314 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [December 24,1870. 
was drawn from dried, specimens. Mr. Hanbury com¬ 
plained that the writer had not accompanied his paper 
with specimens of the plant. He said it was a mistake 
to suppose that pharmacologists are not aware that the 
-drug- is exported from "Venezuela. The fact is mentioned 
by Fliickiger, of Berne; while Berg and Schmidt even 
mention the difference between the two varieties. 
fitdKimtntanr anir fato fratkimtijs. 
Sale op Patent Medicines without Stamp or 
Licence. 
On Tuesday, Dec. 13, John Marston, jun., of 44, Great 
Charles Street, Birmingham, appeared at the Derby 
Borough Police Court, in answer to a summons obtained 
by the excise officer, charging him with selling patent 
medicines without a licence, at 9, Sitwell Street, Derby. 
The officer deposed that on the 24th of September he 
went to No. 9, Sitwell Street, and saw a brass plate on 
the outside, having on it the name of J. W. Hunter, and 
on an inner door the name of Dr. Hunter. When ho 
■entered the room, he saw a person named Manning, and 
.asked for a box of red pills. Manning left the room and 
.shortly afterwards returned with the box of pills and a 
book. Witness gave him 2s. 9 cl. for the pills, which were 
without the government stamp. 
Thomas Place, supervisor, Birmingham, said that on 
the 7th October, he called at the establishment of Dr. 
Hunter, in Birmingham, and saw the defendant. The 
riame ot J. W. Hunter was on the door. The defendant 
informed him that his father had bought the business of 
Dr. Hunter some years ago, and that he had re-bought 
it of his father; and he also stated that he had agents in 
Nottingham and Derby, and that his Derby agent dis¬ 
pensed his medicines. Defendant informed him that on 
purchasing stamps at the Birmingham Stamp Office, he 
had applied tor a licence, but was told that it was not 
the time for granting them, and that he should receive 
notice when that time arrived. He had not applied for 
a licence, however, and the present proceedings had been 
taken in consequence. 
.The defendant, who stated that Manning had acted 
without his authority, was fined £20, the full penalty for 
the oflence, which the magistrates unanimously decided 
not to mitigate .—Derby Mercury. 
Poisoning by Arsenic in Ireland. 
An inquest was held on Monday, December 12th, at 
Rahoon, upon the body of Mr. John Holton. It was 
stated in evidence by his wife that there had been a 
■quarrel between her and the deceased on Friday while at 
a cattle fair. When he returned home he was retching 
very much, and she heard him say that he had taken two 
doses, of poison. She thought he was imder the influence 
•of drink. . Medical assistance was procured, but he died 
the following day. 
Dr. Colahan stated that he found the deceased suffer¬ 
ing from the effects of arsenic. He administered the 
usual antidotes and used the stomach-pump, but although 
the deceased was relieved considerably, he died from 
arsenical poisoning. 
George Brokie deposed that he was an assistant to Mr. 
James M‘Swinney, who kept a druggist’s establishment 
as 'well as an apothecary’s. On Friday night, a person 
whom he knew to be Holton, the deceased, came into the 
shop to . purchase arsenic. Upon asking him what he 
wanted it for, he replied to poison rats. Witness said he 
considered him perfectly sober and sold him about a 
drachm of pure arsenic. He did not keep a book for the 
purpose of registering the sale of arsenic, hut a couple of 
hours after the sale he entered it in the shop-blotter. 
The packet was marked “poison” on a red label and 
“ arsenic ” on the shop label. He cautioned the deceased 
to be careful with it. 
Henry O’Reilly said he was an assistant in the esta¬ 
blishment of Mr. Staunton. Holton, whom ho knew, 
came into the shop, he thought on Friday ; when witness 
began to quiz him about feeding-bottles. After a time, 
deceased, who was perfectly sober, said he wanted some 
arsenic to poison rats. Witness said ho would give it to 
him if he would promise to be very cautious, and he told 
him the danger attending its use. He could not say 
whether he sold or gave it to him, or whether ho received 
any money or not. It was pure arsenic, not mixed in 
any way with colouring-matter,—a perfectly white 
powder. He kept no register, nor did he enter it in any 
book. The packet was marked “ poison ” and “ arsenic.” 
The jury returned a verdict that deceased died from 
the effects of arsenic administered by himself.— Galway 
Vindicator. 
©Mtuiiijr. 
December 8, at his residence, 33, Rue Magnan, Paris, 
aged 36, Robert John Fowler. Mr. Fowler was born at 
Gloucester, and entered the profession of pharmacy by 
apprenticeship to Mr. Harvey, of Leeds. His tastes and 
pursuits had a strong bias towards experimental science, 
and photography was a subject to which he devoted much 
attention. The introduction of the collodion process 
produced a rapid revolution in photography, and its trade 
aspect developed proportionately, so that Mr. Fowler’s 
energies were concentrated upon the new department of 
the business in which he was engaged. In the year 
1860, Mr. Fowler became a partner in the firm of Har¬ 
vey, Reynolds and Fowler, but repeated attacks of con¬ 
gestion of the lungs compelled him in about four years 
to relinquish this position and he settled in Paris, the cli¬ 
mate of which appeared to suit him much better than that 
of England. He soon established a special kind of busi¬ 
ness as commission agent in matters relating to chemistry, 
pharmacy and experimental science, acting as the medium 
alike of importers and exporters. During the Paris Ex¬ 
hibition of 1867, he was the representative of a large 
number of English exhibitors, and his assistance was 
greatly appreciated by his countrymen. For several 
years Mr. Fowler held the post of Paris correspondent 
of the British Journal of Photography , his letters appearing 
almost weekly, and often giving the earliest information 
about discoveries in physical science generally, as well 
as the novelties of photography. We do not learn that 
Mr. Fowler's life was shortened by the effects of the 
siege. The mischief tothelurgi had long since deve¬ 
loped consumptive symptoms and his death occurred 
after a short and rather sudden accession of illness. He 
has left a widow and one or more young children, who of 
course are still shut up in the besieged city. 
Elementary Chemistry. By the Rev. II. Martyn 
Hart, M.A. 8vo, pp. 287. Cassell, Potter and Galpin. 
We begin by praise because we intend to blame. This 
i-pnall volume is very nicely and clearly printed, neatly 
got up, the woodcuts are numerous and good, and the 
price is moderate. The author, too, has evidently taken 
pains with his writing; he is probably a good teacher, 
and certainly possesses the faculty of putting in a clear 
and intelligible form those things which he himself un¬ 
derstands. But the fault we have to find is that he 
is not sufficiently instructed in the subject upon which 
he professes to write. 
The impression we have derived from a careful exami¬ 
nation of the little book before us is this : it is an abridg¬ 
ment, imperfectly effected, of Miller's Chemistry. It is, 
in fact, just such an epitome as a student reading that 
work would compile for his own use. But not only is 
there no originality displayed in the manner of treating 
the subject, in the arrangement of the matter, or in the 
illustrations made use of, but over all the book hangs 
