January 13, 1872.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
57 5 
is imported into this country in the form of small tablets, 
■winch are much used for colouring cheese. 
An alkaline solution of annatto gives an orange preci¬ 
pitate with acids, alum or sulphate of protoxide of iron, 
a yellowish-brown precipitate with salts of copper, and 
a lemon-coloured precipitate with chloride of tin. 
The colouring-matters of annatto have been studied 
by MM. Chcvreul, Kerndt and Bolley. It contains two 
colouring-matters, one a yellow, which is soluble in 
water and alcohol but insoluble in ether, and which 
gives a yellow colour to cloth mordanted with alum. 
It has received the name orclline, and its formula is 
CjMIo^O. According to Iverndt’s statement, however, it 
as only a product of the decomposition of the second 
-colouring-matter, the real colour-giving principle of 
annatto being bixine, C 5 H G 0 2 . Bolley proposes the fol¬ 
lowing method to obtain bixine :—The best quality of 
annatto from Cayenne, after having been washed and 
•dried, is boiled with concentrated alcohol; the alcoholic 
solution is evaporated to dryness, and placed to digest 
with ether, which dissolves a part of the residue, leaving “ 
a blight red powder, insoluble in water but soluble in 
soap and alkalies, to which it imparts an orange tint, and 
yields a dark blue colour with sulphuric acid. 
The use of annatto in print and dye-works is rather 
limited, its chief employment being to modify the shades 
•of other dyes, such as certain tints of yellow produced 
by fustic or quercitron. It is also used to give a bottom 
“to cotton before it is dyed with safflower or cochineal. 
In the production of oranges in steam styles annatto is 
mow entirely superseded by aurine , a colour derived from 
carbolic acid. It is still often used in dyeing a low class 
of cotton yarns. The yam is dipped in an alkaline 
solution of annatto, and then passed through a weak 
solution of oil of vitriol, which precipitates the bixine in 
the fibre. It is then only necessary to wash the cotton 
to complete the operation. If an orange-yellow tint is 
required, the cotton is previously mordanted with tin. 
(To be continued.) 
parlianwntarj auti Uato fmtttMitgs. 
Croydon County Court. — Monday, January 8th, 1872. 
Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v. Harrington. 
Mr. Flux appeared for the plaintiffs, and stated that 
the action was bi-ought to enforce a salutary Act of Par¬ 
liament regulating the sale of poisons, and that the pe¬ 
nalty did not pass to the plaintiffs, but would be dealt 
with as one of her Majesty’s Secretaries of State might 
•direct, so that in the institution of the proceedings there 
was no other motive than in the interests of the public 
to compel the defendant to comply with the law by 
causing himself to be registered, if he were, in fact, en¬ 
titled to be so, or by desisting from the sale of poisons. 
The Judge pointed out that, according to his opinion, 
the particulars of demand should have stated that the 
defendant was not a duly registered person. 
Mr. Flux explained that the particulars were framed 
in accordance with those in former similar actions, as to 
which no objection had been taken, but expressed his 
readiness to comply with the suggestions of the Court 
to have the particulars amended. They were amended 
.accordingly. 
Mr. George Hayward, of Croydon, proved that on the 
,7th November last he caused the witness Stent to pur¬ 
chase at the defendant’s shop one pennyworth of oxalic 
-acid, also that he examined and tested the contents of 
the packet purchased, and found them to consist of oxalic 
acid; that he had produced the packet to the magistrates 
on a summons which charged the defendant with having 
sold oxalic acid improperly labelled; that the packet had 
defendant had admitted that he had sold oxalic acid and 
had been convicted. 
The Judge suggested that the proceedings before the 
magistrates should be produced, and the magistrates’ 
clerk examined. 
Mr. Flux assured his Honour that he had caused in¬ 
quiry to be made of the magistrates’ clerk, and been in¬ 
formed that there were no records whatever of the con¬ 
viction, and that any person who was present in Court 
and heard the conviction could give as good evidence as 
himself of the fact of it, wherefore he had abstained 
from troubling the magistrates’ clerk to attend as a 
witness. 
His Honour stated that under the circumstances he 
would take the evidence of the witness in the box. 
George Stent was then called, and proved the pur¬ 
chase of the oxalic acid at the defendant’s shop ; that 
the shop was an open one, like chemists and druggists’ 
shops usually are; that he had handed the oxalic acid 
to Mr. Hayward, and that it was labelled with the word 
poison,” and nothing more. 
Defendant contended that he was a duly qualified 
chemist and druggist, although not registered within the- 
meaning of clause 2, and was not liable to a penalty; 
also that his conviction before the magistrates for the 
offence of selling the packet exonerated him from further 
penalties, and he produced certificates according to the 
Pharmacy Act, signed by himself as a duly qualified 
medical practitioner. 
Mr. Flux replied, that if the defendant were in fact 
entitled to be registered, his proper course was to secure 
registration by presenting his certificates to the Registrar 
appointed under the statute, and paying the proper fees, 
and read to his Honour the various clauses in the Act of 
Parliament bearing upon the case, and showing that a 
penalty had been incurred. 
The Judge expressed his opinion that the plaintiffs 
were clearly entitled to recover the penalty, and sug¬ 
gested that the justice of the case might be met by the 
defendant being ordered to pay the costs of the day, and 
the case standing over until a future Court, in order to 
afford the defendant an opportunity of presenting his 
certificates, and paying the fees; and that if the de¬ 
fendant pursued that course, the plaintiffs might allow 
the proceedings to drop. 
Mr. Flux said that he had no doubt that the course 
suggested by his Honour would be willingly acquiesced 
in by those who instructed him. 
An order was made accordingly. 
Travels of a Pioneer of Commerce in Pigtail and 
Petticoats : or, an Overland Journey from China 
towards India. By T. T. Coofer. London: J. 
Murray. 1871. 
The object placed before him by Mr. Cooper in his 
travels, was to establish a route between Calcutta and 
Shanghai, through Assam and Eastern Thibet, and thus 
open out to English commerce and enterprise a hitherto 
almost unknown region. In this he has not yet been 
entirely successful. In the present volume Mr. Cooper 
narrates his adventures in his attempt to accomplish 
the journey, starting from Hankow on the Yang-tse- 
kiang, in which he penetrated as far as the great river 
Lant-sang-kiang, which flows southwards from the 
mountains of Eastern Thibet, but was then compelled to 
return. Two years later, the same enterprising traveller 
set out from Calcutta up the valley of the Bramapootra, 
but was again driven back from the borders of Thibet. 
Whether the route will be of great commercial im¬ 
portance, should it ever be opened, is still quite in un- 
Jbeen retained by the magistrates’ clerk; and that the | certainty. 
