*48 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[November 2, 1872,. 
of all kinds, and lac-dye, there is a very large in¬ 
crease shown: the imports in 1871 were 343,224 
cwt. against 240,041 in 1870, and in 1807 only 
100,239 cwt. were received. In unenumerated gums, 
there is no great progress shown, 45,000 to 50,000 
cwt. being the average imports. The supply of 
myrobalans, for tanning, varies considerably; last 
year 98,004 cwt. was received, in 1870 but 29,000 
cwt., in 1809, 124,243 cwt. The supply of cocoa- 
nut oil from India is decreasing rapidly, although 
that from Ceylon is steadily on the increase. Only 
53,228 cwt. of cocoa-nut oil came from British India 
last year, against 108,403 cwt. in 1870. In seed oil 
there was shown an enormous increase, 55,737 tons 
being received in 1871. The demand for safflower 
appears to be extensive, judging by the import of 
130,387 cwt. Saltpetre from India is also on the 
increase ; the receipts last year were 373,198 cwt. 
From the Straits settlements, chiefly through 
Singapore, we received last year 417,012 tons of 
cutch and gambier; 2612 cwt. of lac of various kinds; 
45,214 cwt. of other sorts of gums and resins; 
20,897 cwt. of isinglass, and 7475 lb. of essential 
oils. From Ceylon there came 76,913 lb. of essen¬ 
tial oils, valued at £14,398, and 138,141 cwt. of 
cocoa-nut oil, valued at <£257,641. From New 
South Wales 5565 cwt. of kowri resin was received, 
the produce of New Zealand, and 31,723 cwt. of 
cocoa-nut oil from the islands of the Pacific. From 
New Zealand 82,240 cwt. of kowri gum, valued 
at =£149,287, chiefly used for varnish making, a very 
large increase on any previous year’s export; 1237 
cwt. of other gums were also received from that 
colony. 13,350 cwt. of extract of bark for tanning 
was received from Canada. From the West India 
Islands 8542 cwt. of ginger, and 1149 cwt. of wax 
were received. 
This survey shows an aggregate import of articles 
of the value of ,£22,500,000, in which the chemist 
and druggist is more or less interested, and which 
add largely to the progress and prosperity of our 
chemical manufactures and other great industries. 
By a comparison with former years the imports are 
for the most part progressive; in the supply of very 
few raw materials is there any decline, the exceptions 
are perhaps galls, gums, isinglass, liquorice and a few 
others. 
If we glance at the exports of the produce of 
the United Kingdom we find articles of the following 
value were sent away last year;—Alkali, £1,747,269; 
chemical products and preparations, £1,588,763; 
drugs and medicinal preparations,|£720,830; paint¬ 
ers’ colours and materials, £1,019,243, being a sum 
of over £5,000,000 in these four enumerated items, 
independent of the various minor articles, the soap 
and candle trade, and the enormous home con¬ 
sumption. . : * 
SUNDAY CLOSING. 
That the rapidly spreading movement in favour 
of shortening the hours of business in pharmaceu¬ 
tical establishments should originate some doubts 
and diffculties is only what might be expected. 
And on page 358, Mr. Slugg, of Manchester, gives- 
utterance to one in his question, “What is meant 
by Sunday closing ”? We believe that it is intended 
by the advocates of the movement to keep the shop 
entirely closed, but at the same time to have some 
one in attendance capable of dispensing or selling- 
medicines when required. Some houses, with a 
large connection, are obliged always to have an 
assistant on duty in case of emergency; others have 
a notice stating at what hours medicine can be 
obtained, or, as in Edinburgh, where neither pro¬ 
prietor nor assistant resides on the premises, a 
notice is placed on the door informing the public 
where the manager or assistant can be found, and 
medicine obtained. It would be impossible to re¬ 
fuse to dispense or sell medicine on a Sunday, or at 
any other time, but the great object chemists and 
druggists should have in view, is to curtail the 
hours of business by closing their shops altogether 
on Sundays, and on other days at eight o’clock p.m- 
By so doing the public would be induced to send for 
their medicines earlier, as well as to anticipate 
(where possible) their requirements on a Sunday, 
and thus shorten the too lengthened hours of work.. 
THE GOVERNMENT SCIENCE CLASS SCHEME. 
A statement made by a “ Country Major Asso¬ 
ciate,” in a letter printed on p. 100 of the present 
volume, that the Science Class Scheme of the 
Government had only just escaped a collapse, and 
reiterated in another letter on p. 257, where he also 
speaks of the Directory as a Blue Book got up to- 
appease “ My Lords,” has caused Mr. G. F. Schacht 
and other correspondents to ask upon what authority 
these assertions .are based. We have failed to obtain 
from “ A Country Major Associate ” any reply more 
definite than that he has drawn his inferences from 
facts that have come under his notice, therefore 
we think it but fail’ to give insertion to the follow¬ 
ing statistics, taken from the official returns in 
connection with the Science and Art classes, pub¬ 
lished under sanction of the Privy Council. 
According to the last Report, the total number of 
students under instruction in all subjects was 
34,435, an increase of 7640 over the number in 
1869. In the classes in Chemistry alone, there 
were, in January, 1871, 5942 students under instruc¬ 
tion, whilst in 1869 they numbered 2,261. 
The next Evening Meeting of the Pharmaceutical 
Society will be held on Wednesday next, when a 
paper on Tincture of Orange Peel will be read by 
Mr. A. F. Haselden, F.L.S. The chair will betaken, 
at half-past eight. 
