March 9,1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
739 
to every thoughtful reader of narratives of exploring ex¬ 
peditions, “ What becomes of the materials resulting 
from these expeditions in cases where they are not pub¬ 
lished ?” 
The literature of economic botany labours under the 
disadvantage of other scientific subjects, of being “scat¬ 
tered,” and even to a greater extent than most, and 
efforts should be made to remedy this evil. Some of the 
old works on the subject are even now of sufficient value 
to deserve reprinting. 
I must now draw my remarks to a close. I have 
endeavoured to bring before you a few of the salient 
points of a subject of great interest to us all. There are 
many points which would admit of treatment at greater 
length, but time will not allow. The subject itself, irre¬ 
spective of its many practical claims, is of an interest¬ 
ing and fascinating nature, in its various botanical, com¬ 
mercial and ethnological bearings. For teaching in 
schools, it is at once useful in its relations to every-day 
life, inculcating habits of accuracy, observation and per¬ 
severance in the pursuit of truth ; and in closing these 
remarks, I would add, for the consideration of all intend¬ 
ing students of the subject, this motto :— 
“ Without questioning, no investigation; 
Without investigation, no truth; 
Without truth, no science.” 
For science is but truth ascertained by the many, classi¬ 
fied for the benefit of the individual, and science, truly 
so called, must be isomeric with truth. 
SOCIETE DE PHARMACIE DE PARIS. 
At the sitting of this Society on Monday, January 8th, 
M. Lefort vacated the presidential chair in favour of 
M. Stanislas Martin. 
M. Baudrimont described some researches which had 
for their object the obtaining a sulphochloroform. Ho 
said that chloroform reacts upon sulphide of sodium; 
but the reaction is complex, and does not yield satisfac¬ 
tory results. He, therefore, added to this sulphide a 
solution of chloral in alcohol and water. The reaction 
that followed at ordinary temperatures was remarkable : 
the liquid became warm and assumed a magnificent red 
eolour. With an aqueous solution the liquid became 
turbid and gave an abundant yellow precipitate. Similar 
results followed the use of an alcoholic solution, which 
gave rise to so intense a colouration, that the presence of 
chloral to the extent of 1 part in 400 might be detected 
by this method. M. Baudrimont purposes further to 
investigate this reaction. 
M. Marais having observed that certain very fugi¬ 
tive colouring-matters could be fixed in silken and 
woollen fabrics, M. Baudrimont said that such might be 
the case with this one, for it reddened the hands and 
paper, and the colouration was pretty persistent. The 
'Colour, however, undergoes change, even in the dark. 
|1itrltam£ntai2 attir fata ^mailings. 
HOUSE OF COMMONS. 
Adulteration of Food and Drugs Bill. 
Wednesday , March 6th. 
Mr. Muntz, in moving the second reading of this Bill, 
was pleased to be able to observe that the subject had 
excited much greater interest than it did formerly, and 
that people had begun to recognize the fact that it did 
not propose to interfere with the nefarious practices of 
trade, but to put a stop to the adulteration of food by 
the mixture of articles poisonous or injurious to health. 
If any one chose to mix beans with coffee or water with 
milk, no one under this Act could say anything; but if 
any baker adulterated his bread with brick-dust, poison 
of any sort, or with plaster of Paris, the clauses of this 
Bill would render him liable to severe punishment. In 
New Zealand they had recently visited such offences 
with imprisonment without the option of a fine. He 
was glad, however, to perceive that some of the clauses 
of this Bill had been incorporated in the Public Health 
Bill, and the further progress of this measure would, 
therefore, be rendered unnecessary, provided that Bill 
were passed. He would now ask the House to allow the 
Bill to be read pro forma a second time, on the under¬ 
standing that at the proper time, if the Government Bill 
was passed, the order for the third reading would be 
discharged. 
Lord E. Cecil believed that his hon. friend deserved 
the greatest credit for his exertions in this matter, and 
was glad that since he had first introduced the subject, 
some three years since, it had gained such ground as to 
be recognized in the Public Health Bill. The Bill 
which his hon. friend had introduced was, in his opinion, 
not perfect, because it was too permissive in its charac¬ 
ter, and not sufficiently stringent. He was glad that a 
measure dealing as this one must with the interests of 
the poorer inhabitants of our larger towns would be 
brought in by the Government, and he should be pre¬ 
pared, in conjunction with his hon. friend, to move at 
the proper time any clauses which it might be thought 
necessary to introduce. 
Sir D. Corrigan objected to the immunity which the 
hon. member suggested should attend such processes as 
the mixing of water with milk. Adulteration meant 
either adding to or subtracting from an article, and that 
should be borne in mind when a definition of the word 
came to be given. 
After a few words from Mr. Locke, 
Mr. Stansfeld expressed his readiness to take into 
careful consideration any suggestions which might be 
made for the amendment of the Government proposals 
on the subject, while he hoped the paper might not be en¬ 
cumbered with a mass of amendments so as to endanger 
the passing of the Bill this session. 
The Bill was then read a second time, and committed 
for Wednesday, 1st May. 
The second reading of the Public Health and Local 
Government Bills, fixed for the 7th inst., was deferred 
till Thursday, 14th March. 
Thursday , 7th March. —Mr. Muntz gave notice of *a 
motion, in committee on Public Health Bill, to include 
the penalty imposed by the 24th section of the Pharmacy 
Act, 1868. 
Friday , 8th March .—On going into committee of 
supply, Lord E. Cecil was to call attention to the posi¬ 
tion in which the question of the adulteration of food, 
etc., now stands. 
Poisoning by Arsenic in a Pudding. 
Fifteen persons were poisoned a few days since by 
arsenic present in a rice pudding, which had been pro¬ 
vided among other refreshments at a funeral at Saxby, 
in Lincolnshire. While on the road to the cemetery 
those who had partaken of it were seized with the symp¬ 
toms of arsenical poisoning. Medical aid was at once 
obtained, and all the sufferers eventually recovered. It 
appeared that the deceased had kept some white arsenic 
in a tin, and that this was substituted for ground rice in 
making the pudding which was eaten on the day of the 
funeral. 
The Rev. Charles W. Markham, Rector of Saxby, 
Barton-upon-Humber, in a letter to the editor of the 
Times , in reference to this case, says:— 
“We have no possible evidence to show how this tin 
of arsenic, which was used in the baking-powder of 
which the pudding was made, came into the house. 
Two old people, seventy-eight and eighty, had occupied 
the house for many years, and the survivor of them was 
not aware that either of them had a tin containing ^ lb. 
