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THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[April 22,1871. 
In the recent Heport of Dr. Letheby to the Cor¬ 
poration of London and the Metropolitan Board of 
Works, on the quality of gas supplied to the Metro¬ 
polis, it was stated that the gas had been found free 
from sulphuretted hydrogen, and that the quantity 
of ammonia had not exceeded the amount pre¬ 
scribed by the referees, viz. 5 grains per 100 cubic 
feet of gas. The presence of sulphur in illuminat¬ 
ing gas would be particularly obnoxious to the phar¬ 
macist, on account of the destructive action of the 
sulphuric acid or sulphate of ammonia produced, 
and the consequent corrosion of brass littings, etc. 
It is reported to have been found in very variable 
proportions, averaging from 11-5 grains to 30T1 
grains per 100 cubic feet. In reference to this dif¬ 
ference, we may here remark that there is reason to 
believe that much of it is referable to a variation in 
the results obtained in testing for sulphur; and only 
recently we have had occasion to notice that the 
actual result obtained in testing gas for sulphur by 
the method known as LethEby’s is in reality very 
much a matter of accident, being so much influenced 
by the conditions under which the experiment is con¬ 
ducted. 
We have been favoured with an opportunity of 
examining a Poison Cabinet, designed to promote 
Hie safe keeping and dispensing of poisons, which 
has been patented by Mr. Young. We propose to 
give a description of it in our next number. 
The Gardeners' Chronicle states that in the centre 
of the great conservatory of the ltoyal Horticultural 
Society there is a plant upwards of 20 feet high, of 
the old Bhodoclendron arhoreum, which has this year 
borne innumerable trusses of deep blood-red flowers, 
realizing all that the late Dr. Wallich ever wrote of 
the glorious effect produced on the northern slopes of 
the Himalaya, where vast tracts are entirely covered 
With them. 
The Athenanwi announces that the Educational 
Department of the International Exhibition is 
makiug progress, and is likely to prove not only 
attractive but useful, particularly in reference to 
science teaching. We understand that Professor 
Fuankland has been requested to report on this 
branch, and we may therefore expect good service to 
be done towards the removal of our strange defi¬ 
ciencies in regard to science. 
Favourable reports have been received concerning 
the cinchona cultivation in the West Indies. Nature 
informs us that in the Jamaica plantations the trees 
are seeding plentifully. About 40,000 seedling plants 
of C. succirubra have also been raised from Jamaica 
seed. Another hundred acres of land have been pre¬ 
pared for planting this spring, and there appears to 
be a probability of a still larger quantity being put 
under similar cultivation. 
Among the lectures which have been announced 
for delivery at the ltoyal Institution are two “ On 
Force and Energy,” by Charles Brooke, F.R.S., 
May U and 10 ; and one “ On the Gaseous and Liquid 
States of Matter,” by Thomas Andrews, F.lt.S.,. 
June 2. 
The British Medical Journal , referring to a sim- 
gestion made in its columns* and already quoted hi 
this Journal, to the effect that an alcoholic solution 
of sulphurous acid would be a convenient vehicle for 
setting free sulphurous acid, as a disinfectant, says 
that Messrs. Herring and Co. have taken the hint 
then given, and have prepared such a solution. 
Articles of clothing, valuable instruments and deli¬ 
cate materials may be effectually disinfected by 
dropping a measured quantity of this solution on 
the bottom of a closed box in which they are placed. 
Pathological preparations may be preserved fresh. 
An antiseptic and wholesome atmosphere may in 
like manner be obtained in a bed or bed-chamber. 
As a parasiticide, on rag under impermeable tissue, 
it will be found most energetic. 
At a recent meeting of the Royal Colonial In¬ 
stitute a paper was read on the “Appointment of 
a Reporter on Trade Products for the Colonies.” 
After discussion, a committee was appointed to ask 
the Secretary of State for the Colonies to establish 
such a department, and further to suggest the forma¬ 
tion of a Colonial Museum on a similar basis to that 
established at the India Office. 
The Mezereon (Daphne Mezereon , L.) and the 
Spurge Laurel (D. Laureola, L.) are the only British 
representatives of the Natural Order Tliymelaccee; 
and the former, grown as it is in many of our gardens 
and shrubberies for its fragrant pink flowers opening 
at so early a period in the spring, is a very creditable 
example of the Order. The whole plant is acrid 
and powerfully irritant, and the bark has been used 
in medicine in this country. In some parts of France 
it is applied to the skin as an irritant in the form of 
a blister, a piece of the fresh bark being simply cut 
out, Steeped in vinegar, and placed on the affected 
part. The leaves are likewise used in medicine in 
various parts of the Continent. JD. Laureola has 
similar properties, indeed the same acrid principle 
pervades the whole Order. In Borneo the bark of 
a species of If ilcstromia, probably IF. indica, is used 
to allay toothache, a small piece being chewed with 
lime. It has also a wide reputation in that country 
for the cure of whitlow. The natives take a long 
strip of the fresh bark and bind it tightly round 
the finger above the diseased part, it soon produces 
a sore encircling the finger, which is supposed to- 
prevent the spread of the inflammation and effect a 
speedy cure. 
* See Pharmaceutical Journal, ante , p. 465. 
