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THE PHAEMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS; [December 23, 1871. 
pharmaceutical body. They have the world full of 
young men before them, they can choose, as they 
please, either the idle and the dull or the active and 
the intelligent. But whichever they elect into their 
ranks, the recruit, be it always understood, has no 
rights when he enters beyond those of every citizen. 
The way then is clear: if it is really the ambition of 
chemists and druggists to improve the position of 
their bod} 7 , they must do what they can to make the 
body deserving and capable of advancement. And 
this can be done only in one way. They must see 
that they do not assist in any way towards admitting 
fresh incapables into the trade which they would fain 
see elevated in status, or even modified into a pro¬ 
fession. It is no exaggeration to affirm, that every 
man accepting a youth as pupil or apprentice who 
does not exhibit the capacity and activity necessary 
to enable him to master every detail of his calling, 
is doing an injustice to the boy, an injury to the 
community, and is deliberately balking those efforts 
which have been, with increasing success, carried 
on for the last thirty years. Nothing now stands in 
the way of the pharmacist but himself. It is ear¬ 
nestly to be hoped that better things will in time 
arise. But, meanwhile, there is the Preliminary 
examination to be faced. Let every chemist and 
druggist throughout the country make it a rule to 
take no apprentice who has not passed that test 
satisfactorily, and then a great step will have been 
gained. Further doings can be spoken of afterwards. 
Youngsters themselves may be warned that the 
examination is not the end ; they should not regard 
it as such. They should not go near the examiners 
till they are at home in every subject, for they may 
depend upon it, that without possessing, and being 
able to use, the knowledge which the passing of this 
examination is supposed to guarantee, the mere ac¬ 
quisition of the certificate will only make fools of 
them. 
LIQ. MAGNESIAS BISULPHITIS, A REMEDY 
FOR CARDIALGIA (HEARTBURN). 
BY GEOBGE ARCHBOLD, D.SC. 
Some time ago a physician asked me the ques¬ 
tion, “Do the bisulphites prevent the butyric acid 
fermentation?” In order to give him an accurate 
answer, I promised to try two experiments. This I 
did. First, I proceeded to make butyric acid by fer¬ 
mentation of a mixture of chalk, cheese, and honey 
and water, and allowed the mixture to stand for four 
days. Secondly, in another vessel I proceeded in 
the same manner, using the same ingredients, with an 
addition of bisulphite of lime; set it aside for four 
days with the first, keeping them at a temperature of 
80° F.; after which I subjected each to distillation 
with a little H Cl.* From the first I recovered a con¬ 
siderable amount of butyric acid, but from the second 
(containing bisulphite) I did not recover a trace. 
This at once proves that the bisulphites do prevent 
butyric acid fermentation. Now the object in ascer¬ 
taining the fact was that a suitable remedy for heart¬ 
burn might be discovered, as, according to Dr. Beared, 
this common complaint is due to the presence of 
butyric acid in the stomach. “ On considering the 
* For the first two days lactic acid is formed, which com¬ 
bines with the lime, but at the expiration of four days, the 
lactate of lime is replaced by butyrate of lime, which on 
being distilled with dilute hydrochloric acid, and the distil¬ 
late treated with calcium chloride, is dried into two strata, 
the upper being butyric acid. 
taste,” says that gentleman, “ experienced, as well 
as the conditions under which heartburn comes on, 
it seemed to me that the cause of it was the presence 
of butyric acid ;” and from many experiments per¬ 
formed by that gentleman on himself and others by 
means of the pure acid, symptoms were produced in 
every respect similar to the complaint itself, so that 
there can be little doubt but that his theory is a cor¬ 
rect one. The very fact that alkalies give relief 
prove its cause to be from an acid. When the sto¬ 
mach is overtaxed, and in certain weak conditions of 
digestion, fermentation takes place ; butyric acid is 
set free from the food, i. e. it is formed out of its own 
elements, if the food be of a starchy nature ; and, ac¬ 
cording toLeared ‘ On Imperfect Digestion,’ page 249, 
“the acid, by being in excess, but not pure (or it 
would be soluble), rises to the surface of the contents 
of the stomach, when it combines with melted fats 
(for which it appears to have a strong affinity) ; the 
acrid mixture, on being presented to the cardiac ori¬ 
fice by the motions of the stomach, is instinctively 
rejected into the oesophagus, and, by the reversal of 
its proper movement, transmitted to the mouth, ac¬ 
companied by the sensations of heartburn.” Now, as 
bisulphites have the power of preventing this fer¬ 
mentation,^ they are well worthy the attention of the 
profession, but the great drawback is that the chief 
bisulphite manufactures are those of lime, soda and 
potash, these being objectionable, as they tend to in¬ 
jure the coats of the stomach. To remedy this failing, 
the thought at once suggested itself to me that a bisul¬ 
phite of magnesia might be prepared ; and magnesia 
being free from these objections, it may prove a va¬ 
luable remedy, and is worth notice. I have not seen 
or heard anything of the preparation previous to my 
ma kin g it. I therefore give a brief outline of the 
process I adopt, and hope to enter more fully into 
the subject at a future time. I first treat magnesia 
carbonate with B. P. sulphurous acid, which, on eva¬ 
poration, yields magnesia sulphite, Mg S 0 3 , which 
is not very soluble in distilled water. I then mix the 
sulphite of magnesia thus formed with distilled water, 
in the proportion of 16 grs. to 5j, and pass into it 
sulphurous anhydride until a clear solution is ob¬ 
tained. The result is a solution of magnesia bisulphite. 
The dose may be one tablespoonful, containing 
about nine grains of the salt; its action is a mild 
aperient antiseptic, preventing butyric fermentation 
in the stomach, etc. I have tried it myself and on 
two other gentlemen, and, as far as I can judge, it 
has the desired effect. 
THE USES OF THE GENUS CYPERUS. 
BY JOHN R. JACKSON, A.L.S. 
Curator of the Museums, Kciv. 
Few Natural Orders are less important in a me¬ 
dicinal or economic point of view than the Cyperacece ; 
amongst its British representatives there is scarcely 
a plant of any real value. Botanically, the genus 
Car ex is the most important, no less than fifty-eight 
species being recorded as British. Of Cyperus itself 
two species only occur with us,— C. lonyus, L., and 
C.fusGUs, L., but both of these are very rare; the 
rootstocks of the former, which are aromatic, were, 
at one time, used as a tonic and stomachic.. The 
tubers of several species are used both medicinally 
and for food in India; those of C. hulhosus, Vahl— 
a plant growing in sandy situations near the sea on 
