December 28,1872.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
519 
&nd the defendant went hack to the plaintiff’s shop with 
her, where she showed him the bottle, lie carried it 
•away with him, and it has never been seen since. A 
chemist had been sent for, however, immediately on the 
happening of the accident, and he said that he looked at 
the label on the bottle, and, reading there “ sulph.” on 
that part of it which the acid had left nnburnt, ex¬ 
claimed, “ Why this is nitric, and not sulphurous acid ! ” 
The defendant afterwards stated that he was very sorry 
for what had happened, and gave the plaintiff a £5 note 
in consideration of the injury. 
The defendant’s case was, not only that there was 
negligence on the plaintiff’s own part sufficient to dis¬ 
entitle him to recover, hut also that there was no negli¬ 
gence at all on the part of the defendant. He and his 
assistant and porter brought from his shop stated that 
the little girl brought a bottle with a label almost 
■obliterated, and asked for “ three or four pennyworth 
■of the acid,” and that the defendant ordered the porter 
to wash out the bottle and the assistant to fill it with 
nitric acid. He then wrote out a new label with “ Nitric 
acid” upon it, and put it on the bottle, and giving the 
girl a caution about taking care of the acid, which 
would burn her, sent her off with it. When the de¬ 
fendant got the bottle from Miss Edwards the next day 
it still had the ‘‘nitric acid” label upon it, and the 
defendant produced it in court as having been in his 
possession ever since. This case was further supported 
by the evidence of the plaintiff’s own medical attendant, 
Mr. Taylor, who was called in in the confusion imme¬ 
diately after the accident, and he stated that he then 
saw the bottle, and that it was labelled “nitric acid.” 
On this point his evidence was in direct contradic¬ 
tion of that of the chemist, who also saw the label, 
•and spoke to its containing “ sulph.” and Mr. Taylor 
was closely cross-examined as to a part he was accused 
of taking in attempting to compromise the case, and also 
as to his complaining that his bill had not been paid by 
the plaintiff, and threatening that he would not be able 
to give the same evidence in the case as if it were. He 
■entirely denied these suggestions, however. With refer¬ 
ence to the nurse’s declaring that she had read “ sul¬ 
phurous acid” on the label, it was said that she was 
unable to read, and she certainly appeared unable to 
read letters put into her hand in the witness-box. 
In consequence of the contradictory evidence on the 
two sides in this case it became invested with more than 
■an ordinary amount of interest, and the learned counsel 
■on both sides made most able and forcible speeches. In 
The result the jury found their verdict for the defendant. 
— Times. 
Charge of Fraud against a Herbalist. 
At the Hull Police-court, on Friday, December 20th, 
Henry Jackson was charged on remand with obtaining 
money under false pretences from John Richardson. 
The particulars of the former hearing were reported last 
week at p. 494. In his evidence the prosecutor stated 
that on his first visit the prisoner gave him a glass con¬ 
taining a liquid, and told him to blow through a tube 
into it. The liquid turned white, which prisoner said 
was a sign of bad health. This was repeated on subse¬ 
quent visits, when the mixture did not turn so white, and 
the prisoner said it was a sign his blood was clearer. 
Prosecutor then described various other articles for which 
he had paid money on the representations of the prisoner, 
■such as a box made of cedar of Lebanon, containing 
“ Indian balsam” (for which he paid £27), “bread of 
life,” Indian myrrh, spikenard ointment, two “ Indian 
.pulse glasses ” (eight guineas per pair), galvanic fluid, 
elixir 5f life (eight guineas a bottle), sediment of gums 
30s. a box), and a box (£50), containing, among other 
things, gold and silver pills, “ extracted from the roots 
of trees in gold and silver mines.” 
The prisoner was again remanded. 
Cratspttott. 
*** A r o 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. 
The Adulteration Act. 
Sir,—It is only for the purpose of eliciting the sentiments 
of others interested in questions connected with the working 
of this Act that I venture to trespass on your kindness again, 
by giving insertion to this letter in your next issue. 
I see in an article in Saturday’s Journal you enumerate the 
appointments of analysts made under this Act in the different 
metropolitan districts, and that some of these have accepted 
the office with the fees for their sole remuneration. This 
fact, Sir, strikes me, as being so singular, that I am anxious 
to know what sort of an analysis is to be made for lialf-a- 
crown. As an example, take milk as one of the simplest 
that can come before an analyst. How far is the analysis 
to be carried? It cannot stop at the specific gravity. It 
must go to the proof of the adulteration or otherwise. 
And supposing a prosecution follows, who pays the attend¬ 
ance at Court of the poor recipient of a half-crown fee ? 
Will he be expected to do that extra duty for the same ex¬ 
orbitant fee ? Again, there is a strongly latent suspicion in 
the public mind that beer and wine are almost universally 
adulterated, therefore it is probable these may often be sub¬ 
mitted for analysis. I shall be glad to know the chemist 
that could make such an analysis for half-a-guinea. Cheap 
labour cannot be good, more especially the highly skilled 
labour such as is required in making these examinations. 
The probability is, serious mistakes will be made, as was the 
case at Liverpool last week, and the office of analyst brought 
into contempt. It is one thing to know a subject by reading, 
and another to really know it by experience. 
F. M. Eimmington. 
Bradford, December 23rd, 1872. 
Chemists as Analysts. 
Sir,—Every one will agree with Mr. Eimmington that Mr. 
Haselden took a step in the right direction when he asserted 
the right of duly qualified chemists to be eligible candidates 
for the office of public analyst. 
Up to the present time the chemist’s efforts to raise his 
social position by means of a higher educational qualification 
has received no recognition ; it ought not to be forgotten that 
the first steps taken were voluntary, and long before public 
opinion had made itself heard upon the subject. With 
regard to the office of analyst, I feel sure that there are few 
large towns but contain at least one man equal to the duties 
of the office; as to the future, let it once be known that the 
course is clear, and few students would neglect the requisite 
studies. I still adhere to my formerly expressed opinion, 
that the present state of the business does not justify the 
high standard of qualification now demanded unless those 
in authority have made up their minds to strain every nerve 
to render it more remunerative ; that they can only do by 
securing dispensing for the legitimate dispenser, and in every 
way asserting the rights of those who have always shown 
themselves ■willing to meet the requirements of public opinion 
and make themselves worthy of the just reward they ask 
for. 
Henry Lawrence. 
Kensington, December 23rd, 1872. 
Lady Students. 
Sir,—I was much surprised to see by the report of the 
Council Meeting which appeared in your issue of December 
7th, that Mr. Hampson’s motion respecting the eligibility of 
lady students to compete for the sessional prizes was even 
made the subject of a discussion, and I do not at all understand 
on what grounds it can be contested after they have once 
been admitted to the lectures. 
On page 169 of the Calendar for 1872, which, being pub¬ 
lished by the Council, I take to be a trustworthy authority 
on the regulations of the prizes, etc., we are informed that 
“ At the expiration of the session a competitive examination 
of the students in each class is held, and the Council award 
medals and certificates of honour and merit to the successful 
candidates.” Evidently all students attending the respective 
