78 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[July 27, 187?. 
flutes ani* Queries. 
Currespt&eua 
*** In order to facilitate reference , correspondents are 
requested to mark their answers in each case with the title 
and number of the query referred to. 
No notice can be taken of anonymous communications. 
All queries or answers should be accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer. 
* 0 * No notice can be taken of anonymous communica¬ 
tions. JVhatever is intended for insertion must be authenti¬ 
cated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily 
for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. 
Provincial Education. 
[321.]—IS THE WOOD OF EUCALYPTUS SUIT- 
ABLE FOR ENTOMOLOGICAL CABINETS?—I 
was much pleased with the article on the various species 
of Eucalypti in the Pharmaceutical Journal, and 
should he very glad to learn if any of our entomological 
friends at the Antipodes, or elsewhere, have ever tried 
the service of the wood for insect cabinets. If Eucalyp¬ 
tus Acajon is entirely free from any resinous matter. I 
should fancy that it would he as equally valuable as 
mahogany, and certainly it ought to he cheaper. The 
desideratum is to get a hard wood free from resin, and 
cheap. Have we this combination in any of the 
eucalypti; and, if so, which species ? 
[322.]—QUILLAI BARK LOTION.—A. D. would 
he glad if any one can give him a formula for Quillai 
Bark Lotion for the Teeth. 
POISONING BY BELLADONNA PLASTER.— j 
Mr. C. A. Hemingway reports in the ‘ British Medical 
Journal’ (June 1st, p. 576), that having prepared 
a small belladonna plaster, about the size of a crown 
piece, by spreading the extract with his right thumb 
upon a portion of adhesive plaster, he was after- 1 
wards seized with what appeared to be symptoms of : 
belladonna poisoning. Upon examining the pupils of 
his eyes in a mirror, he found the right pupil much 
dilated, whilst the left was of the usual size. These 
symptoms passed off after a short time. There was no 
wound or abrasion of the thumb, and the inference 
drawn by Mr. Hemingway is that the external applica¬ 
tion of a belladonna plaster of even moderate size, 
might sometimes be followed by dangerous symptoms. 
Another correspondent, the following week (p. 628), 
says that he has frequently of late found poisonous 
effects follow the external use of belladonna, and he has 
been led to believe that formerly a very inactive extract 
was dispensed compared with that which is now pro¬ 
duced by improved pharmaceutical processes. See also 
the cases mentioned in this Journal, ante , vol. ii. p. 570. 
LEAD POISONING BY A ‘-'HAIR RENEWER.” 1 
—Dr. J. M. Crocker reports, in the ‘ Boston Medical and 
Surgical Journal,’ that he met with a patient suffering 
from the symptoms of lead palsy and colic, the origin of 
which was not at first apparent. Upon inquiry, how- 1 
ever, he found that he had been for some time in the 
habit of using a “hair renewer,” made by himself, by 
mixing three teaspoonfuls of lac sulphur and two tea¬ 
spoonfuls of sugar of lead in a pint of water. The 
hair dressing being stopped, and proper remedies ad¬ 
ministered, the man recovered. 
POTASSIUM.—Professor A. E. Dolbear has obtained 
this metal, in small quantity, by reducing the di-potassic 
sulphide by means of iron. The salt in question is inti¬ 
mately mixed with iron filings, and subjected to a bright 
red heat, in a suitable distillatory apparatus, the pro¬ 
ducts of distillation being received in naphtha. The 
reaction is simple, and may thus be represented :—K 2 S 
-f- Fe = FeS + K 2 . The author suggests a similar 
method for the preparation of sodium. — American 
Chemist. 
Sir,—I have not hastily accepted the invitation given to 
all members, and especially to local secretaries, to criticize 
the scheme of education now before the Council. The letter 
of Mr. Barnard S. Proctor makes my course rather clearer ; 
and since the report and action of the Committee of 1870 
still seems worthy of commendation from so able an educa¬ 
tionalist, I trust it is not presumptuous in a member of that 
committee to state that, after two years’ interval, he also can 
look back with confidence in the soundness of the position then 
adopted by the Society. This question can hardly be dealt 
with as if it were now heard of for the first time. Without 
straining the claim of consistency unduly, it may be asserted 
that a society cannot forget that its historical records define 
its policy, and commit it to a maintainance of the same until 
its views are enlarged or changed. 
An estimate of the present and future demand for educa¬ 
tion forms an important element of the question under con¬ 
sideration. Upon reflection, it will be seen that the present 
demand is much below a normal quantity. The Pharmacy 
Act of 1868 supplied our starting-point, by clearing from 
the educational arena all assistants of the age of twenty-one 
years. (Preparation for the Modified examination can hardly 
be considered in any scheme.) Our estimate of the amount 
of educational demand that existed at the middle of 1868 
must, therefore, be expressed by— nil. At the same period of 
1869, it is evident that a certain number of young men had. 
reached the age of twenty-one, forming the nucleus of a body 
from which our present students are recruited. For the years 
1870, 1871 and 1872, three similar bodies of young men have 
to bo added ; and hence the aggregate number has increased) 
considerably. But the question of how many probable stu¬ 
dents we have does not depend merely upon an estimate of 
how many attain the age at which they are legally eligible to 
offer themselves for examination, but also upon ascertained 
experience as to the average at which such young men enter 
upon the studies preparatory to their examinations. Some- 
will do this immediately after completing their pupilage, but 
it is evident that from financial and other reasons many will! 
defer this for a few years. Probably an average w r ould fall 
somewhere near twenty-three or twenty-four years of age. 
As we have shown that the oldest members of the present 
student-class will now be but twenty-four years of age, it 
seems fair to estimate the total number as only one-half of what 
it will be in a few years. Besides this, a very heavy deduc¬ 
tion must be made for the young men of this class who are 
leaving the trade rather than face examinations not contem¬ 
plated by them when they entered upon it. 
I offer this estimate of our numerical position quite in¬ 
dependently of any opinions as to the policy we should! 
adopt. It is the interest of all, however divergent our edu¬ 
cational plans, to form some such estimate, and it has a spe¬ 
cial bearing upon the comparative absence of demand for 
help which followed the Society’s earlier action toward sup¬ 
plying this. If we represent the normal numbers of the stu¬ 
dent-class by the unit 1*0, I incline to the belief that they do 
not greatly exceed # 3 at the present time; and further, that 
whilst onr education code No. 1 was in force they never 
reached '2. 
I now come to the scheme of education laid before the: 
Council and the Society by my friend, Mr. Schacht. That 
it will be received in all quarters with the most friendly 
predisposition is well-assured by the private and public esteem 
which Mr. Schacht enjoys. Possibly, this may even check 
that independent criticism so desirable for a measure of this 
kind. I could have wished to find in the “Principles” of the 
new measure, some statement as to the views of the Council 
about its permanency or the contrary. If the Society accepts 
the permanent duty of providing and paying for the educa¬ 
tion of those who in future offer themselves for examination 
it is introducing an organic change of the deepest significance’ 
The Committee of Council in 1870 did not shirk this ques¬ 
tion, but distinctly avowed that the action then taken was 
