.THE DRUG TRADE. 
655 
From the above characters of Matigosteen rind, it will be seen that it may 
be readily distinj^uished from Bael, by its much greater thickness; darker 
colour of its substance and that of its external and internal surface ; the en¬ 
tire absence of adhering pulp and seeds ; its easily separable epicarp ; and 
in the presence upon some of the pieces of the projecting radiating dark- 
coloured wedge-shaped stigmas. The latter character, when present, is a 
very marked one, and will afford at once a ready means of distinguishing 
Mangosteen from Bael. 
I shall probably return to this subject in the next Journal, but at present 
have only time to call attention to the substitution. In the meantime, if any 
readers of this note should meet with specimens of Bael of which they are in 
doubt, I shall be glad to receive a sample for examination. 
THE DEUG TRADE. 
BY “scrutator,” M.P.S. 
A laxity of morals is bad enough in any business, but more especially so in 
that of a chemist and druggist, or, in niodern parlance, “ pharmacien.” 
One would think that if a sense simply of right and wrong were not sufficient 
to preserve a strict rectitude in a supply of drugs and chemicals, at any rate it 
would through the emulative spirit developed by the Pharmaceutical Conference. 
It would not be too much to expect that some part of the demon uvarice 
would be banished by a great proportion of those who profess to furnish the 
public with pure articles; a demand which the public have a right to expect, 
when they apply to a respectable tradesman, and give, without demur, whatever 
price is asked, that is fair. 
Perhaps one of the most pitiable sights is, when a chemist condescends to 
lower the quality of his drugs used in dispensing. A far greater evil is enacted 
than the mere grasping an extra percentage out of his customers’ pocket, for an 
absolute danger to his patron’s health is at any time imminent. The physician 
is deceived, loses bis confidence in the dispenser, and the patient loses his faith 
in the physician. Two instances may be mentioned out of many that have 
come before the writer’s notice within the last year. One, when a customer 
called for a quarter of an ounce of laudanum. When asked if he knew the dose, 
he replied. Oh, yes; he had been in the habit of taking it all for a dose daily 
for a considerable time. He was warned not to do so in the present instance, 
the warning was not heeded, and the poor fellow was found two hours after¬ 
wards with his head on his desk in a state of stupor. The next case happened 
with a prescription containing a full dose of Scheele’s hydrocyanic acid, which 
had been taken to a chemist. 
The physician was surprised that the expected effect had not been produced, 
and increased the dose. 'Ihe prescription was then sent to another chemist, 
whose acid was of the full strength; the consequence was that the young patient 
very nearly lost his life. This does not come under the head of accident^ but 
may be more properly designated a greedy t loughtlessness. 
Such o -curreuces as these, as well as the great discrepancy in the prices 
charged in dispensing, caused the writer of these few lines to make an analytical 
examination of many of the an ides in common use, when such an unexpected 
result followed, that he is induced to make public a few of the analyses, not 
with any vindictive spirit, but with a sincere hope of doing some good, if ever 
so little. Indeed, the writer believes in many instances the vendor has'not any 
idea of the evil he is committing, or the difference of product, when, as he 
thinks, he only makes a very slight alteration in a formula, as a more liberal 
