340 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[October 26, 1872.. 
changed. Light open shops are the inevitable consequences 
of combining a profession with trade; and as pharmacy 
is at present constituted, I fail to see a road out of the 
dilemma. Allow me to suggest to the secretaries of the Phar¬ 
maceutical Conference to include in next year’s list of papers 
one on “The Proper Storage of Drugs and their Prepa¬ 
rations.” 
M. J. Ellwood. 
Leominster, September 30 th, 1872. 
Payment oe Fees to Local Secretaries. 
Sir,—As a local secretary, allow me, through the medium 
of your Journal, to thank Mr. Sutton for the motion he 
brought forward at the meeting of the Pharmaceutical Coun¬ 
cil, viz., payment of fees to local secretaries who have to 
superintend the examination of candidates for the Preliminary 
examination. Personally, I should consider it infra dig. to 
receive any such fees, but if the Society is in that prosperous 
state as to be able to pay our expenses to London to attend 
the Anniversary Meeting, I, for one, would hail with pleasure 
Mr. Hills’ proposal. 
A Local Secretary. 
Pharmaceutical Education. 
Sir,—I shall feel obliged if you will allow me to summarize 
the views which I expressed lately upon the educational 
question at a meeting of the Bristol Pharmaceutical Asso¬ 
ciation, as they appear somewhat obscured in the report of 
my observations upon that occasion. 
1st. The Legislature having adopted (wisely, as I consider) 
a lower standard of qualification for pharmaceutists than was 
proposed by the Society, the educational difficulty is greatly 
reduced. 
2nd. Existing organizations (especially the Science and Art 
Schools directed from South Kensington under Government 
auspices) may be made sufficient to meet the educational de¬ 
mands called into existence by recent pharmaceutical legis¬ 
lation. 
3rd. The Pharmaceutical Society should continue to pro¬ 
mote that higher pharmaceutical education which is essential 
for the advancement of the science of pharmacy. (Its school 
might be ultimately restricted to this object by the adoption 
of a matriculation test represented by the Minor examination). 
4th. The time appears to have arrived when some exten¬ 
sion of this higher education should be accomplished, say by 
the establishment of a second Society’s College in Edinburgh. 
It will be seen that this system would have the effect of 
terminating the anomaly of the Society educating for the 
statutory examination which it is appointed to couduct. 
Richard W. Giles. 
Clifton, Oct. 21 st, 1872. 
A Dispensing Dippiculty. 
Sir,—As I cannot dispense the accompanying prescription 
to my satisfaction, perhaps some of your readers may be 
willing and able to help me. 
T. A. Jepprey. 
Pittville, Cheltenham, Oct. Is?, 1872. 
R. Creasote.ifixx. 
Pot. Chlor.5ss. 
Rhei Pu.5ss. 
Ft. pil. xx in fol. arg. involv. 
They are required to be small, hard, and round, and the 
full quantity of Creasote must be used. 
[*** The addition of one grain of oil of theobroma will have 
the desired effect, and form a hard, compact mass. In all cases 
where creasote is ordered in pills along with dry powders, it 
will be found useful, as creasote and it are miscible. The 
above will require careful manipulation; on trituration, the 
oil of theobroma will soon become plastic, but the mass 
should not come in contact with the warm hand, or the pills 
be kept in a warm place. The silvering should be done by 
means of a little thin mucilage, in which the pills should be 
rolled in a gallipot, so as to get them well moistened and 
partially dried before placing them upon the silver leaf.— 
Ed. Pharm. Journ.] 
Payment op Dispensers. 
Sir,—The following advertisement recently appeared in one- 
of the Birmingham papers:— 
“Dispenser wanted, for the Hospital for Women. Salary 
£20 a year. Hours from 3 till 6 or 7 p.m. —Apply personally 
from 12 till 3 to Mr. Lawson Tait, 7, Great Charles Street.” 
I should like to know what sort of qualifications a man 
would be expected to possess who was to be remunerated with 
the handsome sum of Is. for four hours’ dispensing, exactly 
3c?. an hour! 
Are not such things insults to pharmacists at large ? 
