848 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [October 28,1871- 
While speaking of this subject we cannot refrain 
from again mentioning tlie very frequent misunder¬ 
standing of tlie provisions of the Pharmacy Act in 
regard to the sale of poisons that is evident in the 
remarks of magistrates and coroners. Within the 
past month we have had to record no less than four 
occasions* upon which a censure has been passed, 
in terms more or less inappropriate, upon persons 
who have complied with all the requirements of the 
law. 
It. seems to be a matter worthy of the considera¬ 
tion either of the Privy Council or of the Council of 
the Pharmaceutical Society whether it would not be 
advisable to furnish all coroners and magistrates 
throughout the kingdom with information as to the 
present state of the law relating to the sale of 
poisons. 
THE RELATION OF MINERAL OILS TO FIRE. 
On another page we reprint a letter to the Times, 
in which the writer, Professor Attfield, refers the 
many conflagrations resulting from the incautious 
use of the different varieties of mineral oil to igno¬ 
rance on the part of the public respecting the rela¬ 
tion of these liquids to fire. The point of the com¬ 
munication is that paraffin oil and petroleum, being 
sold and used under the name of lamp oil, most 
consumers naturally treat them with neither more 
nor less care than would be observed with colza, 
sperm, and the old vegetable oils; whereas in the 
readiness with which they catch fire, and the facility 
with which they assume the vaporous condition, 
they more closely resemble spirit of wine or turpen¬ 
tine, and should be stored, carried and handled with 
all the precautions commonly adopted in manipu¬ 
lating these inflammable liquids. In such a serious 
matter it is, no doubt, desirable to endeavour to en¬ 
lighten the public by all possible means, and phar¬ 
macists, who are rightly supposed to possess chemi¬ 
cal knowledge on general as well as pharmaceutical 
subjects, may frequently have opportunities of con¬ 
tributing to so desirable an end. The existing and 
prospective legislation on this matter in Great Bri¬ 
tain and America can only be excused on the plea 
that it is provoked by, and intended to counteract, 
the ignorance of the majority of consumers of mine¬ 
ral oil. Such notices by the newspapers as that to 
which we now allude also help in displacing this 
ignorance by knowledge. But we fear the object 
will not be fully accomplished until many more of 
these fires have occurred; for no facts are burnt so 
indelibly into the brains of John Bull and Brother 
Jonathan as those which cost them dearly. When 
science comes to be taught in schools, familiarity 
■with the simplest first principles will go far to en¬ 
able us to avoid catastrophes which arise from our 
ignorance respecting common tilings. 
* See ante , pp. 257, 276, 298, 317. 
On Wednesday next, November 1, the Evening: 
Meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society will be held. 
On that occasion Mr. J. B. Barnes will bring under 
the notice of the meeting a new excipient for pills;. 
Mr. J. E. Howard will make a statement concerning, 
the examination of some cinchona-trees grown in 
India; Mr. T. Greenish will give some particulars as 
to pharmacy in North Germany, the result of inquiries 
made during a recent visit; and Professor Redwood- 
will bring forward the subject of the substitution of 
proportional numbers for specified weights and mea¬ 
sures in the description of processes in the Pharma¬ 
copoeia. It is hoped that the audience will be a 
numerous one, and that many members who have 
not hitherto attended these meetings will endeavour 
to be present. The chair will be taken at 8.30. 
Although it does not lie within the ordinary pro¬ 
vince of this Journal to call attention to errors into- 
which, in common with their English brethren,. 
Transatlantic editors sometimes fall, one paragraph 
has been going the round of the American news¬ 
papers that it is a great pleasure to be able to con¬ 
tradict. It seems to have been telegraphed to St. 
Louis during the meeting of the American Pharma¬ 
ceutical Association; and the following, taken from, 
the American Journal of Pharmacy, wall serve as an 
illustration of the unlooked-for and unwelcome ser¬ 
vices sometimes rendered by the cable telegraph:— 
“ Obituary. 
“Professor Robert Bentley. —During the late meet¬ 
ing of the American Pharmaceutical Association in St. 
Louis, a cable dispatch announced the death of this 
zealous labourer in the cause of science. The intelli¬ 
gence cast a gloom over the members who knew him by 
reputation or personally, and the sad event was feelingly 
alluded to by Mr. Henry B. Brady, a personal friend of 
the deceased. In the next number vee shall lay before 
the readers a biographical sketch of the deceased.” 
We believe the error arose in the announcement 
of the death of Mr. R. Bentley, the publisher. 
It is worthy of observation that the deficiency of 
sound education, so frequently apparent in the candi¬ 
dates for the Pharmaceutical Society’s examinations,, 
and which has for a long time and in various ways 
been under consideration, is not confined to Pharma¬ 
ceutical students. The same lack has been met 
with in the Preliminary Examinations of the Royal 
College of Surgeons. With a view of bringing the 
subject prominently forward, Mr. Gay, at the meet¬ 
ing of its Council, on the 19th inst. gave the follow¬ 
ing notice of motion:— 
“ That the proportionately large number of rejections 
at the Preliminary Examination for the diploma of the 
College is a fact which demands the serious considera¬ 
tion of the Council; and that a Committee be appointed 
to consider the subject, and to report to the Council 
thereon.” 
At the London Institution the first Evening 
Lecture for the session 1871-72 will be delivered 
on Thursday, November 2nd, by Dr. J. H. Glad¬ 
stone, the subject being, “ Michael Faraday: the 
Story of his Life.” 
At the meeting of the Chemical Society, on. 
Thursday, November 2nd, Mr. W. H. Perkins wilL 
read a paper on “ Antliroflavic Acid.” 
