543 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[January 11, 1873,. 
longing for another quid. The betel-nut-tree thrives in 
most parts of tropical India, the Indian Archipelago, and 
the Philippine Islands, growing up gracefully about 
thirty feet, rarely more than eight inches in diameter. 
It is the Areca catechu . Penang is the universal name of 
the nut in those places where it is produced: hence Pulo 
Penang means a betel-nut island. At six years of age, 
the tree commences bearing nuts of the size of a small 
pullet’s egg, of a bright yellow colour, enclosed in a 
husk similar to the cocoa-nut; within is a spherical nut 
very much like a nutmeg. Broken, a bit of it is wrapped 
up. with a piece of unslaked lime in a peculiar leaf, the 
siri betelpiper, extensively cultivated for that purpose. 
The gums and mucous membrane of the mouth are 
quickly stained a brick-red ; the teeth crumble to a level 
with the gums; and in that condition an inveterate 
betel-chewer is wretched without a supply. There are 
large plantations of betel-nut-trees in Java to meet the 
demand for home consumption and distant provinces. 
To augment the pleasure, those who can afford it add 
tobacco to the lime.— Brit. Meet. Journ. 
THE SURREY MAGISTRATES AND THE ST. PAN. 
CRAS VESTRY ON THE NEW ADULTERATION 
ACT. 
At the meeting of the Surrey magistrates on Tuesday, 
December 31st, a report was presented in which it was 
recommended that an analyst be appointed in that 
county, with the following allowance:—For the first 
hundred cases in any one year £1 for each case, for the 
second hundred 10s. each, and if the number should 
exceed 200 in the year, then os. each for cases above 200 ; 
and further that the inspectors of weights and measures 
be appointed to procure samples of food, etc., and be 
allowed £1 in each case of conviction. 
Mr. Gassiott advised the appointment of a practical 
chemist, as carried out by the Home and Indian Govern¬ 
ments. 
Sir A. Baggallay pointed out that the Act stated that 
those competent as medical men and conversant with 
chemistry and microscopical knowledge should be 
chosen. 
Dr. Webster thought they would not get first-class 
men to accept the position at such a rate of pay. 
Dr. Carpenter said the appointment was a most im¬ 
portant one. It was to act as a check to the great 
adulteration of food at present going on and doin°- so 
much harm. 
Mr. Hardman said the figures were based upon the 
scale to be paid Dr. Letheby, who was appointed for the 
county of Essex. 
Some discussion ensued as to the payment by private 
persons who wished to have an analysis made, and ulti¬ 
mately, after remarks from Sir Francis Hicks, Mr. 
Locke King, and others, the amount to be paid was 
fixed at 10 . 5 ., and the remainder of the report and re¬ 
commendations were agreed upon .—Morning Advertiser. 
The Vestry of St. Pancras has issued a series of re¬ 
gulations for the conduct of the officers appointed under 
the Adulteration of Food Act, these rules being divided 
into two parts—viz., those relating to private purchasers 
who may wish articles analysed, and those for the in¬ 
spector under the Act who should submit articles for 
analysis in his capacity as public officer only. As re¬ 
gards the regulations for purchasers generally the Act 
provides for the payment of a fee for analysis of not 
less than 2.s. 6d., nor more than 10s. 6d., and the General 
Purposes Committee, by whom the regulations have 
been drawn up, state that as the object of the Vestry 
should be to have the Act carried out efficiently rather 
than to receive large fees, and as it would be difficult 
for the ratepayers generally to understand a scale of 
fees, whether governed by the value of the analysis or 
otherwise, there should be an uniform fee of 2s. 6tf. 
charged to all purchasers of articles not intended for re- • 
sale, and a fee of 10s. 6 cl. to all purchasers of articles 
intended to be re-sold. The fee should be paid to the 
inspector, and accounted for by him to the vestry clerk, 
and the inspector should not, under penalty of dismissal, 
be allowed to receive any fee or reward other than that 
fixed by the Vestry. When a sample is brought to the 
inspector by a private purchaser, such purchaser shall make 
a declaration that the article presented has been purchased 
at a place within the parish. The sample should be di¬ 
vided into three, and each portion enclosed, sealed, and 
numbered in the presence of the purchaser; but no name 
or other distinguishing mark should be placed on the 
sample, except the name of the article and labels de¬ 
scriptive of any admixture; but the inspector should 
enter in a book provided for the purpose the date, the 
name, the address of the person bringing the sample, 
the number of the sample, and other particulars. One 
portion should be returned to the purchaser, another re¬ 
tained by the inspector, and the third should be divided 
into two, sealed and marked, in the presence of the 
analyst—one portion left with the analyst and the other 
retained by the inspector. The inspector should not, 
except as provided for in section 3 of the Act of 1860^ 
give the name of the person bringing an article for 
analysis to the analyst. The analyst should in his cer¬ 
tificate of the result of his analysis refer to the par¬ 
ticular sample analysed by number and description, and 
the certificate should be so -worded as that it cannot be ap¬ 
plied to any other sample, or used in any other way for the 
purposes of advertisement. The inspector should not be 
allowed to alter or interfere in any way with the certificate 
so as to identify such certificate with the vendor of the 
article or with any other person, and should not be al¬ 
lowed to give any form of certificate himself. As to 
articles purchased by the inspector, there should be a 
systematic scheme of sampling. The inspector should 
be only partially under the control of the analyst— i.e., 
he should at the request of the analyst obtain samples 
of any one article—say bread—from the tradesmen in 
any one ward or district of the parish; but in every 
other respect he should act only under the regulations 
of the Vestry, or a committee of the Vestry. When re¬ 
quired by the analyst to obtain samples of bread, he 
must obtain samples as far as possible from all vendors 
of bread in the ward or district. He must, in the pre¬ 
sence of the vendor, divide his purchase into three,, 
and enclose, seal, and number each portion himself, 
under seal, and dividing the third portion into two, in 
the presence of the analyst, retaining one portion and. 
leaving the other with the analyst, and upon this por¬ 
tion the certificate of the analyst should be given. The 
certificate to be given under the same conditions as 
above-mentioned in regard to a private purchaser. 
When the. analyst shall be of opinion that the result of 
an analysis of any article is such as to warrant the 
Vestry instituting proceedings against the vendor, he 
shall make a report to that effect to the Vestry, using 
only the number of the sample, and the Vestry shall 
thereupon, and without the name of the vendor being- 
made known, resolve whether proceedings should be 
taken against such vendor. The analyst should be re¬ 
quired to provide a laboratory at his own expense, and, 
all things necessary for the purposes of analysis. He 
should be paid by a fixed salary, and not be allowed to 
receive any fees whatever except fees for attendance in 
a court of justice on proceedings being taken by the 
Vestry. The book containing the names and other par¬ 
ticulars with reference to the numbered samples should 
be kept in the custody of the inspector, and no officer or 
other person should have access to such book or to the 
sealed samples in the possession of the inspector, except 
as ordered by a court of law upon any proceedings 
against the vendor of adulterated articles or by the- 
A r estry or a committee of the Vestry.— Times. 