Indeed it seems to me a positive insult to offer an educated, 
man such a salary as any little lad of 15 years old could easily 
obtain as a porter! A. P. S. 
Birmingham, October 9 th, 1872. 
T . H . —No. 
J. R. C. —The only exception in the Pharmacy Act in 
favour of veterinary surgeons is that they shall not be pre¬ 
vented from dispensing medicines for animals under their care. 
F. Abbott. —The office of the Society is at 9, Conduit Street, 
W., and the Secretary is Mr. W. R. Cooper. 
A. P >.—An article on the subject was published in the 
Pharm. Journ. 2nd series, vol. I. p.471. 
S. B. S. —The reply to your letter had been crowded out 
with others. Pereira’s ‘ Materia Medica’ would answer your 
purpose. 
J. A. —The berry of Physalis AlJceJcengi (Winter Cherry) 
are said to be diuretic in their action, but are seldom pre¬ 
scribed. They enter into the composition of the Sirop de 
Rhubarbe Compose of the French Codex, and reduced to 
powder have been prescribed by Dr. Gendrin in 10 to 30 
gram doses as a febrifuge. A bitter principle to. which 
the name physalin has been given, obtained by treating an 
infusion of the plant with chloroform is described in the 
‘ Journ. Pharm. et de Chimie’ [3] xxi. 24. Dr. Wood (‘Dis¬ 
pensatory,’ p. 1584) says that six to twelve berries or an ounce 
of the expressed juice may be taken for a dose. 
“A Registered Assistant.” —‘Fair Play’ has addressed a 
letter to the Secretary in which he appears to complain that 
that gentleman has not noticed in this Journal some previous 
assertions of the writer’s. As complete ignorance exists re¬ 
specting these assertions, and since i Registered Assistant’ 
writes, “ I cannot give my address has 1 am continually tra¬ 
veling,” advantage is taken of his statement that he shall see 
the Journal to ask him what they were and what notice he 
requires, or whether the present notice will answer his pur¬ 
pose, but no further communications will be noticed unless 
they are accompanied by the writer’s name and address. 
A. P. S. (Birmingham)—Your communication was acknow¬ 
ledged atp. 300. You are too hasty in forming your opinions. 
We are always indebted to correspondents for any commu¬ 
nications they may send to us, although in taking them into 
consideration we are obliged to adopt the ordinary rule, 
“ first come, first served,” at the same time having regard to 
the urgency of the question. 
“ Forgetfulness .”—Recipes for making colours for carboys 
will be found in vol. I. p. 516 of the present series. 
B. P. and “ Apprentice.” —Apply to the Secretary for a 
copy of the pamphlet entitled ‘ Hints to Students.’ 
JEJ. W. B .—We think not, for, taking the British Phar¬ 
macopoeia as the law for pharmacists, you will find that rec¬ 
tified spirit is directed to be used for both preparations. 
AC. AT. Z .—As alum when present in bread is considered 
to be an adulterant, a baking-powder containing it would 
probably come under the penalties laid down in the Adulte¬ 
ration Act. 
Alpha. —Cooley gives the following recipe for Red Ink 
Brazil wood (ground) 1 oz.; white wine vinegar (hot) 
pint; digest for several hours in glass or well-tinned copper 
or enamel saucepan, then gently simmer for half an hour, 
adding towards the end gum arabic and alum of each % oz. 
J. Beay. —Your letter has been handed to the Secretary. 
R. Rees. —See Cooley’s ‘ Cyclopaedia of Practical Re¬ 
ceipts ’ under the head “Infusions,” and an article by Mr.. 
Grundy in Pharm. Journ., 2nd ser. vol. VI. p. 259. 
Communications, Letters, etc., have been received trom 
Mr. Dymond, Mr, C. B. Bell, Mr. C. Umney, Mr. W. A. 
Powell, Mr. Claypole, Mr.' Hodges, Mr. Harrison, Mr. R. W. 
Fowler, Mr. A. Ellis, Mr. Crampton, Mr. F. Andrews, Mr. 
R. Brierly, Mr. jLathbury, Mr. Parkin, Mr. G. P. Druce,. 
V. P., W. F. C., A. P., “ In Embryo.’ 
