■January 7, 187L] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
547 
within a few hours without leaving 1 a trace of smell be¬ 
hind. The best solvent, however, I found to he bisul¬ 
phide of carbon. This substance readily produces a con¬ 
centrated clear solution of wax, even without the aid of 
heat, and evaporates so quickly, that wax paper pro¬ 
duced by its aid is ready tor use within a few minutes 
after being 1 impregnated. The latter manipulation 
•should be performed quickly and on both sides by means 
of a soft sponge. This solution will be found especially 
adapted for coating gypsum statuettes and other similar 
work. . It may also be used for closing up small cracks 
in furniture prior to being varnished or painted, as also 
for bedsteads to exclude bed-bugs. For the former pur¬ 
pose it may be coloured to harmonize with the furniture. 
The use of this “ Wax-Varnish ” will be found very con- 
venient, especially during the summer months, when gas 
stoves and charcoal furnaces are in general use, which 
will not produce the uniform heat over a large surface 
dhat is necessary to make good wax paper according to 
idle usual plan. —Hermann Koch , in Druggists' Circular. 
Test for Chloric Acid, by M. R. Boettger.— 
Three years ago M. Braun described an extremely deli¬ 
cate test for nitrates and nitric acid ; it depended upon 
the intense red coloration produced by these bodies 
upon sulphate of aniline dissolved in sulphuric acid. M. 
Boettger suggests the same reaction for the detection of 
chloric acid and the chlorates. The smallest possible 
trace of a chlorate introduced into the solution of sulphate 
of aniline in sulphuric acid will dcvelope almost instan¬ 
taneously a blue colour throughout the mass.— Journ. cle 
Pharmacie et de Cliimie. 
Flavour for Chloral Hydrate.- —-A correspondent 
•of the New York Druggists' Circular says that the taste 
of chloral hydrate may be successfully disguised by the 
.addition to a solution of the chloral of a little simple 
syrup and a few drops of oil of sassafras. 
Tin-lined 'Water Pipes. —In an article upon the 
subject of the poisoning of water by pipes used for do¬ 
mestic purposes, the Boston Journal of Chemistrg warns 
its readers against the tin-lined pipes lately introduced, 
which it asserts are dangerous because (1) tin by itself 
is often more readily attacked and dissolved by water 
than is lead ; (2) where there is water contact between 
lead and tin, both metals are dissolved with increased 
rapidity. It adds that galvanized pipe is just as dan¬ 
gerous, for in this case salts of zinc are formed and 
gradually dissolved. —Food Journal. 
Poisoning by a Disinfectant. —A fatal mistake 
occurred on Monday, December 26, at Winchmore Hill. 
Mrs. Gardiner, of Edmonton, having called to see her 
.•sister, Mrs. Eaton, whose family had been suffering from 
•small-pox, was invited to partake of a glass of rum. 
After drinking a small quantity she complained of the 
taste, saying that it was very hot. Her sister then tried 
-a little diluted with water. Shortly afterwards both 
ladies were taken seriously ill, when it was found that 
instead of rum, they had been drinking a disinfecting 
fluid kept in the house by order of the doctor. Mrs. 
Gardiner lived only a few hours, and her sister lies in a 
very dangerous state.— Standard. 
Poisoning by Tincture of Squills.' —A case of 
poisoning has occurred at Penzance, the particulars of 
which are as follows:—The wife of a miner being ill a 
messenger was sent to Mr. Chenhalls’ surgery for some 
medicine. While preparing it, Mr. Chenhalls found he 
had not sufficient tincture of squills. He therefore 
.asked the messenger, who is rather deaf, to take a bottle 
to a chemist’s and have it filled for him. Instead, how- 
•cver, of returning with the filled bottle to Mr. Chenhalls, 
•the messenger gave it to the patient’s little boy, re¬ 
questing him to tell his mother to take the same quantity 
•as before. The patient did so, drinking nearly an ounce 
of the tincture. Mr. Chenhalls, finding the messenger 
did not return, acted promptly when he discovered the 
mistake, but nothing could prevent death.— limes. 
^ Botanizing in Honolulu. —A correspondent in 
Honolulu, after making a botanical tour in the Ivaala 
range, writes, “ Botanizing on this island is not without 
considerable danger. Only imagine descending a steep 
decline of 70°, which had to be done chiefly by swinging 
from the roots of one tree to the branches of the next one 
below, and that at the height of 2000 feet above the deep 
gorge beneath our feet.” Nature, however, seems in all 
cases to provide a reward for her admirers who volun¬ 
tarily expose themselves to such dangers for the purpose 
of bringing to the eye of science her numerous hidden 
beauties, for the writer continues to say, ho was not a 
little surprised by the discovery of a violet with splendid 
snow-white waxy flowers, some of which were almost 
half an inch in diameter and exquisitely perfumed. He 
considers it probably a variety of Yiola Chamissoniana , 
which ho found in its ordinary state lower down in the 
forest; but the pure white flowers, stretching out their 
long peduncles above the surrounding low undergrowth 
and luxuriating in the full sunshine of an azure blue 
sky, far exceed in beauty those of V. Chamissoniana , 
which are of the ordinary violet colour.— Nature. 
Poisoning by Mistake. —An inquest was held on 
Monday, January 2, in Bell Street, Edgeware Road, upon 
the body of a child two days old, to whom a dose of 
laudanum had been given by the nurse in mistake for 
castor oil. As soon as the error v/as discovered, medical 
assistance was obtained, but the child died twelve hours 
afterwards. A verdict of death from misadventure was 
returned.— Standard. 
THE SALE OF POISONS IN CANADA. 
At the Toronto Police Court, on Friday, November 
2o, twenty-five druggists were charged with having sold 
poison contrary to the law. The Canadian Pharmaceu- 
tical Journal has the following editorial remarks con¬ 
cerning this prosecution : — 
“ Many of our readers will, by this time, have learned 
of the recent prosecution of a number of our city drug¬ 
gists for alleged infraction of the law regarding the sale 
of poisons. The case is one of considerable interest t© 
all classes of the community, and to druggists especially 
so. Nor is this interest of a purely local nature, inas¬ 
much as the statute relates to all parts of the province, 
and should the decision, which is now pending, be 
rendei'ed in favour of the prosecution, it is probable that 
druggists in other cities and towns would soon have to 
suffer a like humiliation with their Toronto brethren, by 
becoming a prey to the treachery of that most despicable 
of creatures,—a common informer. 
“ Some time during the middle of last month, the noto¬ 
rious informer, Mason, accompanied by one of his satel¬ 
lites, made a circuit of the drug stores of the city, and 
from twenty-five of these establishments succeeded in 
obtaining, by virtue of various artful misrepresentations, 
quantities of laudanum varying from forty minims to an 
ounce. Information was at once lodged with the police 
magistrate, and the offenders were, in due course, brought 
before that functionary. As the information was in all 
cases the same, it was proposed to try one as a test, 
which was accordingly done. From the evidence of the 
informer, it appears that the laudanum was procured 
with considerable difficulty, and it was not until the pur¬ 
chaser gave full particulars as to the purpose for which 
he wanted it, urging, as a reason, that his rest had for 
several nights been broken, that the druggist consented 
to let him have the quantity required,—a little over half 
an ounce. The question arose as to whether laudanum 
came within the meaning of the statute in being ‘a 
deadly poison.’ A number of witnesses, including Pro¬ 
fessor Croft and Dr. Lizars, were examined, but all agreed 
in their testimony that laudanum could not be so regarded, 
and could not, with propriety, be classed in the same 
category with arsenic, corrosive sublimate and strychnia. 
The case was remanded from, day to day, but nothing 
