April 29, 1871.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
871 
POOR-LAW TENDERS FOR MEDICINES IN 
IRELAND. 
The following list of prices, showing the anoma¬ 
lies which may exist under the present system of 
tenders for the supply of medicines to unions in Ire¬ 
land, is published in the British Medical Journal as 
representing the prices quoted in tenders to the 
North and South Dublin Unions 
North. 
South. 
8. 
d. 
8. 
d. 
per gall. 
Acidum accticum fortius 
26 
8 
per gall. 
3 
6 
Acidum sulph. aromat. . 
2 
0 
per lb. . 
.28 
0 
per lb. 
Aloes hepatica . 
0 
4 
. 6 
6 
n 
Aloes Socotrina. 
1 
9 
n * 
. 6 
6 
11 
Pilula aloes composita.. 
4 
0 
11 
.10 
0 
ii 
Pilula colocynth. comp. 
6 
0 
n • 
. 2 
6 
ii 
Pilula hydrargyri. 
1 
0 
n 
. 4 
6 
ii 
Pilula rhei composita .. 
6 
0 
» • 
. 1 
0 
ii 
Pulvis scammonii. 
28 
0 
ii • 
.10 
0 
ii 
Potassii bromidum .... 
6 
6 
11 • 
.20 
0 
11 
Iodum . 
16 
0 
n • 
.44 
0 
ii 
Pulvis ipecacuanhas .... 
10 
0 
ii • 
. 5 
6 
ii 
Extractum belladonnas . 
4 
0 
n 
.16 
0 
ii 
Extractum hyoscyami .. 
1 
6 
n 
. 5 
4 
ii 
Pulvis opii. 
50 
0 
11 
.22 
0 
ii 
Sulphas magnesias .... 
9 
4 
per cwt. 
6 
0 
per cwt. 
Sulphur sublimatum .. 
4 
8 
per stone 1 
6 
per st. 
If the opposition to Mr. Lowe’s match tax had 
not caused its withdrawal, it would have been pos¬ 
sible to urge a new argument to overcome his re¬ 
luctance to entertain anj r application for grants in 
aid of science. It might then have been said that 
the application of science to industrial arts afforded 
the Chancellor of the Exchequer a means of ob¬ 
taining additions to the revenue, and that conse¬ 
quently, from his point of view, promotion of science 
■was a thing to be desired as a financial expedient. 
An interesting plant is figured in the present 
number of the Botanical Magazine under the name 
of Ghlorocodon Whitei, H.f. It is a climbing,’leafy 
plant, sometimes reaching to the tops of the most 
lofty trees, and sending its roots out among the sur¬ 
rounding rocks and stones to a distance of fifteen to 
twenty feet. It is a native of Natal, but is never 
found more than a few miles from the sea. The 
roots, under the name of “ Mimdi roots,” are exten¬ 
sively collected and sold by the Kaffirs, who eat 
large quantities of them, chewing them for their 
agreeable aromatic taste and stomachic properties. 
The consumption has been so great in the distiict 
where the plant was discovered that it has become 
rare. It is said that the roots have a sweeter and 
better flavour the nearer they are grown to the sea. 
Some of the living roots have been received at 
Kew, from which plants have been raised and they 
flowered last autumn. The fresh roots have a 
powerful odour, somewhat resembling that of the 
Tonquin bean. 
At the Annual General Meeting of the proprietors 
of the London Institution, held on Wednesday last, 
Mr. Daniel Hanbury, F.H.S., w r as elected a Mana¬ 
ger, in the room of Mr. S. J. Fletcher, resigned. 
fransactions af tjje fIrarmamttitiil j&rritfg. 
EXAMINATION IN EDINBURGH. 
April 19 th, 1871.' 
Present—Messrs. Ainslie, Aitken, Baildon, Brown. 
Buchanan, Kemp, Young and Mackay. 
Twenty-two Candidates presented themselves; eight 
for the First or Preliminary Examination, eight for the 
Minor, one for the Major and five for the Modified. 
The following fifteen passed, and w r ere declared to be 
duly qualified to he registered:— 
FIRST, or PRELIMINARY (as Apprentices or 
Students). 
Caims, Thomas.Edinburgh. 
Hinksman, John ..Edinburgh. 
Swan, Peter.Edinburgh. 
Weddell, George.Kelso. 
-s i Brown, Allan .Glasgow. 
o* | Ferguson, William James .... Gorebridge. 
w ( Macmillan, James Laker.Glasgow. 
MINOR (as Chemists and Druggists). 
* Mackay, George Duncan ... .Edinburgh. 
Coldwell, Peter.Edinburgh. 
Lunan, Alexander.Aberdeen. 
Hardie, Alexander .Edinburgh. 
The above names are arranged in order of merit. 
MAJOR (as a Pharmaceutical Chemist). 
* Linton, Ralph Tait.Edinburgh. 
MODIFIED (as Chemists and Druggists). 
Lockerbie, James.Helensburgh. 
Midgley, Charles.Manchester. 
Ritchie, Andrew Wemyss -Alford, Aberdeen. 
Errata.—P age 851, col. 1, line 5 from bottom, for 
Hensley, Robert Place, rend Hensby, Robert Place; 
page 851, col. 2, line 51, for Nash, William, read Neish, 
William. 
LIVERPOOL CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 
The Eleventh General Meeting of this Association was 
held at the Royal Institution on Thursday evening, the 
13th instant; the President, Mr. John Abraham, in 
the chair. 
Mr. Alfred E. Tanner asked the opinion of the mem¬ 
bers upon the incompatibility of persalts of iron with 
infusion of chirata. A mixture of inf. chiratce with liq. 
ferri pemit. had been returned to him by a physician 
because it was dark coloured and slight decomposition 
had taken place. 
Mr. S. G. Hilditch said that if the infusion was pre¬ 
pared in accordance with the Pharmacopoeia, persalts of 
iron were incompatible with it, and the mixture would 
be a dark brown colour; but if the infusion was pre¬ 
pared with cold water, the mixture would not be effected. 
The intensity of colour would vary according to the tem¬ 
perature of the water used to make the infusion, hot 
water taking up much more gallic acid than cold water; 
he noticed that the characteristic inky taste was not pre¬ 
sent, but this might be covered by the intense hitter of 
the chirata. 
Mr. Charles Symes, Pharmaceutical Chemist, thought 
the process given in the Pharmacopoeia for making lini- 
mentum hydrargyri was unnecessarily tedious, melting- 
* Passed with Honours. 
