798 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[April 1,187 L 
Measure of Weight. 
Millier or ton . 
Grams. 
1,000,000 
One thousand kilo¬ 
Quintal . . . 
100,000 
grams, the weight of 
the cubic metre of 
water and of the ton. 
One hundred kilo¬ 
Myriagram . . 
10,000 
grams. 
Ten kilograms. 
Kilogram . . 
1,000 
One thousand grams. 
Hectogram . . 
100 
One hundred grams. 
Dekagram . . 
10 
Ten grams. 
Gram .... 
1 
Unit of weight. 
Decigram . . 
•1 
The tenth of a gram. 
Centigram . . 
•01 
The hundredth of a 
Milligram . 
•001 
gram. 
The thousandth of a 
gram. 
Adulterated Tea. 
At the Shropshire Quarter Sessions, the report pre¬ 
sented by the analyst committee stated that a number of 
samples of tea, etc. had been submitted to Dr. Johnson 
and Mr. Blunt for analysis. The former reported that 
he had analysed fifteen samples of tea and seven of 
flour; and the latter twelve samples of tea. In four 
samples of tea a few grains of iron were detected by the 
use of the magnet, hut in such insignificant quantities 
as not to call for proceedings against the vendors. The 
remaining samples of tea were of a fair average charac¬ 
ter. In seven samples of flour which had been analysed 
no adulteration was found.— Grocer. 
Death prom ax Overdose of Laudanum. 
At Salford, an inquest has been held upon a child 
seventeen days old. On Sunday the child became un¬ 
well, and continued so until the next day, when its 
mother administered three drops of laudanum. For a 
time it appeared benefited, but subsequently relapsed, 
and died the same night. Verdict, “ Died from the 
effects of an overdose of opium .”—Medical Times. 
Deaths from Overdose of Chloral Hydrate. 
An adjourned inquest was held last week to inquire 
into the death of Mr. Raphael Mendola, surgeon, of Vic¬ 
toria Park. After hearing the evidence of Dr. Letheby, 
who had analysed the contents of the stomach, the jury 
returned a verdict “ That death had resulted from a dose 
of chloral, but that there was no evidence to show under 
what circumstances-it was taken.” 
Shortly after the inquest, a letter was addressed to 
the newspapers by the solicitors to the deceased gentle¬ 
man’s family, stating that they had discovered that Air. 
Mendola had recently purchased an ounce of chloral 
hydrate from the wholesale druggists with whom he 
generally dealt, stating that he intended to use it to 
relieve paroxysms of pain from which he occasionally 
suffered. It appeared from the post-mortem examination 
that the deceased was suffering from fatty degeneration 
of the heart. 
Another inquest was held on Monday, at the Middlesex 
Hospital, upon the body of Mr. Edwin Charles Small- 
man, M.R.C.S. For some time past deceased had been 
in the habit of taking morphia to induce sleep. On 
Friday morning he was discovered dead in his bed. By 
the bedside was a bottle which had contained chloral 
hydrate. The post-mortem examination showed that the 
deceased had been in a very bad state of health, and 
that his death resulted from an overdose of chloral, 
taken while in a state of great weakness, probably for 
the purpose of obtaining sleep, and relieving pain. ' The 
jury returned a verdict of “Death from natural causes.” 
Suicide by Oxalic Acid. 
On Friday, March 24th, an inquest was hold on the- 
body of John Lovelace. It appeared that the deceased 
had been taken into custody on a charge of attempting 
to murder his wife. When apprehended, a paper and. 
white powder were noticed lying on the floor. Soon after 
being taken to the station he began to vomit. A doctor 
was sent for, but before he arrived the man was dead. 
Professor Attfield said that he had made an examina¬ 
tion of the contents of the stomach, and that there was 
enough oxalic acid in the stomach to account for death. 
The son of the deceased said his father was a shoe¬ 
maker, and used oxalic acid in his business. 
The jury returned a verdict of “Suicide while in an 
unsound state of mind.”— Times. 
Standards of Weights and Measures. 
( From the London Gazette , March 28, 1871.) 
The following imperial measures of capacity, which 
have been constructed and duly verified and authenti¬ 
cated in the Standards Department of the Board of Trade, 
and their capacity accurately determined in relation to 
the imperial standard measure of capacity established 
under the provisions of section 6 of the Act 5 George IV 
cap. 74, have been declared to be legal secondary stan¬ 
dards of capacity, in pursuance of sections 6 and 8 of the 
Standards of Weights, Measures, and Coinage Act, 1866 > 
viz.:— 
Imperial Standard Measures of Capacity. 
Liquid Measure.—The quarter-gill, equal to l-128tb 
gallon. 
Bottle Measures.—The bottle, equal to l-6th gallon; 
the half-bottle, equal to 1-12th gallon. 
Fluid Ounce Measures.—Measures containing respec¬ 
tively the following weight of distilled water, at the tem¬ 
perature of 62 deg. Fahrenheit’s thermometer, weighed 
in air at the temperature of 62 deg. of Fahrenheit’s ther¬ 
mometer, the barometer being at 30 inches, viz. :—Four 
avoirdupois ounces, two avoirdupois ounces, one avoir¬ 
dupois ounce, half an avoirdupois ounce. Note.—The- 
following ounce measures are already legalized as impe¬ 
rial standard measures of capacity, viz.:—Quart, equal 
to 40 fluid ounces; pint, equal to 20 fluid ounces ; half¬ 
pint, equal to 10 fluid ounces; gill, equal to 5 fluid ounces; 
half-gill, equal to fluid ounces ; quarter-gill, equal to* 
lj fluid ounces. 
Liquid Measures of Grain Weights of Distilled Water. 
—Measures containing respectively the following weight 
in grains of distilled water, at the temperature of 62 deg. 
of Fahrenheit’s thermometer, weighed in air at the tem¬ 
perature of 62 deg. of Fahrenheit’s thermometer, the- 
barometer being at 30 inches, viz.:—7000, 4000, 2000- 
1000 grains; 500, 300, 200, 100 grains; 50, 30, 20, 10 
grains; 5, 3, 2, 1 grain. 
BOOK RECEIVED. 
Handbuch dee Piiarmakognosie und Pharmako- 
logie fiir Aerzte, Studirende der Medicin und Pharmacies 
Apotheker und Droguisten. By Prof. Dr. Archimedes- 
von Schwarzkopf, Teacher of Pharmacognosy, Natio¬ 
nal Economy and Commercial Science at the University of 
Basle and Director of the Germano-Swiss Commercial 
School. Part I. Leipzig und Heidelberg: C. F. Win- 
ter’sche Verlags-handlung. 1871. 
The following journals have been received:—The ‘British 
Medical Journal,’ March 25 ; the ‘ Medical Times and Gazette/ 
March 25; the ‘ Lancet,’ March 25; the ‘ Medical Press andi 
Circular,’ March30; ‘Nature,’ March23; the ‘ChemicalNews,’ 
March 24; ‘Journal of the Society of Arts,’ March 23; .‘Gar¬ 
deners’Chronicle,’ March25; the ‘Grocer,’ March25; ‘Produce- 
Markets Review,’ March 25; the ‘ English Mechanic,’ March. 
24; the ‘Journal of the Royal Institution.’ 
