24 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
[July 9, 1870. 
The basic substance which I produced with nitrous 
acid and the nitrites is characterized by a very decided 
reducing power; the neutral and acid salts of this base 
produce the same effect,—thus, they immediately decom¬ 
pose permanganate of potash and iodic acid. The re¬ 
ducing power which the salts possess, is, however, greatly 
augmented when the base is set free by means of an 
alkali, and a liquor is thus obtained which reduces salts 
of copper, mercury, silver, and gold. 
On the other hand, there is no mention made by M. 
Lossen, or in the publications of other chemists who 
have studied oxy-ammonia, of the reducing action of that 
substance. 
Is therefore the base which I have obtained different 
from that of M. Lossen ? 
Assisted by a young chemist, M. Maudet, I have re¬ 
peated M. Lossen’s experiments, and prepared oxy-am¬ 
monia by the method he has described, causing a mix¬ 
ture of hydrochloric acid and tin to act on the nitric 
ether of wood spirit; and I have thus obtained a base 
with all the characters of that I produced with nitrous 
acid, and which, like it, possesses great reducing power. 
—Repertoire cle Rharmacie. 
ON THE PREPARATION OF SUBACETATE OF 
LEAD BY THE COLD PROCESS. 
BY M. NERNING. 
"When this preparation is made with heat, the acetate 
of lead is liable to dissolve excess of oxide of lead, and 
insoluble basic acetate is thus produced, forming a white 
floceulent precipitate, which renders the liquid turbid. 
To obviate this inconvenience, M. Nerning proposes to 
operate as follows :—Put the w r ater, litharge, and acetate 
of lead into a bottle, and let them stand, with frequent 
agitation, for twenty-four hours, then filter. The solu¬ 
tion thus obtained answers all the purposes for which 
it is required in pharmacy, and, if kept in a w r ell-stop- 
pered bottle, it will remain clear even when kept for a 
long time.— Journal de Rharmacie et de Chimie.* 
MODE OF PREPARING THE CUTCH OF COMMERCE 
FROM THE ACACIA CATECHU. 
BY CLAUDE DUMAINE. 
Of this tree there are two varieties,—a white and a red 
kind; but the cutch or catechu is almost always prepared 
from the red kind, the white being seldom cut down. 
Cutch, or catechu, is prepared thus:—The tree is cut down 
to about 6 to 12 inches from the ground, and chopped into 
small pieces, the smaller branches and bark being re¬ 
jected. The chopped wood is then taken to the place of 
manufacture, generally under trees in the open air, and 
placed over a brisk fire in mud jars, called ghurrahs , 
filled with about two-thirds of water. This is allowed 
to boil down till, with the extracted matter, it forms a 
liquid of syrupy consistence. The contents of several 
jars are then poured into a larger jar and again placed 
over a brisk fire for a period of from two to four hours, 
and, when sufficiently boiled down, it is poured out over 
mats covered with ashes of cow dung and allowed to dry. 
The wood, when dry, is used for fuel.— Journ. of Agr. 
and Sortie. Soc. of India, part iv. p. 399. 1869. 
* The editor, in a note, states with reference t© this pro¬ 
cess, that it has long been adopted in the military hospitals, 
the following being the proportions of ingredients used:— 
Crystallized acetate of lead three hundred parts ; litharge, in 
fine powder, a hundred parts ; distilled water, six hundred and 
fifty parts. Put them into a bottle, shake them from time to 
time, and at the expiration of six or eight hours, filter. 
THE PRESENT PROSPECTS OF THE SEWAGE 
QUESTION IN RELATION TO THE PUBLIC 
HEALTH. 
BY HENRY LETHEBY, ESQ., M.B. 
(.Read before the Metropolitan Association of Medical Officers 
of Health, May 21, 1870.) 
Hasty and inconsiderate legislation, promoted by those 
who, as the sequel will show, had no real knowledge of 
either the principles or practice of the subject with 
which they officiously meddled, together with the most 
mischievous charlatanism, has brought the whole ques¬ 
tion of the disposal of sewage into such a frightful mess, 
that the public are not only loud in their complaints of 
the injury inflicted on them, but are equally emphatic 
in their demands for a remedy. 
A review of the parliamentary history of this subject 
would be instructive, and it would also be amusing, but 
for its serious results and its solemn prolixity; for it 
would show how Blue-book upon Blue-book, and report 
upon report, from the same officious hands, and in the 
same wearisome tone and bewilderment of facts and 
figures, had so perplexed the Legislature, that they were 
glad to dispose of the subject by hasty legislation, or by 
handing it over to some Royal Commission, not always 
discreetly chosen. 
But bad as are the consequences of this, the prospects 
of the future are worse, for there is a well-grounded fear 
that the same incompetent school of sanitarians who 
have been concerned with our present difficulties, will 
also be concerned with the future, and that Parliament 
will again have to correct the errors of inconsiderate 
legislation. If this can be prevented it will be of vast 
importance to the public, and none are better able to 
assist in the matter than the health officers of this me¬ 
tropolis. It is with this object I draw your attention to 
it, and ask you to give it your serious consideration. 
In the first place, let us inquire what is the nature of 
the thing we have to deal with. Sewage is at all times 
a very complex material, for it is composed not only of 
the solid and liquid excreta of the population, but also 
of the fluid refuse of every branch of industry, as the- 
filth of kitchens, laundries, and dye-houses; the drain¬ 
ings from stables, slaughter-houses, and the public 
markets; the various liquid impurities of trades and 
manufactures; and the washings of streets and alleys. 
These, with the ejecta of the inhabitants, and a large- 
volume of water, compose the sewage of towns. But 
each of these constituents has its specific influence on 
the composition of the general mass, and on the putre¬ 
faction to which it is subject. Every town or city r 
therefore,—in fact, every part of a city,—has its own 
peculiar quality of sewage, varying with the density of 
the population, the habits of the people, as to their diet, 
cleanliness, and trade pursuits; with the season of the 
year, the state of the weather, the day of the week, and 
even the hour of the day. This makes it difficult to 
obtain precise information of the nature and composition 
of sewage. Nevertheless, there are twn ways by which 
the subject may be approached,—as by ascertaining the 
average amounts of solid and liquid matters contributed 
by each individual, and by the various branches of in¬ 
dustry ; and secondly, by making careful analysis of the 
sewage collected throughout the day at various seasons 
of the year. 
Messrs. Lawes and "Way in this country, and MM. 
Wolf and Lehmann on the Continent, have determined, 
with very nearly the same results, the average propor¬ 
tion of solid and liquid matters discharged daily from 
the human body. It varies, of course, with age and sex,, 
but broadly it may be said that, taking a thousand indi¬ 
viduals at all ages, as they are found in a population, 
they contribute about 2640 lbs. of liquid and moist ex¬ 
creta. In the dry state it would amount to about 141 
lbs. This is at the daily rate of 42-25 oz. of moist, 
