278 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[October 1, 1870. 
to the first, putting some of that same liquid into them, 
and boiling the liquid for some time, so as to destroy any 
organisms ; but, when they had been killed, he left the 
bulbs open, and he found that the contents were as 
effectually protected by the conditions there present as 
if the tubes had been sealed. He submitted the results 
to several members of the French Academy; the expe¬ 
riment was repeated by other persons, and the results 
showed—if there were any exceptions I do not remem¬ 
ber hearing of them—that no organisms were produced. 
You will notice that the liquid which had been boiled 
was separated by a long, thin tube from the outer air, 
and the air only had access to it through this long, nar¬ 
row, tortuous passage, which, moreover, was at first wet 
inside, because of the condensed steam. Pasteur then 
cut off some of the tubes, so as to allow free access of air 
to the contents, without having to pass through this 
long, narrow tube, and soon after that was done the pro¬ 
cess of decomposition set in, and he got various organisms 
formed in his mixture, which developed themselves in 
the way yeast, mould, and such-like organisms generally 
do. 
{To be continued.) 
Mortality from Snake-Poisoning'. —The Lancet 
quoting a letter, dated the 11th August, from T. D. 
Beighton, Esq., of the Bengal Civil Service, magistrate 
of the subdivision of the Culna district of the Burduan 
province of Bengal, remarks, “ The Culna district com¬ 
prises, we presume, 80 or 100 square miles, and has a 
population of about 300,000. Mr. Beighton says that 
deaths from snake-bite are singularly common in the 
subdivision. An average of one per day is reported 
through the police. The actual deaths are probably 
double the number reported. If this daily average is 
meant to apply the whole year round, we should thus 
get, in a comparatively small district, the frightful result 
of 700 deaths from snake-bite. It is lamentable to think 
that, despite the supposed remedial discoveries in this 
direction, we still seem to be without an agent to neu¬ 
tralize the effects of the bites of poisonous snakes.” 
Disinfectants used in the International So¬ 
ciety’s Hospitals. —A correspondent of the British 
Medical Journal says, that in these hospitals the sick and 
wounded are most rigorously kept apart; the wounded 
on the lower, the sick on the higher floors of the hospitals. 
A space of 1500 cubic feet is allowed for each bed. Car¬ 
bolic acid powder is strewed on the floors of the rooms 
twice a week. Chloride of lime or sulphate of iron is 
used for the privies. Chloride of zinc in solution is 
added to the water used for washing the bandages, sheets, 
and shirts of the wounded. The compresses, lint, etc., 
are put into a solution of carbolic acid, and afterwards 
poured out into a hole dug in the ground, and covered 
with earth. Sponges are used only to wash the patients, 
each of whom has a sponge for himself. The wounds 
are syringed with warm water, to which permanganate 
of potash is added. The lint and the compresses are 
moistened before being placed on the wounds, sometimes 
with carbolic acid solution, or with a mixture of carbolic 
acid and olive-oil. 
Impure Acetic Acid. —Dr. Bruckner, of Phila¬ 
delphia, reports in the American Journal of Pharmacy , 
that he has found acetic acid to contain phosphate of 
lime. This is a fact of importance in reference to the 
use of acetic acid in the analysis of phosphatic materials. 
The author suggests that the phosphate may have been 
derived from bone black, used for decolorizing the acid. 
The following journals have been received:—The ‘ British 
Medical Journal,’ Sept. 24; the ‘ Medical Times and Gazette,’ 
Sept. 24; the ‘Lancet,’ Sept. 24; ‘Nature,’ Sept. 22; the 
‘ Chemical News,’ Sept. 23; ‘ Journal of the Society of Arts,’ 
Sept. 23; ‘Gardeners’ Chronicle,’ Sept. 24; the ‘Grocer,’ 
Sept. 24; the ‘ English Mechanic,’ Sept. 23 ; the ‘ American 
Chemist.’ 
femjjmtiimtt. 
Communications for this Journal , and boohs for review, 
should be addressed to the Editor, 17, Bloomsbury Square. 
*** No 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. 
“Free Trade in Surgical Instruments.” 
Sir,—As discussion on the above subject appears to be in¬ 
vited, we, the undersigned chemists and druggists in Newbury, 
desire to express our entire concurrence in the opinions and 
statements of facts contained in Mr. Magg’s letter of the 
24th instant. 
We consider that Messrs. Maw have not acted in a fair 
and generous spirit towards the trade, after the many years 
that their interests have been united; and by their present 
mode of doing business with surgeons, boards 'of guardians 
and others not connected with the profession in any way, 
and also by an indiscriminate distribution of their priced 
catalogue they are alienating their best friends, as they term 
chemists, though we doubt if the latter can conscientiously 
reciprocate the flattering compliment. 
We are, yours faithfully, 
Philip Childs, Local Sec. 
Hickman and Son. 
Davis and Son. 
N. W. Ryott. 
F. G. Hall. 
J. B. Pratt. 
Henry Taylor. 
Tho. W. and B. Fielder. 
Newbury, September 26th, 1870. 
Sir,—Several letters having appeared on this subject, per¬ 
haps you will kindly allow me a small space for remark. 
I cannot join your correspondents in considering it a griev¬ 
ance that surgeons should prefer obtaining goods direct from 
the manufacturers and paying cash instead of encumbering 
the books of retail chemists with unprofitable, long-winded 
accounts. The fact alone is on the broad principle an advan¬ 
tage, tending to the improvement of trade in the aggregate. 
As for supplying surgeons with any drug or other article, 
it is generally found unsatisfactory and unprofitable. I lately 
sold a general practitioner some Howard’s citrate of iron and 
quinine, charging him 25 per cent, on the cost. He com¬ 
plained that the price was excessive, at the same time pro¬ 
ducing a drug list from a no less respectable firm than 
Messrs. Evans, Sons and Co., quoting a price considerably 
lower than I had given, but, while acknowledging that the 
preparation might be considerably better, said the low-priced 
drug “ would answer his purpose.” 
An experience of more than thirty years assures me that 
no house is better disposed toward the legitimate retailer 
than that of Messrs. Maw, Son and Thompson, who do not 
supply articles to private customers, as is the known practice 
of several wholesale druggists and co-operative storekeepers, 
—a direct injury tq,retail trade for which there is no remedy. 
An instance occurred the other day which is more to the point 
than pages of complaints. A person applied to Messrs. Maw, 
Son and Thompson for an instrument, value one guinea, and 
in reply received the enclosed note:— 
“Dear Sir,—We are in receipt of your favour of the 
17th inst. We only supply the trade and medical profession, 
therefore must ask you to obtain the articles wanted through 
one of the chemists in your neighbourhood. 
“We are, dear Sir, 
“ Very respectfully yours, 
“S. Maw, Son and Thompson.” 
(The following post brought me a credit note for 7s. com¬ 
mission on the sale.) 
I hope it will be understood that my object in writing is 
not with a view to prolonging an unprofitable correspon¬ 
dence, but rather to express an opinion that the majority 
will endorse, namely, the right of every house of business, be 
it large or small, to conduct its own affairs in a manner most 
conducive to its own interests and to those of its supporters 
of every grade. 
I am, Sir, (in haste) yours obediently, 
Deprecator. 
