the iron wire. Gauze made with this 
wire is shown containing 10,000 holes to the inch ; 
although used for flour dressing, it might be appli¬ 
cable to special pharmaceutical purposes. 
Messrs. Boileau and Boyd, Dublin, exhibit a pretty 
case of chemical and pharmaceutical products, the 
most striking of which is a sample of theine made 
from damaged tea. It is an extremely pretty specimen 
made by crystallization, not sublimation. Theine, 
or caffeine, as it is often called, has been frequently 
suggested as a valuable medicine ; but whether our 
familiarity with it in the form of infusion has bred 
contempt or not, certain it is that it does not enter 
into the ordinary practitioner’s materia medica. 
Although theine acts on the ganglionic nervous sys¬ 
tem, it has no action on the brain. It is used in 
doses of 1 to 4 grains as a tonic stimulant. 
Mixing Company of Ireland, Dublin. —We can¬ 
not pass without noticing the magnificent case of 
the Mining Company of Ireland, the chief attraction 
of which is the lead and silver in all its stages, from 
the undressed ore until we get the finished articles 
in the form of a massive block of silver-lead, in the 
form of shoot, pipe, and sheet; but this company are 
also of interest to the chemist from being large manu¬ 
facturers of litharge and red lead. The first of these 
is procured during the refining of silver-lead—the 
silver in which is concentrated to its highest point 
by Pattinson’s patent. The litharge, got by this 
process, at the Ballycorus Works, is particularly pure 
and valuable for plaster making. 
A. Jellet’s Saccharometer is exhibited, but the 
price is restrictive, viz., <£29. We want to see some 
enterprising manufacturer bring out this instrument 
in a form in which it can be sold for £5 or £6. It 
is the best of all saccharometers. The only restric¬ 
tion to the more general use of this instrument is its 
price; its applications to technical chemistry and 
pharmacy are not confined to mere estimation of 
sugars, but it can be used to determine the admixture 
of turpentine and other hydrocarbons of this class, 
and the estimation of some of the alkaloids. 
Messrs. Holt, Nerwicii and Co., Vauxiiall, Lon¬ 
don, exhibit a pure oil soap which is not made for 
Thtrd Series, No. 109. 
pharmaceutical purposes, it being prepared for the 
use of dyers in dyeing silk or wool. Why not use 
such a soap, however, for linimentum saponis of the 
pharmacopoeia ? 
Mr. E. Stanford, Edinbarnet. —It would be super¬ 
fluous to dwell upon the Nitro-carbon Manure Com¬ 
pany's case. As under that name we find Mr. 
Stanford exhibiting his ingenious and valuable pro¬ 
cess tor the manufacturing of the products procured 
from seaweed. Mr. Stanford’s process, as our 
readers are no doubt aware, is essentially this: 
Instead of burning the seaweed on the shore, and 
producing the well-known kelp, the weed is burned 
in closed retorts, by which means all the by-products 
or products of destructive distillation are saved— 
these are naphtha, ammonia, charcoal, etc. One 
important point in connection with this process is 
the fact that iodide of potassium is volatile at a 
bright red heat, and that therefore a considerable 
loss of iodine is prevented. Such a loss arises from 
the ordinary method of burning kelp. Such a saving 
must be doubly important at the now very high 
price of iodine and the iodides. One of the 
most valuable by-products seems to be the charcoal, 
which possesses most extraordinary decolorizing 
properties. The charcoal procured approaches animal 
charcoals in this respect, and does not seem to 
resemble the ordinary vegetable carbons. 
Marine Salts Company of Ireland, Dublin 
and Galway. —AYe have a second exhibitor of iodine 
and bromine in the Marine Salts Company of 
Ireland. This company procures its kelp from the 
west coast of Ireland. Besides showing all the 
potash and other salts derived from the kelp, they 
have specimens of the different weeds arranged 
according to their iodine value; thus Laminaria 
digitata, and Laminaria saocharina “ rich in iodine;” 
Fucus serratus “ poor in iodine,” etc. 
Mr. John Somerville exhibits a case of the pro¬ 
ducts from the destructive distillation of coal, in¬ 
cluding the antliracine products and the ammonium 
salts, including the nitrate now used for the 
making of nitrous oxide. 
Messrs. Berger, Spense and Co., Manchester, 
exhibit a magnificent crystal of alum of gigantic 
proportions, but it is really curious to observe that 
it has a decided amethystic tinge, due probably to 
the presence of a trace of iron, which produces the 
well-known appearance of iron alum. 
Some handsome specimens of crystallized salt are 
exhibited by the Newry Salt Company, including 
specimens of the rocksalt, which are beautifully 
free oxide of iron. So pure are these natural 
specimens that if they were simply ground, they 
would form a white and first-class table salt. The 
crystals shown are hopper-shaped, cubical, and the 
ordinary granulated table form. 
Messrs. Bewley and Draper, Dublin. — Mr. 
Draper, of the firm of Bewley and Draper, is here 
with his “ dichroic ink,” which is certainly a novelty 
in its way, and quite unlike the ordinary inks. If 
he can surprise the Yankees, as he seems to have 
done, it really must be out of the common. 
Price’s Patent Candle Company, London. —The 
above firm is here in all its glory,—that is to say, 
besides this company’s candles, they exhibit glyce¬ 
rine, the article of all others to which they owe their 
fame. The process which gave to the world pure 
glycerine, also produced a revolution in the manufac¬ 
ture of soaps and candles. By one process they 
