June 22, 1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
1039 
Prof. Maisch exhibited a fine sample of round cardamom 
(Amo mum Cardamomum ), very rare in the Philadelphia 
market. 
The Professor also exhibited crabs’ eyes, which were 
enclosed in a small bag in an original package of can- 
tharides. The question arose as to the cause of this; and 
as crabs’ eyes are thought to be about as expensive as 
cantharides, it is doubtful whether this can be called an 
intentional fraud. 
A curious specimen of colchicum was also shown, cut 
in transverse slices, externally white, internally quite 
dark in colour. 
The Professor also exhibited to the College a fine 
sample of Chinese blistering fly (Mylabris Cichorii), said 
to contain one-third more cantharidin than Spanish fly 
of European commerce. These flies differ from the 
Cantharis vesicatoria in some particulars, and are devoid 
of the peculiar green lustre on the wings. Some discus¬ 
sion ensued as to the principle, cantharidin, and its de¬ 
velopment in the fly, as being connected w r ith the genital 
•organs of the female fly, and being present only at a 
certain stage in its life. The Chinese fly is imported into 
the London market at about half the price of the officinal 
fly. 
Prof. Procter spoke of Cantharis atrata , which is not a 
Mvlabris, and which he has had for some time. 
This was the last meeting until the autumn. 
prlranuntarj auii fate || mailings. 
HOUSE OF COMMONS. 
Monday , June Yjth, 1872. 
Metric System of Weights and Measures. 
Mr. J. B. Smith asked the President of the Board of 
Trade whether he intended to bring forward any mea¬ 
sure to relieve persons who, acting under an Act of 
Parliament passed in 18G4, which declared “ it is expe¬ 
dient to legalize the use of the metric system of weights 
.and measures,” make use of the same, but who, accord¬ 
ing to the opinion of the law officers of the Crown, were 
liable to be prosecuted if such weights and measures 
were found in their possession ; and whether he intended 
•during the present session to bring in a general measure 
for the regulation of weights and measures. 
Mr. Fortescue said the question was, to. a certain ex¬ 
tent, founded upon a misconception of the Act to which 
it made reference, for, while the preamble of the Act 
•declared that it was expedient to legalize the use of the 
metric system of weights and measures, the enacting 
part only legalized contracts made under that system. 
The Standards Commission had, however, recommended 
the permissive legalization of the metric system; and he 
might say that any bill he might bring in would carry 
that suggestion into effect. He did not see any prospect 
•of introducing the bill during the present year. 
PAPERS PRESENTED TO PARLIAMENT. 
Report on Certain Sizing Processes used in the 
Cotton Manufacture at Todmorden, and on 
their Influence uroN Health. 
In July, 1871, a memorial was presented to the Lords 
•of Her Majesty’s Council, signed by 1650 weavers of the 
Todmorden district, representing that the use of kaolin 
or China clay in the cotton manufacture has during 
r-ecent years been largely adopted, and led to the use of 
large quantities of sizing to cause it to adhere to the 
warps. The petitioners believing that the practice was 
very injurious in consequence of the poisonous nature of 
the ingredients used,* and the want of ventilation in the 
weaving sheds, prayed that a medical inspector might 
* See a case of poisoning by a baryta sizing compound 
reported last week, p. 1021. 
be sent to inquire into the system generally. Dr. 
Buchanan was, therefore, instructed to visit the district 
and investigate this subject, and from his report, which 
has just been laid before Parliament, we extract the 
following. Premising that although his personal inves¬ 
tigation had been confined to the district of Todmorden, 
he had been informed that processes similar to those 
there observed, more or less modified, were widely em¬ 
ployed in cotton factories throughout Lancashire and 
Yorkshire, he proceeds to give some history of the origin 
of the practice. 
“Up to twenty years ago, ‘sizing’ of cotton con¬ 
sisted in the use of some fermented flour and tallow, in 
order to give tenacity to the warp and to lessen friction 
in the weaving process. The amount of such size re¬ 
quired for this purpose to cotton of the quality that was 
usual twenty years ago, averaged for ordinary cotton 
goods about 20 per cent of the weight of the warps. 
About twenty years ago, it was observed by some sizers 
that the brownish colour given to cotton cloths by size 
made from inferior kinds of flour could be reduced by 
the addition of a small quantity of China clay to the 
size ; and further, that this material so far reduced the 
glutinous quality of the flour that the sized warps would 
weave easily with a less amount of tallow in the size. 
In 1854, at the time of the Russian War, the increased 
price of the usual sizing materials led to further substi¬ 
tution of China clay. Some manufacturers, when these 
facts came to their notice, would have nothing to do with 
the new substance, and insisted on having the desired 
whiteness and freedom in weaving by the use of good 
flour and tallow in the size. But other firms were con¬ 
tent if they got the results they wanted in the appearance 
of their cloth, and could get their sizing done more 
cheaply by employing sizers who used China clay. 
This was the first stage in the use of the substance, a 
certain quantity of the clay entering into the composi¬ 
tion of the size, and the number of factories becoming 
more numerous that used such sizing; but the total 
amount of size in proportion to cotton not becoming 
materially increased. 
“This"was the state of matters, when, in 1862, the 
American War produced the English cotton famine. 
Cotton then very rapidly rose in price, and the better 
sorts were almost unattainable. Now it appears that 
warps of shorter fibred cotton are difficult to weave, 
unless the needful tenacity of the twist be given by a 
larger amount of size than would be wanted for better 
sorts. Of size, made of flour and tallow, warps from the 
worse kinds of cotton are stated to require even more 
than 20 per cent of their weight. The product is, of 
course, worse in quality than cloth made from better 
raw material; but as poor cotton had to be employed, 
it was necessary to use such quantity of size as would 
allow it to be woven. 
“ But the lack of cotton in 1862 introduced another 
practice. AY eight for length had been, as it still is, the 
chief test of the goodness of any description of yard¬ 
wide cloth ; and with the scarcity of raw material came 
the practice of giving a fictitious weight to cloths con¬ 
taining less cotton, in order to make it appear that they 
contained more. It became a matter ot rivalry with 
sizers, which of them could, on the order ot manufac¬ 
turers anxious to meet the demands of merchants, ‘ put 
on ’ most foreign matter upon the cotton warps. 
“ From this practice of ‘ heavy sizing ’ the more re¬ 
putable manufacturers long kept aloof, but they did so 
at the expense of their immediate trade; and for the last 
three years every yard of cotton cloth made at lodmor- 
den, and many other places, has been weighted with 
quantities of size, not required for any manufacturing 
purpose, but used as an adulteration. 
Dr. Buchanan then gives some information as to the 
nature of the size used :— 
“ The ‘ size ’ that is thus put on to cotton warps is of 
various composition. It may still consist, in the main. 
