860 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[April 22, 1871. 
of benzine collas, or benzine anything else, unless he has a 
special licence for so doing,—which no one, at least in this 
town, has been able to obtain,—without rendering himself 
liable to a penalty of £20 ! All chemists may not be aware 
of this. 
And yet such is the absurd state of the law. And if ab¬ 
surd, why has it not been repealed ? I answer, because of the 
difficulty of getting any law repealed. 
A Country Member. 
Maidstone, April 8th, 1871. 
The Nomenclature op the Fiiaemacopieia. 
Sir.—To the accident of ray name being mentioned by 
Prof. Attlield at the last Evening Meeting you owe this letter. 
I aim at the every-day and practical only, not the theoretic 
or scientific. 
I would again urge upon those having power and autho¬ 
rity the great desirableness of distinguishing in the next 
B. P. between oils proper and “ Essential”—so called. Why 
should the word “ Essence ” be diverted from its strict mean¬ 
ing and common acceptation only when employed in phar¬ 
macy? Ordinarily it signifies the distinguishing quality of 
a thing, or, at least, a concentration of its strength or efficacy; 
but in the Pharmacopoeia it stands for—a dilution of one part 
to four; and in retail usage for proportions often much 
weaker. Let the essential oils be denominated “Essences,” 
and their dilutions S. A 7 . R. spirits. Surely no precise 
strength is necessary to constitute a “spirit.” 
AY hat objection can there be to substituting “ massa ” for 
“piiula,” seeing that it has long been so far sanctioned in 
practice as to make it impossible to misunderstand it? Or, 
perhaps better still, “ pila” for the lump, “piiula for its small 
subdivisions ? 
Again. AVhat more absurd than to call a piaster ready for 
use by the same name as the Composition from which it is 
made?—as common-sense-like as to call a table “a wood.” 
AVhat objection to “plasma,” “plastum,” or “plastrum,” 
whichever be the best Greek ? 
The same objection holds to 
rid urn. 
J J 
“ glycerinum ” for “ glyce- 
I have often regretted that Sir Humphry Davy ever in¬ 
vented that awkward and unmanageable (in composition) 
word “chlorine.” “Murine,” which must have first sug¬ 
gested itself, and for which chlorine was substituted, would 
have been more euphonious, more manageable, and "would 
have affected no disturbance whatever. For my own part, I 
am decidedly of opinion that it would be, even now, a gain 
to go back to “muriatic,” “muriates,”and to coin “murine,” 
and, if needful, “murides.” 
Many have been the suggestions for effectually distin¬ 
guishing between calomel and corrosive sublimate. Here is 
another. Let the textual name for the first be “calomelas,” 
with an authorized chemical synonym, for disguise, under¬ 
neath, and for the other “calomelas muriata.” The utmost 
extreme of hasty contraction must add the “ m ” for the more 
dangerous article, and that would bo effective; whilst “calom. 
niuriat.” could not possibly be misinterpreted. 
T. Lowe. 
Brookfield Road North, Liverpool, April 8 ih, 1871. 
Previous Sewage or Animal Contamination in 
Potable AAAtf.rs. 
Sir,—It is with the greatest diffidence that I venture to 
put myself, even in the slightest degree, in opposition to so 
eminent an authority as Dr. Frankland, but I cannot allow 
his charge ot misquotation and misrepresentation contained 
in his letter to you of last week to go unanswered. 
lii the paper he refers to, I made use of the term “'pre¬ 
vious sewage contamination 
uu 
thi 
s is a misquotation, and that 
Dr. Frankland says that 
should have been “pre¬ 
vious sewage ami animal contamination (estimated).” 
On reading Dr. Frankland’s letter, I immediatelv r 
eferred 
the Chc- 
Development of 
n, 
O V. 
to his latest published paper, viz. that rca; 
inical Society a few weeks ago, “On the 
Fungi in Potable A Talers,” and there, although I found men 
t;on twice of the term “ previous sewage and animal conta¬ 
mination,” I could nowhere find any mention of “previous 
sewage and animal contamination' (estimated).” Where, 
then, is my misquotation ? And even if I had omitted the 
word “estimated,” what difference could it possibly have 
made ? 
