260 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [September 24, 1870. 
The Pharmacy Act in its Relation to the Sale 
of Poisons by Grocers, etc. 
Sir,—The Members of the Pharmaceutical Society, and all 
connected with pharmacy, will he grieved to hear what I 
have to relate respecting a sight which I saw in a large town 
in the north of Scotland about a fortnight since. On saun¬ 
tering along its principal street I happened to look into a 
grocer’s window, and, to my astonishment, I saw a bottle 
(about 2 lbs.) more than three-fourths full of a bluish powder, 
and distinctly labelled arsenicum alb. The bottle was in the 
midst of three or four dozen of apples, the other part of the 
window being filled with packets of Brown and Poison’s 
Corn Flour. On making inquiries as to the use to which it 
was put, I was told it was good for killing rats, and very 
much used for that purpose. There were no precautions 
taken; the cork was not even tied over with leather, and 
there it was lying on its side in the most careless manner pos¬ 
sible. Surely such a piece of right-down carelessness and 
ignorance should not be allowed to pass unnoticed. Where 
are the limits of the Pharmacy Act ? I know nothing about 
the qualifications of the man selling such a poisonous sub¬ 
stance as arsenic any further than that he pretends to be 
neither more nor less than a grocer and meal dealer. I hope 
that such a case will not pass without some notice being 
taken of it by the Pharmaceutical Society, and if you think 
of making any inquiry I shall gladly provide you with par¬ 
ticulars. Apologizing for trespassing so largely, and hoping 
that this may not be considered an unwarrantable encroach¬ 
ment upon your valuable space, 
I remain, dear Sir, 
Prevention better than Cure. 
State Aid for Pharmaceutical Education. 
Sir,—Your remarks on this subject seem to imply that we 
are indebted to Mr. G. F. Schacht for procuring us the pri¬ 
vileges of the Science and Art Department Examinations. I 
beg to say that those privileges have always been accessible 
to us, and that teachers have always received payment on the 
result of our passing. As a proof of this, I may mention that 
nine chemists’ assistants passed at the last May Examinations 
at Birmingham in inorganic chemistry and botany, four of 
whom obtained Queen’s prizes. 
I am, Sir, yours, etc., 
An Assistant. 
Concentrated Medicine. 
Sir,—While reading the correspondence part of your 
Journal of the 10 th instant, my attention was drawn to a 
copy of a prescription, headed, “ Concentrated Medicine,” the 
correspondent of which wishes to know the proper mode of 
dispensing it. Although these few lines are from one of less 
experience than others, still I give my opinion as to the 
manner of dispensing it. No doubt that the dispenser at first 
sight is puzzled, knowing that a mistake has been made by 
the prescriber, on account of the strength and proportions of 
the ingredients in the mixture being in so concentrated a 
form, and the Absence of directions for administration. The 
following is a copy of the same as I should have dispensed it, 
with the addition of the aqua, which when mixed with the 
inf. calumbas cone, forms the ordinary strength of the same in 
the Pharmacopoeia, viz.:— 
R. Ferri Pot. Tart, piij 
Ammon. Carb. 5iss 
Tinct. Aurantii, 
Inf. Calumbse Cone., aa siss 
Aqute Destillat., ad §xij. 
Misce et signa, Sumenda Coch. Med. bis aut ter in die. 
The above dose is one which I deem perfectly safe for the 
patient, who appears, according to the ingredients of the pre¬ 
scription, to have been an adult. 
I am, Sir, yours obediently, 
Atherstone, September 12 th, 1870. George Sant. 
Sir,—Having had considerable experience in dispensing, I 
tender my method of dispensing the prescription (“ Concen¬ 
trated Medicine”) in the Journal of the 11 th instant. 
Well rub down the iron and ammonia in a mortar, add the 
infusion by degrees, lastly the tincture. 
Respecting Mr. Coles’s prescription in the Journal of the 
3rd, in the absence of any information from the patient, I 
should put up the mixture as prescription, and the pills di¬ 
vided into 24; ij p. r. n. 
Perhaps some of your correspondents would inform me 
what they would have done in a case of this sort:— 
A gentleman presented a prescription a few days since, 
handing over with it a 16-ounce bottle, saying he wanted half 
the quantity made up, which just filled the bottle. 
R. Sulph. Subiimat. purif. §iv 
Potass. Bitart. 3iss 
Magnes. Sulph. 51 ] 
Ac. Nit. Mur. dil. 5 iss 
Inf. Quassise ^xxiiiss 
M. A wineglass or less or more on rising, “ shaking the 
bottle well.” 
According to the label on the bottle it had been dispensed 
at one of the first firms in town, but no sign of a shake-the- 
bottle label thereon. Is it possible that a London firm would 
have sent out medicine in that style ? If nothing more, it 
gives the public an idea that a country chemist who dis¬ 
penses it accurately is not up to his business. 
J Eastern Medical Mall, Yours, etc., 
Brighton, September 15 th, 1870. W. C. Hales. 
Improvement in Stoppered Bottles. 
Sir,—Allow me to suggest to bottle manufacturers the 
utility of making a little groove for string at the tops of 
stoppers. Capping with paper is wholly insecure, and with 
leather not much less so. For some time past I have in dis¬ 
pensing tied stoppered-bottles with string, I need scarcely 
say with what inconvenience, for want of a little groove in 
the stoppers. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
Glastonbury, September 12th, 1870. T. Mayhew. 
Extra Charges after Business Hours. 
Sir,—Through the medium of your next issue, I should much 
like to ask the question of “extra charge for medicines after 
or before business hours.” 
Many people are in the habit of calling up the chemist at 
all unreasonable times, knowing that “ medicines can be had 
at any hour by ringing the bell,” for things which I am sure 
could, in many cases, bo left until a more suitable time, and, if 
we were to charge some 25 per cent, extra, would be. 
The opinion of yourself or subscribers will oblige. 
Yours obediently, 
J. H. Jessop. 
15, Princes Street, Manover Square, Sept. 7th, 1870. 
Material for Stanching Blood from Wounds. 
Sir,—In the American civil war equal parts of flour and 
salt, thoroughly mixed, were found very efficacious in stanch¬ 
ing the blood from wounds. Would it not be as well at this 
juncture to revive the fact, and give it as much publicity as 
possible ? 
I had an opportunity of testing its efficacy in two in¬ 
stances, one in a cut artery, and the other where a man’s 
posteriors were frightfully eaten away by disease. He found 
he could sit with less pain by using the powder. 
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
September 12 th, 1870. Pax. 
A. P. S. desires to be informed, through the medium of the- 
Journal, as to the best mode of dispensing the enclosed pre¬ 
scription, and whether it is intended to give sulphate of soda 
or lime in the mixture. 
R. Conf. Aromat. 5ij 
Sodse Bicarb. 5j 
Acid. Sulph. dil. 5ss 
Aq. Month, ad §viij 
Capt. 3j ter in. die. J. G. D. 
IF. JR. JL. (Islington).—Ammoniated mercury (white pre¬ 
cipitate) is included in the second part of the schedule of 
poisons. 
J. E. George (Aberdare) wishes for a recipe for adminis¬ 
tering Santonin in a liquid form. 
IF. B. P. asks what are the best means “ for preserving 
animal substances for some length of time in a pure condi¬ 
tion, without poison, fit for culinary purposes.” 
Instructions from Members and Associates respecting the 
transmission of the Journal should be sent to Elias Brem- 
ridge, Secretary, 17, Bloomsbury Square, W.C. 
Advertisements to Messrs. Churchill, New Burlington 
Street, London, IF. Envelopes to be endorsed for “ Pharm * 
Journ.” 
