138 
MISCELLANEA. 
the act of a paid assistant, and a similar mistake may any hour be made by any 
young man in any establishment, however well-conducted, it appears to me that 
though the weight of the blow falls upon Messrs. Clay and Abraham, it in 
reality concerns the whole of the chemists and druggists in the kingdom, who 
ought and (I have no doubt) will sympathize with these gentlemen. 
But ought we only to sympathize with them ? Would it not be more to the 
purpose if a subscription were entered into by the whole trade to pay the fine 
and costs ? Yours respectfully, 
A Birmingham Chemist. 
LEGISLATION AFFECTING PHARMACY. 
At the end of the Session, the Metric Weights and Measures Bill—the text of which 
will be found in our July number, page 36—passed the Legislature, and with some slight 
alteration and the following addition to the 2nd clause, has now become law:—“ Or on 
the ground that decimal subdivisions of legal weights and measures, whether metric or 
otherwise, are used in such contract or dealing.” 
At the same time, for the purpose of extending the “ Poisoned Grain Prohibition Act of 
1863, ” was passed an Act to prohibit the placing of poisoned flesh and poisonous matters 
in plantations, fields, and open places, and called 
The Poisoned Flesh Prohibition Act, 1864. 
Whereas it is expedient to extend the provisions of an Act passed in the Session of 
Parliament held in the 26th and 27th years of the reign of Her present Majesty, intituled 
“ An Act to prohibit the Sale and Use of Poisoned Grain or SeedBe it enacted by the 
Queen’s most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords 
spiritual and temporal, and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, and by the 
authority of the same, as follows:— 
1. This Act may be cited for all purposes as “The Poisoned Flesh Prohibition Act, 
1864. ” 
2. Every person who shall knowingly and wilfully set, lay, put, or place, or cause to 
be set, laid, put, or placed, in or upon any land any flesh or meat which has been mixed 
with or steeped in or impregnated with poison or any poisonous ingredient, so as to render 
such flesh or meat poisonous and calculated to destroy life, shall, upon a summary convic¬ 
tion thereof, forfeit any sum not exceeding £10, to be recovered in the manner provided 
by the Poisoned Grain Prohibition Act, 1863: Provided always, that nothing herein 
contained shall prevent owners or occupiers of land in Ireland from laying or causing to 
be laid any poisonous matter as hereinbefore described, after a notice has been posted in a 
conspicuous place, and notice in writing has been given to the nearest constabulary 
station. 
3. Nothing in this Act shall make it unlawful for the occupier of any dwelling-house 
or other building, or the owner of any rick or stack of wheat, barley, oats, beans, peas, 
tares, seeds, or of any cultivated vegetable produce, to put or place, or cause to be put or 
placed, in any such dwelling-house or other building, or in any enclosed garden attached 
to such dwelling-house, or in the drains connected with any such dwelling-house, provided 
that such drains are so protected with gratings or otherwise as to prevent any dog from 
entering the same, or within such rick or stack, any poison or poisonous ingredient or 
preparation for the destruction of rats, mice, or other small vermin. 
4. This Act shall not apply to any grain, seed, or meal within the provisions of the 
Poisoned Grain Prohibition Act, 1863, and the provisions of the 5th section of the said 
Poisoned Grain Prohibition Act, 1863, shall apply to any proceedings instituted under 
this Act, and shall come into operation on the 1st October, 1864. 
MISCELLANEA. 
The Poisoning Ordeal of the Africans,—The recent case of poisoning by Ca¬ 
labar beans in Liverpool has brought into publicity the particulars of a strange custom 
which prevails amongst the natives on the west coast of Africa. The following in¬ 
teresting account of the ordeal is contained in a letter received from Mr. W. C. Thom- 
