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THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [December 17, 1570 , 
The Cost of Dimples. —Those who pay fair prices 
for gcol wines should he alive to a kind of imposition 
which makes them pay nearly twice the nominal price 
for what they drink. Six bottles of brandy or wine are 
popularly supposed to make a gallon, and six reputed 
quarts do fairly make up the gallon. Mr. A. H. Church 
has been at the pains to measure the contents of some 
reputed quart bottles in which different wines and brandy 
were sent out by a respectable house. They contained 
in nearly every instance less than two-thirds of the full 
measure. Port at 6G* 1 . a dozen was really sold at 82s. 
full measure. Cognac at 60s. was sold at the rate of 86s. 
full measure. Santo was sold at 48s. a dozen ; the bottle 
consisted of only twenty-two ounces, instead of forty, 
and the cost was, therefore, at the rate of 87s. Even the 
20s. Roussillon bought by the bottle counts up to 30s. a 
dozen. The kick or dimple in each bottle often holds as 
much as a small tumbler. Evidently dimples are a con¬ 
siderable and probably a not sufficiently considered item 
in our family expenditure*— British Medical Journal. 
Monkey Nuts. —The pods of the ground nut 
(Arachis hypogcca), commonly known by the name of 
‘•monkey nuts,” chiefly used for the expression from the 
seeds of a light-coloured bland oil, said to be extensively 
used for mixing with olive oil, are now reported to be used 
in America for making so-called chocolate. For this pur¬ 
pose they are beaten up in a mortar and the mass com¬ 
pressed into cakes; and it is said to form a most agree¬ 
able chocolate, without a particle of true cocoa. The 
Americans also prepare the seeds as a dessert sweetmeat 
by pai'ching them and beating them up with sugar.— 
Nature. 
The Manufacture of Grape Sugar from Corn. 
—The Boston Journal <f Chemistry says that large fac¬ 
tories have been established in New Orleans, Buffalo, 
and Brooklyn, for making grape sugar from corn. The 
latter is steeped in weak soda lye, for the purpose of 
softening the husk and gluten, and is then ground wet 
and run through revolving sieves to separate impurities. 
It is afterwards made to flow through ways or troughs, 
in which the starch gradually settles as a white powder. 
The wash water is run into a large cistern, and allowed 
to ferment and produce a weak vinegar. The starch 
from the troughs is put wet into the mash-tub, and 
treated with water containing one per cent, of sulphuric 
acid, for eight hours. The acid is neutralized with chalk 
or carbonate of lime, and the liquid evaporated to get 
rid of the gypsum; it is afterwards further evaporated in 
vacuum pans and run into barrels ready for crystalliza¬ 
tion.— Nature. 
Sulphurous Acid.— Dr. Wilks reports that I 10 has 
used sulphurous acid with great success in cases of ty¬ 
phoid fever. He says that it “ arrests the development 
of the fever poison, and by continuing this arrest long 
enough the fever is exterminated. Briefly, it is an anti¬ 
dote.”— British Medical Journal. 
Chilblains. —In a letter to the Lancet , Dr. Fergus 
says “that sulphurous acid is a remedy that has a sur¬ 
prising effect upon chilblains, ©specially in their irritating 
tormenting stage. The acid should be applied with a 
camel-hair brush, or what is better, by means of a spray- 
producer. One application by the latter method usually 
effects a cure.. A good wash for hands or feet affected is 
sulphurous acid, three parts; glycerine, one part; water, 
one part. 
Pill Knives.— Mr. Carre, of Meaford, writing to the 
Canadian Bhannaceutical Journal, recommends the use of 
a tool something like a carpenter’s chisel for reducing 
stiff extracts and masses. It may be made from a 
stout pill-knife, by cutting the round part of the end to 
a square shape, and grinding both sides to an edge. This 
will thoroughly clean the slab as well as blend the mass 
most effectually. He says the ipestle and| mortar are 
nowhere' beside it. 
The Use of Ammonia in Snake Bites. —Mr.. 
F. Gr. Adye-Curran, M.B., Assistant-Surgeon to the 83rd 
regiment, reports in the Lancet a case in which the am¬ 
monia remedy was tried without success. A native 
butler noticing a cobra di capello to emerge from a rat- 
hole, immediately informed his master, who came and 
fired at the cobra, wounding it in the neck, but not kill¬ 
ing it. The butler, who was partially intoxicated at the 
time, seeing the cobra trying to make its escape, caught 
hold of the reptile by the tail, when it turned sharply 
round and bit him in the index finger. He was imme¬ 
diately removed to the hospital, where a tourniquet was 
placed on the arm and wrist, the finger freely lanced 
and ammonia and ipecacuanha applied, while ammonia 
and brandy were given internally. The wound was 
sucked and the patient kept awake; but in spite of every 
effort he died four or five hours after being bitten. A 
curious circumstance in connection with this case is that 
the patient expressed himself as feeling no pain, and the 
usual symptoms of snake poisoning were absent. 
HULL CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION.—ANNUAL 
SUPPER. 
The Annual Supper of the Hull Chemists’ Association 
was held on Wednesday evening, December 7th; about 
thirty-five members attended. The chair was occupied 
by Mr. J. Baynes, and the vice-chair by Mr. Anthony- 
Smith. 
After the usual loyal and local toasts had been drunk, 
Mr. Preston proposed “ Success to the Chemists and 
Druggists’ Association,” observing that the members of 
the Association numbered more this year than last year. 
The Chairman, in replying, stated that the Society had 
made material progress during the past fifteen months,, 
and he had hopes that it would bo an enduring and last¬ 
ing Association. 
DRUG MARKET NOTES. 
The old and esteemed preparation Compound Ex¬ 
tract or Colocynth may shortly have to find a sub¬ 
stitute, for at the present time the officinal cardamom: 
is almost entirely" absent from commerce, and it is 
seldom that a parcel of true Socotrine aloes is now 
offered for sale. 
The following were among the parcels of drugs, 
offered for sale last week:— 
Aloes,—Cape, 54 cases. 
Galls,—Turkey", 37 bales. 
Castor Oil, 354 cases. 
Gum Kowrie, 10 bags. 
Opium,—Turkey, 08 cases; Persian, 25. 
Otto of Roses, 17 vases; and 850 ounces. 
Ylang-ylang, 2 tins. 
Senna, 124 bales ; Alexandria, 04 cases; Bombay", 
10 bales; Tinnevelly", 177 bales. 
Cliiretta, 120 bales. 
Sarsaparilla, 10 bales. 
Bark, 75 packages, 52 bales; Peruvian, 33 serons; 
Guayaquil, 5 serons; Crown, 105 packages; 
Calisay'a, 27 serons. 
Ipecacuanha, 5 serons; Cartliagena, 0 packages- 
Cutch, 11 cases. 
Aconite, 2 cases. 
Sandal Wood, 3 tons. 
Matico, 7 bales. 
Rhubarb, 108 chests. 
