433 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS; [November 25, 1871. 
chloral for her several times. He was not aware that 
she knew anything about the properties of chloral hy¬ 
drate, hut she was a great reader, and probably she did. 
He did not think it probable that deceased had intended 
to commit suicide, but that she had drunk the chloral 
hydrate out of the bottle without measuring it. 
A verdict to this effect was returned by the jury. 
Accidental Poisoning. 
On Saturday evening, November 18th, Mr. Richards 
held an inquest at Mile End Old Town, upon the body 
of James Robert Ludlow, aged three weeks, the son of 
Mary Ludlow, of Mile End. The deceased was troubled 
by a cough, and the mother sought the advice of her 
landlady, who gave her a bottle of cough mixture which 
had been prepared for the son of the latter, aged five. 
Half a teaspoonful was administered to the deceased, 
but the mixture was too powerful, and killed the child. 
Dr. Corner proved that death was the result of ex¬ 
haustion, consequent upon an overdose of paregoric and 
syrup of squills. 
In summing up, the coroner drew pointed attention 
to the fact that many people ran away with the idea that 
because a child two or three years old could take a spoon¬ 
ful of a certain mixture without danger, a younger child 
could, safely have a smaller quantity, but the case in 
question showed how utterly fallacious such an idea was. 
Verdict, “Death by Misadventure.” 
MR. JOHN BALMER. 
"We record with unfeigned regret the decease of this 
most amiable of Pharmacists who expired at St. Leonards 
in his seventy-second year. 
He had long been in a precarious state of health and 
therefore the unwelcome event created no surprise 
amongst his friends. It is often said, de mortuis nil nisi 
bonum , but it is no mere compliment to state that few 
have surpassed Mr. Balmer in winning gentlenss of man¬ 
ner : not many have so studied the happiness of those 
around them. He possessed moreover that excellent 
gift too little cultivated in our day, a cheerful disposi¬ 
tion. 
He was apprenticed in Chester, we believe with Mr. 
Bowel's. There happened to be in that ancient city 
another apprentice, the late William Ince, whose son 
writes these lines. Time passed and both eventually 
found themselves at G-odfrey’s establishment in South¬ 
ampton Street in the Strand. This will explain why 
their intimate friendship should have been commenced, 
interrupted as it was but for a short period by the grave. 
After a certain interval, Mr. Balmer established him¬ 
self in St. John’s Street Road, close by the Angel, with 
which locality his name has been so long connected. 
His old friend from Chester lived then close by, being 
separated only by a celebrated theatre which probably 
neither ever entered. Pleasant memories crowd upon 
the mind as we recall the frequent social gatherings in 
“ Merry Islington,” when youth listened while wise men 
talked, and when the two families were one. 
In business Mr. Balmer was successful more particu¬ 
larly as he enjoyed not only the confidence but the 
private esteem of several eminent medical men amongst 
whom may be mentioned Dr. Dobell, Dr. Sansom and 
the late Dr. Golding Bird. 
He was fond of experimental Pharmacy, and the occu¬ 
pation of what might be perhaps called his leisure was 
-devoted to the investigation of new and supposed better 
methods of exhibiting Pharmaceutical preparations. 
He was one of the first, if not the original maker of 
the Pancreatic Emulsion the therapeutical value of which 
is inseparably connected with the name of Dr. Dobell 
already mentioned. He was interested in the introduc¬ 
tion of the Sulpho-Carbolates, and was a careful ma¬ 
nipulator of Essences and Liquors. Indeed he was con¬ 
stantly at work on this class of remedial agents. One 
of the latest and most useful of his improved preparations 
was a Belladonna Plaster made by the use of resinous 
extract of Belladonna root, in preference to that made with 
the spirituous extract of the leaf. This plaster was re¬ 
commended as requiring no adhesive margin and being 
cleanly in its use. 
He made formerly an admirable Extract: Ignatia? 
A inarm, and in short, this department of retail laboratory 
work was his delight. 
Of his dress and personal appearance it would seem 
rude to speak, but both were characteristic. He con¬ 
sidered untidiness a sin. 
His unaffected piety can barely be alluded to though 
it was the golden thread which bound all the actions of 
his life together. Now he has entered into rest, in suro 
and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life.—- 
J. I. 
MR. GEORGE WHIPPLE. 
We regret having to record the death, on October 31st* 
of Mr. Whipple, one of the early and frequent con¬ 
tributors to the proceedings of the Pharmaceutical So¬ 
ciety. For many years Mr. Whipple was engaged in 
the manufacturing department of the well-known house 
of Barron, Harvey and Co., of Giltspur Street, in which 
establishment, having the sole management of the la¬ 
boratory, he had acquired a large amount of practical 
knowledge relating to the preparation of medicines. 
Those who were accustomed to attend the evening meet¬ 
ings of our Society during the first twenty years of its 
existence, will hardly require to be reminded of the- 
numerous occasions on which valuable information was 
communicated by a gentleman who was rarely absent 
from those meetings, and was always ready in his pecu¬ 
liar and impulsive way to add to the common stock th& 
results of his long and varied experiences. Nor was it 
in this way only that Mr. Whipple contributed to the 
advancement of the profession to which he belonged, for 
to those engaged in scientific inquiries his note-book 
was always open, as the works of Pereira and others can 
testify. 
Advancing years and declining health caused Mr. 
Whipple to retire from his appointment in Giltspur 
Street in 1858, and since that time he has rarely appeared 
among the pharmaceutical friends with whom he had 
previously associated, and by whom he will long be re¬ 
membered as an active, zealous and liberal-minded pro¬ 
moter of the scientific objects of the Pharmaceutical 
Society. 
Among the papers that Mr. Whipple read at the 
Evening Meetings of the Society and contributed to this 
Journal maybe mentioned those on “Essential Oil of 
Bitter Almond obtained from Almond-Cake,” “Extract 
of Colocynth,” “ Purification of Essential Oil of Bitter 
Almonds,” “Sulphate of Soda contained in Quassia 
Wood,” “Remarks on the Preparations of the Pharma¬ 
copoeia,” etc. 
MEETINGS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. 
Monday . Medical Society, at 9 p.m. 
Nov. 27. London Institution, at 4 p.m. — “ Smell* 
Taste and Touch.” By Professor Huxley. 
(Educational Course.) 
Wednesday. ..Society of Arts, at 8 p.m. —“Tramways and 
Nov. 29. their Structures, Yehicles, Haulages and 
Uses.” By Mr. W. Bridges Adams. 
Geological Society, at 8 p.m. 
Thursday . London Institution, at 7.30 p.m. —“Science- 
Nov. 30. and Commerce, illustrated by the Raw 
Materials of our Manufactures.” By Mr. 
P. L. Simmonds. 
Loyal Society, at 4 p.m. 
