*338 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [October 22, 1870. 
Hotes an)it Entries. 
*** In accordance with a wish expressed by numerous 
correspondents, a column will in future be devoted to notes 
and queries, with the object of facilitating the exchange of 
information among members of the trade and students. 
In order to facilitate reference, correspondents are re¬ 
quested to mark their ansivers in each case with the title and 
number of the query referred to. 
[2.]—MOUNTING MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS.— It. J. 
31. may mount sections of leaves, wood, etc., for tlie.micro¬ 
scope, as follows:—Make several sections, which may be 
roughly viewed under the microscope, with the object of 
choosing the thinnest and most regular one for the purpose. 
Having done this, place it on the centre of one of the glass 
slides that are sold for the purpose by most philosophical in¬ 
strument makers, and carefully drop on it one or two drops, 
or just sufficient to cover it, of Canada balsam. One of the 
very thin little squares of glass, which are also sold by the above, 
is now carefully dropped on to the object, and the slide has 
then to be heated very gently over the flame of a spirit-lamp 
to dispel any air-bubbles that may have formed, and this part 
of the process is very essential. The slide should be put 
away for a week or so to dry, either on the top of a bookcase 
or the cabinet-work of the shop. It will have been sufficiently 
long when the superfluous balsam that has oozed out from the 
sides is found to be quite hard. This should be carefully 
rubbed off' the glass with a little turpentine, or cut and scraped 
off, and, the name being appended, the slide is complete. This 
is a simple process, which will render most opaque organic 
substances transparent and permanently mounted.— “ Give 
and Take.” 
If It. J. 31. will forward his address to Mr. Alfred Laslett, 
Market Place, Hadleigh, Suffolk, that gentleman will be happy 
to give him a few hints on mounting microscopical objects. 
[3.1—PATENT MEDICINE LICENCE.— T. Marshall 
is informed that chemists keeping more than one shop are re¬ 
quired to take out only one licence for the sale of “ patents,” 
etc.—“G ive and Take.” 
COMPOUND SALTS. — Major Associate, in reply to 
“ Spes,” refers him to the manufacture of hydrochloric acid 
(II Cl ); the acid of pharmacy is obtained by the action of 
sulphuric acid on chloride of sodium, the resulting gas being 
dissolved in water. The following represents the decomposi¬ 
tion which takes place:— 
2 NaCn _ ( Na 2 SO, 
H 2 S0 4 -> “ 12HC1 
showing that hydrochloric acid is a compound of hydrogen 
and chlorine. He would also refer “ Spes” to sulphuric acid 
(H 2 S0 4 ), oxide of antimony (Sb 2 0 3 ), ferrous sulphate 
(FeS0 4 ), and ferric sulphate (Fe a 3S0 4 ); the decomposi¬ 
tions occurring in the manufacture of each of these com¬ 
pounds are given in Attfield’s ‘ Chemistry.’ 
[6.]—ESSENCE OF COFFEE.— JR. J. (Manchester) de¬ 
sires to be informed what is the best method of making es¬ 
sence of coffee. 
[7.]— CHILBLAINS.— J. W. D. HJ. (Yorkshire) would 
feel obliged if any of our readers would tell him of a remedy 
for chilblains “ to be taken internally.” 
[8-]—PATENT MEDICINES .—•“ Socius” wishes to know 
whether any registration, certificate, or special licence is re¬ 
quired for the introduction of a now patent medicine. 
[9*]—GREEN FIRE.— T. 31. (Nottingham) wishes for a 
good recipe for making green fire. 
„ [10.] —WHOLESALE DRUGGISTS’ ASSISTANTS’ 
SOCIETA. J. Hart (Bow) having heard that the assistants 
in the wholesale drug trade are about to form a society, 
which would afford them the means of interchanging trade 
opinions and tend to improve their social and intellectual 
position, would feel obliged by any of our readers furnishing 
him with further information on the subject. 
[1L]—AUSTRALIA.—Can any of your correspondents 
inform me what chance there is of a druggist, with moderate 
capital, succeeding better in Australia than in this countrv? 
—W. Miller. 
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. 
The Poison Question. 
Sir,—I hope the action taken by Messrs. Brown and Rey¬ 
nolds, and those who joined them at the Council meeting held 
on the 5th instant, will meet with the hearty approval and 
appreciation of the majority of the members of the Pharma¬ 
ceutical Society and of druggists generally. I imagine that 
the recommendations made by the late Council were suffi¬ 
ciently well understood, and had for their object the compul¬ 
sory adoption of one or other of the methods suggested for 
the storing and selling of poisons, and that the objectionable 
feature in the scheme was that it was to be made compulsory, 
and, of course, to be attended with the obnoxious machinery 
of inspector, etc., to ensure its being put in operation. 
I do not think the number of cases of accidental poisoning, 
arising from carelessness on the part of chemists, calls for 
such interference with their rights and privacy as the making 
imperative of any such measure necessarily would. 
At the general meeting Mr. Haselden, in seconding the 
adoption of the regulations, said, “ that it was much better to 
saddle themselves than let anybody else do it,” but is it not 
best not to be saddled at all ? 
Let the Council be united and object to any scheme, by 
whomsoever proposed, which has for its object the fettering 
of the members of our profession. 
I trust that the compulsory scheme will again be success¬ 
fully opposed. 
John R. Thompson. 
Bishopwearmoxdh, Sunderland, Oct. 18th, 1870. 
“Extra Charges after or before Business Hours.” 
Sir,—There are very few assistants or apprentices but are 
rejoiced to see this subject brought forward. It is one which 
exerts great influence on their future mental prospects. 
How many of us are there who, by reason of frequent in¬ 
terruptions, are prone in despair to cast aside, pro tern., 
“ Attfleld,” “ Royle ” or “ Bentley,” the study of which de¬ 
mands close application! The experience of many will doubt¬ 
less coincide with mine, that often the greater part of the 
evening’s business is done between 8 and 10 o’clock. That 
such a state of things should continue is what I hope few will 
affirm. I beg to suggest that as it does not appear (to me) 
to be a subject for the “ Council,” the local secretaries should 
take the matter in hand. Let them canvass the chemists in 
their own districts, and, having obtained the signatures of 
those willing to adopt the plan, advertise it with the signa¬ 
tures appended in the principal local papers,—say, for four 
weeks,—the expense of which I am sure would be cheerfully 
borne by the assistants and apprentices. 
Of course the extra 25 per cent, would be at the disposal of 
the chemists themselves, but I hope it would be willingly de¬ 
voted to the benefit of Associations or to the Benevolent 
Fund. 
I look forward to the time when we shall cease, like the 
medical men, to bo at the beck and call of the public, without 
extra charge. 
October 18 th. H. B. 
Notes and Queries. 
Sir,—I congratulate you on the new feature introduced in 
the last number of the Pharmaceutical Journal; I refer 
to the space you intend devoting to “ Notes and Queries.” 
Doubtless the advantages will be incalculable, if our members 
only enter into the matter with spirit and “ give and take ” 
in their ideas for the general weal of our body. In one of your 
contemporaries —The English 3Iechanic —the system has been, 
found to answer so well, and the readers have been so generous 
in their anxiety to help their brother readers in all subjects, 
whether mechanical, chemical or philosophical, etc., that that 
part of the work alone, in itself, forms quite an encyclopaedia 
