420 
MISCELLANEA. 
advancement of pharmaceutical knowledge, and the consequent elevation of the 
trade), it is perhaps scarcely open to that severe comment which a misunder- 
standiug of its objects might evoke. 
From the printed Transactions it appears that certain evenings are devoted 
to the reading of papers (time allowed for each, twenty minutes), and on other 
nights convivial gatherings are held. No working pharmaceutist can do other¬ 
wise than wish success to the Chemists’ Assistants’ Association ; but it cannot 
be too strongly stated that this will depend on the skill and good management 
of the directors. Should they be able to effect the permanent establishment of 
the Association, no slight praise will be their due. 
MISCELLANEA. 
Illegal Sale of Arsenic. —Mr. Joseph Walls, a grocer and provision merchant at 
Wrotham, has been charged with selling arsenic without making the entries required 
by the statute. In 1861, a quantity of flour sold from defendant’s shop was found to 
have been mixed with arsenic, and several persons were taken ill. An application was 
afterwards made to the Secretary of State in reference to defendant, who had sold 71b. 
of arsenic in a pure state, and by order of the Secretary of State defendant was cautioned. 
In the course of the present year another quantity of flour from defendant’s shop was 
found to be impregnated wdth arsenic, and again several persons w'ere sufferers. The 
defendant and his family partook of the same flour and were also seriously ill, the de¬ 
fendant suffering for many weeks. Defendant admitted that the poison was not locked 
up, but open to access to any one in the shop. That he sold other poisons, and without 
licence, and was ignorant that the law required printed labels to be used, and proper 
precautions to be taken. He further stated he w^as of opinion, with respect to the ad¬ 
mixture of arsenic in 1861, that it came in the flour to his shop, but he had no doubt 
that during the present year the poison was put into the flour by some one on his own 
premises. He was fined £5, including costs. 
Accidental Poisoning by “ BurnetFs Disinfecting Fluid.” —An inquest 
has been held, by Mr. Humphreys, on the body of Henry Webb, aged fifty-five years. 
Mr. John Swaine, inspector of the General Post-Office in the Commercial Koad East, 
stated that deceased was a letter-carrier attached to that ofiice. On the 22nd of May 
last he came to the office and complained of diarrhoea. It was usual to keep medicines 
for such attacks at all the offices, the mixture being supplied by order of Dr. Lewis, of 
the head office in St. Martin’s-le-Grand. Witness had just come from the N.E. Post- 
office, where the mixture was kept in a stone jar, and seeing a precisely similar jar in 
the Commercial Eoad office, he gave Webb two tablespoonfuls of the liquid, and Webb 
swallowed it, but immediately complained of being burnt. Witness then examined the 
bottle more carefully, and observed that there was a label showing that the contents 
w’ere Burnett’s disinfecting fluid. The label was nearly obliterated by the action of the 
liquid. Witness at once sent the deceased to Dr. Tainton. Dr. Henry Tainton said 
that he found the deceased suffering from poison, which had already become largely 
absorbed into the system. Eemedies were applied, and deceased was kept alive until 
Saturday, December 8th, when he died from the effects of the poison. The 'post-morUm 
examination showed that the stomach was shrivelled up and extensively ulcerated. The 
jury returned a verdict “ That the deceased died from poison administered by mistake 
for medicine, and that Mr. Swaine showed want of care in so administering it.” 
A New Substitute for Collodion.- -M. Persoz, fils, has recently discovered a 
method for obtaining a material possessing the same characteristic qualities as collodion. 
La Lumiere says :—This new substance is produced by dissolving silk in a suitable sol¬ 
vent, and then separating the latter by means of dialysis. If the film be of a certain 
degree of thickness, it assumes on drying a golden tint, but this would no doubt be 
scarcely perceptible in a thin film, such as would be used in photography. The solvent 
chosen by M. Persoz is chloride of zinc, which, when kept at a warm temperature, readily 
dissolves the silk, but if the solvent be not warmed the silk takes a much longer time 
