November 16 , 1872 .] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
397 
sents at this time just as fine an orange-chrome colour 
as when first made, which, though correct when it ap¬ 
peared in a dated periodical nine or ten months since, 
may have been scarcely suited for indefinite repetition. 
These, however, are minor defects; and besides these 
recipes there is a very useful dictionary of incompati¬ 
bilities, together with the usual, as well as some unusual, 
almanac matter. 
Holes antr dowries. 
[323.] GLASS LABELLING.—I should be glad if 
any reader would inform me how to affix glass labels to 
drawers, as the whole of mine are falling off, notwithstand¬ 
ing I have only recently had my shop entirely refitted. 
A Chemist. 
[324.]—EMULSION OF WINE AND OIL.—Can 
any of your readers give me the process for “ Uniting 
Oil and Wine ” without any intermediate substance F 
I understand this is done by the medical profession and 
chemists at Hastings, and is a favourite remedy in con¬ 
sumption.—A. S. 
[325.]—LYCOPERDON GIGANTEUM.—Will any 
of your readers inform me, (1) whether the unripe 
Lycoperdon giganteum plant is wholesome as food, 
and (2) at what period of its life it becomes useful (on 
combustion) for taking bees.—L. 
CHLORAL HYDRATE AND BROMIDE OF PO¬ 
TASSIUM.—Dr. James Thompson, of Leamington, 
states in the Lancet that he has found a combination of 
chloral hydrate and bromide of potassium very useful in 
delirium tremens , and that in many cases wdiere sleep w 7 as 
not produced by chloral hydrate alone, it was obtained by 
the addition of an equal proportion of bromide of 
potassium to each dose. 
DELICATE TEST FOR AMMONIA —M. Lex pro¬ 
poses to take advantage of the fact that liquids contain¬ 
ing only traces of ammonia are coloured green if treated 
first with carbolic acid and afterwards by chloride of 
lime in testing for ammonia.— L' Union Lharmaceutique. 
PRESERVATION OF PENCIL AND INDIA INK 
DRAWINGS.—To accomplish this object Erckmann re¬ 
commends that the drawings should be placed upon a 
glass plate or smooth board and covered with collodion, 
containing two per cent, of stearine. When dry they 
may be washed with w r ater without being injured. 
BOOK RECEIVED. 
The Beginnings of Life : being some account of the 
Nature, Modes of Origin and Transformations of Lower 
Organisms. By H. Charlton Bastian, M.A., M.D., 
F.R.S. With numerous illustrations. London: Mac¬ 
millan and Co. 1872. 
The following journals have been received :—The ‘ British 
Medical Journal,’ November9; the ‘Medical Times and 
Gazette,’ November 9; the ‘Lancet,’ November 9; the 
‘Medical Press and Circular,’ November 9; ‘Nature,’ No¬ 
vember 9; the ‘Chemical News,’ November 9; ‘English 
Mechanic,’November 9; ‘ Gardeners’ Chronicle,’ November 
9 ; the * Grocer,’ November 9; the ‘Journal of the Society of 
Arts,’ November 9; ‘Grocery News,’ November 9; ‘New 
York Druggists’ Circular’ for November; the ‘Dublin 
Journal of Medical Science’ for November; ‘Scientific 
American ’; the * Indicator,’ November 9. 
Cjmspitet. 
No notice can be taken of anonymous communica¬ 
tions. Whatever 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. 
Payment of Local Secretaries. 
Sir,—As an old student I have the greatest affection and 
respect for everything associated with Bloomsbury Square, 
and for several years past I have contrived a pilgrimage to 
the Annual Meetings. A variety of circumstances this year 
deprived me of my usual treat, but an announcement in the 
Journal that, in connection with the meeting for distributing 
the sessional prizes, etc., on October 2nd. articles of novelty 
and interest would be exhibited, induced me to be present. 
I enjoyed the meeting; saw several old friends, and grasped 
the hand of our beloved Professor Bentley, but I must ex¬ 
press my disappointment at finding not a single exhibit. 
Clearly no great pains had been taken to secure any, or is it 
really to be understood that at present pharmacy is so de¬ 
veloped that no scope remains for further extensions and 
improvements in appliances and apparatus, or have the 
questions associated with poison regulations, and the Pre¬ 
liminary examination swamped all other energies ? 
I am a local secretary, and in speaking for myself I doubt 
not I express the sentiments of others. Whatever time or 
trouble is devoted to the interests of the Society and the 
trade is a labour of love, and no money payment in any 
shape is expected or wished, but I do ask that the Society will 
make it worth our while to make an occasional journey to 
London as pharmacists. I shall shock some when I state my 
preference for the old style of conversazione to the more 
modern entertainment at South Kensington. Continue this 
as a social gathering and to please the ladies, but do not let 
it and the politics of the Annual Meeting absorb the occa¬ 
sion. 
I ask that something may be done for the further educa¬ 
tion (pharmacists never cease to be students) ot those who 
have perhaps long ago done with examinations, and who, as 
a rule, will not care to pore further over the contents of our 
present museums, valuable as these may be. What we 
want is opportunity of inspecting in a locus the latest and 
most improved forms of the tools we use, whether in 
practical pharmacy, experimental chemistry, analysis, or 
microscopy 
I hope ere long to see space secured for a permanent col¬ 
lection of laboratory apparatus and trade appliances, but 
until this is realized, cannot we have a temporary display at 
the time of the Annual Meeting ? 
The provincial local secretary will most likely wish to spend 
a morning in the library of the Society, conning over the 
books to see what volumes he can with profit add to his own 
shelves at home, and examining the latest edition of standard 
works. Until recently a table was spread with a rich selection 
of scientific periodicals, English, Continental and American. 
Why does this arrangement no longer exist ? 
John Whitfield. 
Scarborough, 
November 5th, 1872. 
Examination Fees. 
Sir,—Several of your correspondents in debating the edu¬ 
cational question, demur alike to an increased stringency in 
the examinations to the Society, demanding from candidates 
proof of their having passed through a curriculum ot previous 
study, and to the continuance of the present very moderate 
amount of examination fees, on the ground that fewer per¬ 
sons are entering the business than formerly, in consequence 
of the barriers which already exist; and they who demur 
deprecate any increase in the difficulties which bar an en¬ 
trance on the legal practice of pharmacy, apparently dreading 
in the immediate future a famine of legally qualified pharma¬ 
ceutists and chemists and druggists. 
There is, however, one point which seems to have been 
much overlooked in the discussion of this subject, and that is 
the fact that there is at present—and for some years to come 