In the same paper, Dr. Frankland gives the results of 
several analyses of potable waters that he has lately made 
I will take the first three on the list. 
1 . 
2 - 
3. 
Ammonia .... 
•161 
•027 
•no 
Organic nitrogen . . 
Nitrogen as nitrates, 
T06 
•100 
T26 
etc. 
Total combined nitro- 
4-384 
1-637 
0 
gen. 
Previous sewage or 
animal contamina- 
4-603 
1-760 
•217 
tion. 
44850 
16270 
590 
It will bo seen that, as a matter of course, the “ nitrogen 
as nitrates and nitrites ” is contained in the “total combined 
nitrogen,” and also that from this “ total combined nitrogen” 
the “previous sewage or animal contamination” is calcu¬ 
lated ; and yet Dr. Frankland denies ray statement, “ that 
from the nitrates present he calculates how great the pre¬ 
vious sewage contamination has been !” 
I did not for a moment suppose that Dr. Frankland would 
consider the evidence I have brought forward in favour of 
nitrates being produced otherwise than by the oxidation of 
sewage or animal matter conclusive. I am glad to learn he 
is investigating the subject, and, as my only object is to get 
at the truth, I shall equally welcome his decision whether it 
be for or against me. 
Bath, April 10th, 1871. Charles Ekin. 
AA r e have been requested to publish the following corre¬ 
spondence :— 
Hampstead, April 8th, 1871. 
Gentlemen,—I beg leave to inquire if you have any know¬ 
ledge of a person calling himself Fischer or Fisher, represent¬ 
ing himself as a scientific chemist, a Dane by birth, but long 
resident in Germany? The fact that in making an applica¬ 
tion to me for relief, he used your name, stating that you 
had offered him temporary employment, induces me to apply 
to you for information, with a view, should your reply not bo 
of a satisfactory nature, of publishing the facts in order to 
put a stop to further depredation among chemists and others. 
I am, gentlemen, yours very truly, 
Messrs. F. C. Calvert and Co. 
Chas. Eve. 
Toiver Chemical Works, 
Bradford, Manchester, 
April 10th, 1871. 
Chas. Eve, Esq., Hampstead. 
Sir,—In I’eply to your inquiry, we have to inform you that 
the man Fischer or Fisher, to whom you refer, is totally un¬ 
known to us. AYe are, Sir, yours respectfully, 
F. C. Calvbrt and Co. 
Tenax. —(1.) No. (2.) Hooker’s ‘Student’s Flora.’ pub¬ 
lished by Messrs. Macmillan, price 10s. 6d. (3.) The pre¬ 
sence of lead in glycerine may be detected by means of sul¬ 
phuretted hydrogen. (4.) Messrs. Macmillan, price 4s. 6d. 
Delta. —An article, by F. C. Calvert, on “ The Adulteration 
of Oils” will be found in the Pharmaceutical Journal, 
1st Scries, A 7 ol. XIII. p. 356. 
Mcdd's ‘ Bharmaeopccial Botany .’—AYe are unable to give 
any information concerning the publication of the above work. 
G-. G -.— The names referred to are those of persons who 
have been restored to membership upon payment of their 
arrears of subscription according to the bye-laws. 
IValter Plumbly. —‘ Seleeta e Prasscriptis ’ is published by 
Messrs. Churchill, New Burlington Street, price 5s. 
The Royal Nuptial Bouquet. — We beg to acknowledge the 
receipt of a sample case of this perfume, and regret that we 
are unable co chronicle its merits, otherwise than in our ad¬ 
vertisement columns. 
J. H. Talbot .— You need not have any fear of any explo¬ 
sion under the circumstances stated. 
Communications, Letters, etc., have been received from 
Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. AY. AY. Stoddart, Mr. Jackson, Mr. E. 
Hall, Mr, G. C. Kernot, Mr. A. H. Mason, Mr. F. O. Collins, 
Mr. J. T. Robinson, Mr. A. R. Walden, Mr. A. AA r . Gerrard, 
Mr. G. Adam, A. P. B., H., C. T. J., AY. J., P. C., C. AY. S., 
“Delta,” “Boiler Composition,” “Inquirer.” 
