733 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[March 15, 1873. 
efficacious ; while he can also suggest to the patient the 
resources available to him for that moral and intellec¬ 
tual recreation which in so many cases is found to be 
the main element of cure. 
His work has a high reputation in France not only for 
its scientific and professional merits, but for its charm of 
style, and much credit is due to its English translator 
for having preserved the latter while faithfully reflecting 
the former. An introduction supplies the reader with 
useful hints as to the kind of cases in which benefit may 
be derived from change of climate and scene; after 
which comes a lucid exposition of the “ hygiene of the 
seasons ” and the best resorts for the maladies peculiar 
to winter, spring, summer and autumn. Next follows a 
series of “ Excursions and Travels in Quest of Health,” 
in which the practical mind of the author shows itself in 
the shrewdness of his recommendations, down even to 
the details of hotel-life and itinerary disbursements. As 
a specimen of the 
the health-seeking invalid with all the requisite infor¬ 
mation, we may cite his chapter on the winter excur¬ 
sions in the mountains of Lozere and the Haute-Loire, 
which will have a special interest at present when the 
Times and other lay journals are filled with contro¬ 
versial correspondence as to the conflicting claims of 
“ winter sanitaria.” 
The section on mineral waters constitutes the bulk, as 
it is certainly the most important part of the book. 
Dr. Donne takes us through the Pyrenees, through 
Provence and Dauphine, through Corsica, Savoy, 
France and Switzerland, and describes their peculiar 
virtues and the cases in which they have proved bene¬ 
ficial. Comprehensive and minutely detailed as it is, 
this section does not pretend to be exhaustive, omitting 
as it does nearly all reference to the German and par¬ 
ticularly to the Austrian watering-places. Such a 
charming resort as Soolbad Aussee, on the river Traun, 
for example, it does not even allude to. Is is, as we 
have said, almost entirely confined to the Latin countries, 
and even of these the preference is given to France. 
Some excellent remarks on special points of hygiene, 
as that of the lungs, of the teeth, of the stomach, of the 
eyes, and of the nervous system, will be found at the 
conclusion of the volume. They combine very happily 
scientific insight with popular exposition. The reader 
will also admire the fairness with which Dr. Donne gives 
the arguments for and against what Dr. T. K. Chambers 
terms “that ill-assorted union of medicine and inn¬ 
keeping called hydropathy.” 
Cflrasptiitnxf. 
* * 
* 
tions. 
No notice can be taken of anonymous communica- 
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 Sale oe Poisons. 
Sir,—After reading the editorial remarks upon the above 
subject in last week’s Journal, I scarcely think it necessary 
for me to say much in reply to Mr. Tibbs. The sale of 
“Vermin Killers” is a very troublesome question, and I am 
sure all will agree with me that the sooner chemists ancL 
druggists generally come to some understanding in the matter 
the better. I am afraid Mr. Tibbs would find his theory, that 
“Vermin Killers” containing arsenic or strychnine are not 
preparations of these substances, of little use to him in a 
court of justice. I hold, that it is the duty of every chemist 
when he sells a “Vermin Killer,” knowing it to contain' 
completeness with which he inspiresarsenic or strychnine, to register it in the same way as he 
would any other preparation of those substances. I think. 
Sir, Mr. Tibbs has not studied the law with sufficient care, 
for if he will carefully read over the Pharmacy Act, 1888, and 
the list of additions to the schedule published in 1869, he will 
find that he need have no fear he is doing wrong when he 
sells “lotions” containing cantharides or corrosive sublimate, 
or “ cough remedies ” containing tartar emetic, without regis¬ 
tration, for he will see that preparations of the above sub¬ 
stances, are not named in the first, and only those of cantha¬ 
rides and corrosive sublimate in the second part of the 
schedule. 
Archibald Kitchin. 
Whitehaven, March 1 \th, 1873. 
©Mtorg. 
At Liverpool, on the 1st March, 1873, Mr. Edwin 
Barnes, of Durham. Mr. Barnes studied in the School of 
Pharmacy, Bloomsbury Square, in 1859, and was honour¬ 
ably distinguished in the Professors’ Examinations. In 
1860 he passed the Major examination, and was elected 
a member of the Society in 1870. He lived at Alton, 
Edinburgh, and Liverpool, and will be remembered by 
his numerous friends as a man of genial manners and 
varied attainments. As a student he was enthusiastic, 
and he carried the same heartiness and thoroughness into 
all that he afterwards undertook. His death, which was 
from pneumonia, will be regretted by many readers of 
these lines. 
Notice has also been received of the death of the fol¬ 
lowing :— 
On the 7th December, 1872, Mr. Robert Errington, 
Chemist and Druggist, of Bradford, Yorkshire. 
On the 5th February, suddenly, Mr. Robert Procter, 
Chemist and Druggist, of Castle Gate, Newark. 
The Examinations. 
Sir,—There appearing to be considerable interest shown 
in regard to the examinations, perhaps you will allow me, as 
one who has passed all at no very distant date, to say 
a few words. 
I will begin, Sir, with the “ Preliminary.” Most, I think, 
will admit that at present this examination is not so hard, 
but that a boy leaving school should be able to pass it without 
difficulty, providing that Latin was one of the subjects he has 
been taught there, and that he has taken (and had taken 
with him) moderate pains to accomplish the object for which 
he had been sent; but I am certainly of opinion that ifc 
ought either to be held entirely in London, or it should be 
totally separated from the Society and placed under some 
independent examining board; for not only is the present 
system liable to abuse, but, to my knowledge, it has been 
abused and not carried out in the manner intended and or¬ 
dered by the Council of the Society. 
Secondly, the “Minor.” I would remind and encourage* 
those who are preparing for this, that a little method, perseve- 
rance and industry are all that is required not only to pass it, 
but to pass it with honours. It is essentially a practical ex¬ 
amination, which an apprentice, having completed his term, 
should be able to pass. The examiners will be found to> 
give every allowance to those who are at all nervous; for I 
doubt not that their experience enables them easily to dis¬ 
tinguish those who are competent but lack self-reliance, from 
those who are incompetent and those who show but artificial 
cramming. 
Thirdly, the “ Major.” Of this I will only say, that those 
who have passed the two previous examinations have only to 
continue in the course they have hitherto pursued, and they 
will find that this one only requires the three requisites 
already recommended for the “ Minorand when they have 
“ done it,” they will acknowledge that the pleasure of attain¬ 
ing the object is well worth the labour and trouble bestowed, 
on it. 
I can from experience assure all who try and wish to suc¬ 
ceed that success will undoubtedly attend them if they give 
their attention to what they profess to be studying, remem¬ 
bering that “Diligence in execution is the mistress of suc¬ 
cess.” 
York. 
W. M. Thompson* 
Pharmaceutical Women. 
Sir,—I take up my pen in the hope of clearing this subject - , 
from some of the fogs which have been thrown around it. 
The question lately discussed by the Council of the Pharma- 
