446 
LEEDS chemists’ ASSOCIATION. 
The meeting thanked Mr. Orridge for his letter, and postponed its further considera¬ 
tion to a subsequent meeting. 
Mr. Eetnolds, F.C.S., read a paper on— 
“the commox objects of the shop.” 
In that excellent little book, written by the Eev. J. G. Wood, entitled ‘ The Common 
Objects of the Country,’ th.' author gossips so pleasantly of green fields and shady woods 
and their inhabitants, wh^i cr caterpillars or butterflies, beetles or glowworms, that all 
may learn how much that is deeply interesting may be gathered from things of every¬ 
day occurrence. When looking at such a work, we no longer wonder at the old 
gentleman who expressed profound admiration at seeing, under the microscope, a spe¬ 
cimen representing insect anatomy, and, who added the confession, “ Why, I always 
thought a caterpillar was nothing but skin and squash!” Now, though green fields and 
their inhabitants are too unfamiliar to the town chemist during all the year birt his 
brief summer holiday, it may be that amongst his daily surroundings there are “ common 
objects ” that will repay him for many questionings as to their history, their relations to 
other things, or properties both physical and chemical,—they are, like the caterpillar, 
something more than what the old gentleman had supposed. But, it is one thing to feel 
deeply the importance of a thing, unfortunately it is quite another to do it justice. 
One of the most able of modern historians. Dr. W. H. Eussell, acquired the title of “ the 
Pen of the War.” In our own profession there is a gentleman who might as justly be 
named “ the Pen of Pharmacy,” and I can only regret that instead of the incisive style 
of the writer on “ Pharmaceutical Ethics,” you must this evening accept my feebler 
efforts. 
I propose to take a few of the commonest drugs in our shops, and to ask your 
attention to points relating to each that may afford us material for intelligent thought, 
and which will merely be fair illustrations of hundreds of other substances surrounding 
ns daily, and possessing an equal but varied interest. We well know that the public 
expect from us a sort of universal knowledge, and how much more must this apply to 
the common objects of our calling, when even the toys of the present generation must be 
scientific, else unacceptable to our juveniles. We are liable to be asked why a piece of 
apparently plain paper exhibits a perfect photograph when immersed in water with a 
piece of blotting-paper, our inquirers not knowing that the photograph has been first 
obliterated by corrosive sublimate, and that the bit of blotting-paper being saturated 
with hyposulphite of soda furnishes the means of its reproduction. The latest trifle of 
the same class that has arrived from Paris, is a cigar-holder, having an invisible photo¬ 
graph, which is developed and becomes visible under the influence of traces of ammonia, 
resulting from burning the cigar. We cannot always shirk giving explanations to our 
young friends, like Paterfamilias who, when questioned as to the meaning of hydrated 
sulphocyanide of mercury, told the inquisitive young urchin that “ Pharaoh’s serpents 
were a venomous sort of snake, and should therefore be avoided.” 
Let our first object be castor oil. The castor-oil plant was well known to the ancients, 
and both the root and seeds were employed medicinally. The oil was used for burning 
in lamps, and is said to be one of five sorts allowed for this purpose by the Jews of the 
present day. The Ricinus communis is supposed to have been the plant called “ Kikayon ” 
in the Book of Jonah, and translated gourd in our version. Dr. Eoyle states “it is 
doubtless the plant wdiich the sacred penman had in view.” A criticism by Dr. Harris 
may throw some light on the marvellous growth and decay of the gourd named in the 
Book of Jonah ; thus, he would read it, “ Son of the night it "was, and son of the night 
it died,” an Oriental figure of speech. Gerarde gives the following, in reference to Rici¬ 
nus :—“ For on a time a certaine Bishop having an occasion to intreat of this which is 
mentioned in the fourth chapter of Jonas his prophecie (in a collation or sermon which 
he made in his cathedrale church, or place of assembly), said that this plant was called 
Cucurbita, a gourde, because it encreased vnto so great a quantitie, in so short a space; 
or else (saith he) it is called Hedera. Vpon the nouelty and vntruth of this his doctrine, 
the people were greatly offended, and thereof suddenly arose a tumult and hurly-burly; 
so that the Bishop was inforced to goe to the Jewes to aske their iudgment as touching 
the name of this plant. And when he had receiued of them the true name, which was 
Kikaiyon, he made his open recantation and confessed his error, and was justly accused 
for a falsifier of the holy Scripture.” 
