September 2,1871.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
187 
Cj)e |1(j;trm;utufita[ journal. 
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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1S71. 
Communications for this Journal, and boohs for review, etc., 
'should be addressed to the Editor, 17, Bloomsbury Square. 
Instructions from Members and Associates respecting the 
<transmission of the Journal should be sent to Elias Bkem- 
hidge, Secretary, 17, Bloomsbury Square, JF.C. 
Advertisements to Messrs. Churchill, New Burlington 
Street, London, IF. Envelopes indorsed u Bharm. Journ.” 
THE POISON REGULATIONS CONTROVERSY. 
Though it is now some months ago since the late 
President expressed in anticipation his delight at 
the prospect that the pages of this Journal would he 
no longer encumbered by controversy on Poison 
Regulations to the exclusion of more valuable matter, 
and that contention in the pharmaceutical body 
would cease, still these desirable results have not 
been attained. Our columns instead of flowing with 
the milk and honey of pure pharmacy have been 
rswamped with debris brought down by the poison- 
flood of the past six months. We have not even 
Leen able to avoid contributing editorially to the 
accumulation, and although correspondents declare 
•themselves thoroughly tired of the controversy they 
.still go on with it. 
In addition to the letters which appear this week, 
we have received several others on the same sub¬ 
ject which we refrain from publishing, partly be- 
«cause the writers in some instances request an exer¬ 
cise of editorial discretion, and partly because the 
other letters throw no new light on the subject. 
While referring to tliis controversy, we will repeat 
the suggestion already offered last month, that the 
Ttime for discussion is past, and Ave will hoav add the 
•expression of our hope that the energies of pharma¬ 
ceutists will be directed to other subjects, for the 
.evening meetings of the approaching session will 
Taise a demand for papers which can only be satis¬ 
fied by them. 
Before, luwever, dismissing the subject of poison 
regulations, we must mention that the proceedings 
relating to some recent cases of poisoning are strik¬ 
ing illustrations of a A T ery general ignorance of 
•existing laAvs and regulations, not only among the 
public, but among magistrates, coroners, and the 
press. In one instance, a coroner expressed a hope 
lliat the next session of Parliament AA T ould produce 
ran Act compelling druggists to label bottles in which 
they sold poison, and another suggests that arsenic 
should be sold coloured. These and analogous 
-cases to which Ave have already referred seem to 
.sIioav that the public mind is foggy in regard to the 
measures by which protection against accidental 
poisoning is sought to be attained. 
In addition to this, it would not be difficult to 
extract from recent cases of poisoning much evi¬ 
dence in support of the opinion long since expressed 
by one of the seniors of British pharmacy, that 
legislative protection against accidental poisoning is 
an impossibility. 
ACCLIMATIZATION OF PLANTS. 
The introduction into our colonial botanic gardens 
of various economic plants has proved that many of 
them could be readily acclimatized, and so become 
valuable additions to the vegetable productions of 
their adopted land. We learn that in the Botanic 
Garden of Adelaide, South Australia, many foreign 
medicinal plants have been introduced, and are 
growing so well that there is noAV no doubt as to 
their adaptability for cultivation in that colony. Dr. 
Schomburgk, the director of the Garden, says the 
demands by invalids for one or other of these herbs 
becomes more and more frequent. 
The Madder (.Rubia tinctoria) also grows so 
vigorously that, if it were not checked, it Avould 
spread in all directions and become a nuisance. 
Here, then, are instances of successful acclimatiza¬ 
tion of really useful plants. In France thousands 
of acres of land are devoted to the cultivation of 
Madder, and large profits are realized. We are all 
aAvare that it is one of the most important dye-plants 
known in commerce, so that, notAvithstanding the 
liea\ r y expense of freight owing to the great distance 
from Australia to Europe, it would no doubt prove a 
profitable crop for cultivation in Australia. More¬ 
over the plant appears to require little or no 
attention during the progress of its growth. 
Professor Stokes in liis Presidential Address, 
delivered before the British Association, at Exeter, 
in 1809, referred to the artificial formation by MM. 
Graebe and Liebermann of alizarine, one of the 
colouring principles of madder. Assuming that it 
might be possible to produce it at a sufficiently cheap 
rate, he instanced it as an example of the AA’ay in 
which the philosopher, quietly working in his labo- 
ratory, may obtain results which revolutionize the 
industry of nations, and also speculated upon the 
number of acres hitherto employed in madder culti- 
Arntion that would be set free for the production of 
food or some other substance useful to man. Already 
there seems to be some verification of the soundness 
of liis conjectures, for her Majesty’s Consul in Cyprus 
reports that last 3 r ear the demand for madder-roots 
grown in the island Avas limited AA'itli a correspond¬ 
ing fall of prices, and that this result is attributed 
by some persons to the influence of the discovery 
above mentioned. He adds, “ Such a result, hoAv- 
eA^er beneficial to the world in general, would entail 
great loss to the OAvncrs of madder ground in Cyprus, 
Avliicli sells at as much as F'70 an acre, aa liile common 
grain-land can be had at an acre.” 
