•September 16,1871.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS 
227 
SATURDAY, SEPTE2IBER 16, 1S71. 
If tills attempt be successfully carried through, our 
Government will have had the satisfaction of having 
introduced into India two most important pharma¬ 
ceutical plants, cinchona and ipecacuanha, and as 
regards the latter, we shall be greatly indebted to 
Professor Balfour for the part he has taken in pro¬ 
viding the plants. 
Communications for this Journal, and looks 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 Brem- 
ridge, Secretary, 17, Bloomsbury Square, TV.C. 
Advertisements to Messrs. Churchill, New Burlington 
-Street, London, IF. Envelopes indorsed u Bharm. Journ.” 
CULTIVATION OF IPECACUANHA IN INDIA. 
It will be in the recollection of many of our 
leaders that we have on several occasions referred 
to this subject,* and that last February we published 
an abstract of a lecture delivered by Prof. Balfour 
to the pharmaceutists of Edinburgh, in which he 
.gave an account of what steps had been taken for 
introducing the cultivation of ipecacuanha in India. 
It is scarcely necessary to insist upon the im¬ 
portance of this attempt, should it prove successful, 
and it is with especial pleasure therefore that we 
have been enabled through the kindness of Professor 
Balfour to communicate the very hopeful report 
that has been forwarded from India on the safe ar¬ 
rival of the plants. The following letter from Mr. 
"Walton (who took charge of the plants) to Professc* 
Balfour has been forwarded through Mr. John 
Mackay :— 
“ Bombay , 31s£ July, 1871. 
“ Dear Sir,—According to promise I write to say that 
your case of ipecacuanha plants has reached Calcutta 
safely; much of this is due to the admirable packing. 
I never saw plants so well packed for a long voyage. 
Br. King writes to mo from Calcutta as follows :—‘ You 
will he glad to hear that the plants are in excellent con¬ 
dition. In fact I never saw plants arrive in a better 
•state of health.’ These plants will now have all the 
rainy season as well as the cold, to gather vigour for 
next hot weather, and I am now more than ever con¬ 
vinced that June or July is (with careful personal super¬ 
intendence the whole way) the proper time to dispatch 
v-cases of plants (of most kinds) to India. We had trying 
weather too in the Red Sea. The thermometer registered 
as high as 108° repeatedly. I trust you may succeed 
with future cases. We ought to have some for trial in 
the Bombay presidency. 
“ I am, dear Sir, yours truly, 
“ (Signed) W. Walton.” 
J. W. Balfour, Esq., M.D. 
u Professor of Botany, Edinburgh. 
It will be seen from this letter that the arrange¬ 
ments, so far as they have gone, have proved satis¬ 
factory, and we learn that there are at this moment 
about 100 plants in the Edinburgh Botanical Gar¬ 
den ready for transmission to India when required. 
HYDRAULIC TINCTURE PRESSES. 
Some months ago* reference was made to the use 
of hydraulic presses for tinctures and the advantages 
of using them were pointed out. We are gratified at 
finding that in consequence of the attention thus 
directed to the subject Messrs. Hayward Tyler and 
Co. have been endeavouring to provide a suitable 
hydraulic press for the use of pharmacists, and we 
are informed that they will shortly introduce it. 
We are also promised a description of this press, 
which we shall have much pleasure in placing 
before our readers. 
ELEGANT PHARMACY. 
The publication in another column of the formu¬ 
lary issued by the Newark Pharmaceutical Associa¬ 
tion is an evidence of the greatly increased demand 
for the class of preparations therein referred to in 
the United States, where the proprietary medicine 
system has developed to an extent far exceeding 
that of this country, and has more than once occa¬ 
sioned attempts for legislative regulation. The de¬ 
sire on the part of pharmacists of presenting to the 
patient bitter and nauseous drugs in a pleasing and 
palatable form has given rise to the production of a 
multitude of preparations, as mentioned by Mr. 
Howden, in his interesting remarks on Pharmacy in 
America, at an evening meeting of the Society during 
the last session. In fact, this business has grown to 
such an extent that we are informed it is sometimes 
necessary to keep, for dispensing purposes, lialf-a- 
dotzen preparations bearing the same name, but ema¬ 
nating from different makers. This is due to the 
practice of certain physicians and apothecaries who 
patronize and prescribe the productions of particular 
pharmacists, a custom somewhat similar in effect to 
one met with occasionally in this country, to which 
attention lias before been drawn in the pages of this 
Journal. 
To counteract tins evil the Newark Pharmaceutical 
Association has issued its formulary, while the Mary¬ 
land College has proposed to treat these compounds 
as nostrums,—the mode of preparation of which is 
withheld, or, if published, yields a different article,— 
and to refuse to dispense them unless made by 
formula approved by the College. 
Another side of the question is alluded to by the 
American Journal of Pharmacy, which says that 
* Pharm. Journ. 3rd series, YoL I. No. 5, p. 170. 
* See Pharm. Journ. 3rd series, No. 17, p. 321. 
