March 18,1871.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS 
757 
|lotes anJdr units. 
*** In order to facilitate reference , correspondents are 
requested to mark tlieir answers in each case with the title 
and number of the query referred to. 
No notice can be taken of anonymous communications. 
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lishers. 
[82.]—COLOURS FOR CARBOYS.—May I be per- 
Knitted to place on record my experience in the use of the 
formula given for the above in the Number for Dec. 24th, in 
the hope that it may be useful to others ? 
The red, made strictly as directed by Mr. Hearder, gave a 
very satisfactory result (at the time), but a month’s exposure 
in the window brought about rapid fading, and rendered ne¬ 
cessary the substitution of another colour. 
The blue, made also according to Mr. Hearder’s formula, 
was very intense, so much so that about half the contents of 
the carboy had to be replaced by distilled water. 
It proved, however, even more evanescent than the red; 
numerous flocks being soon deposited at the bottom, leaving 
the upper part of the liquid almost colourless. 
I have substituted a formula from Beasley, and would only 
note that the quantity of nitrate of copper there ordered is 
largely in excess of that actually required. I speak advisedly 
when I say that one-tenth of the given weight would still err 
on the side of superfluity. 
Without wishing to seem ungracious to the contributors of 
formulae, w r ould it not be well that some trial should be made 
of their working before publication, or that the user should 
be warned of his entrance upon wholly untrodden ffelds ? 
J. F. Brown. 
[177.]—SALAD DRESSING.—In reply to “ Medicina,” 
Y T olk of Eggs two 
Table Salt 5 oz. 
Salad Oil 4 oz. 
Mustard oz. 
Best Vinegar 6 oz. 
Isinglass 1 dram 
Soluble—Cayenne 10 grains. 
Quercus. 
[190.]—BRONZONETTE.— “ Ignorant ” wishes to hear of 
a good receipt for an article called “ Bronzonette,” which an¬ 
swers admirably for bronzing busts and ornaments of various 
kinds. The fluid he has been using lately emits the disagree¬ 
able smell of common naphtha. 
[101.]—SOLVENT FOR WHITE SHELLAC.—Will 
any reader kindly inform me what is the best and cheapest 
solvent for white shellac ?—E. M. A. 
[192.]—OXYGEN GAS.—Can any correspondent favour 
me with a cheap method for producing pure oxygen gas for 
inhaling?—J. D. M. 
[193.]—LIQUOR OPII SEDATIVUS.—I should be very 
glad if any reader of the Pharmaceutical J ournal could 
inform me how to make “ Liq. Opii Sedativus.”— Arthur T. 
Girdler. 
[194.]—MIST. AMMONIACI CONC.— A. T. Girdler 
wishes to be furnished with a formula for making mist, am- 
moniaci cone., for preparing the mist, ammoniaci of the Phar¬ 
macopoeia. 
[195.]—COAL GAS.—Can any of my fellow-readers de.- 
vise a plan whereby to use up a quantity of coal gas, except¬ 
ing for illuminating or for a gas engine ? I want to turn it 
into some practical use.— One in a Fix. 
[196.]—MUSTARD LEAVES.—Will any reader kindly 
favour me with the best formula for preparing the above ?— 
W. Y. Scruby. 
[197.]—WHITE CEMENT.— J. B. would be glad if any 
reader could give a good formula for white cement, suitable 
for joining Spa ornaments to metallic mountings. 
Cmtspitot. 
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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 Proposed Poison Regulations. 
Sir,—Forty years ago, I have myself sent out pound 
parcels of arsenic and cream of tartar, of “ ox-vomit,” white 
hellebore, linseed meal and rottenstone in the same butter- 
basket, with frequently no other than a written label, and 
sometimes, I fear, if in a hurry, not even that. I did it be¬ 
cause it was the custom; because I was told to do so ; and 
because I knew no better. It will be supposed, therefore, 
that I am not individually hostile to poison regulations. 
But have w r e made no advance since 1831 ? One would 
think, to judge by the stir made about poison legislation, 
that w r e had not; that things continued now as they were 
then. 
I think a line between public and private acts maybe suffi¬ 
ciently easily drawn. I think the public have no right to 
interfere with a man who only plays in private with edge 
tools for his own amusement and at his own risk; but if he 
throws them about to the manifest danger of others, he 
should be restrained from doing so; i. e. I think the public 
have no business to determine for me in what manner I shall 
keep the articles I deal in, while I acknowledge that it has 
every right to prevent my scattering them abroad to its own 
great danger and probable detriment. I object on principle 
to all excise or police interference whatever with me in the 
management of my private affairs. I consider a line of argu¬ 
ment, based upon hopes or promises of leniency in carrying 
out a law, a line to be ashamed of taking one’s stand upon. 
And I claim that my house, and shop too, be what unhappily 
an Englishman’s house too often is not , my “ castle.” If a 
cry of murder alarms, a charge of cruelty be made, or reason¬ 
able suspicion of gross immorality, of knowingly secreting 
from justice vicious characters, stoien goods, or highly explo¬ 
sive compounds exist, storm it, and, if proved, sack it, if you 
will; but otherwise I hold that the said public, and its myr¬ 
midons of the law, have no right to enter but by my permission. 
And I hold, also, that laws should be impartial, and aim at 
the public good solely and exclusively. Therefore, if you 
exempt one man from all control over his mode of conduct¬ 
ing a confessedly dangerous trade, solely because he is en¬ 
abled—cheaply enough perhaps—to add surgeon or physician 
to his name, and fine another for the very same act, j r ou are 
not impartial, you do not legislate for the public benefit 
solely, nor even chiefly,—for you make the knowing better 
than others the excuse for recklessness, whilst supposed igno¬ 
rance aggravates the offence,—but for that of certain indi¬ 
viduals, or to gratify the animus of a certain class. It is 
palpably most unjust that A. B. and C. D., both in the same 
street, both dealing openly in hair-oil, red precipitate, lauda¬ 
num, quack medicines and vermin-killers should have a dif¬ 
ference made between them, the one having his trade ham¬ 
pered wfith restrictions which are acknowledged to be unne¬ 
cessary, by the very fact that it is not sought to apply them 
to the other. I say, too, that both public dispensaries of 
every kind, and those of private surgeons, should alike come 
under the same surveillance. And if the medical profession 
deny this, they transparently betray that they seek not legis¬ 
lation solely for the public good, but for the sake either of 
some special benefit to themselves or the gratification of some 
party spleen, though I by no means assert that, as a body, 
they do either. Still, this is a crucial test. 
Having said thus much in opposition to the principle of 
such legislation, I will now add that I most cordially approve 
of the terms of all the proposed regulations, provided they 
come forth with no stronger enforcement than the recommen¬ 
dation of the Council of our Society. This ought to be 
enough, and it would be enough with all the well-disposed 
among its members, who most likely—indeed, it seems to be 
admitted on all hands that they do so—adopt them already. 
To the evil-disposed, such legislation is rather a gain than 
otherwise in the long-run. By the exercise of his wits he 
soon learns to evade the penalties of a new Act, and the 
honourably-minded man neither will nor can compete with 
him in doing so. It should be borne in mind that legislation 
for repression is not legislation for elevation. No one pre- 
