VARIETIES. 
379 
Porcelain Baths and Steam Tubs, introduced by Messrs. Rufford and 
Finch (Stourbridge.) — The superiority of porcelain over other materials 
usually employed for the construction of baths, consists in the nature of 
the surface, the cleanliness, and the light appearance. It is preferable to 
marble on account of not absorbing so much heat. The joints in the porce- 
lain baths have always been an objection which it was desirable to over- 
come, and many attempts have been made to construct baths in one piece. 
Much difficulty was found in accomplishing this object on account of the 
tendency of the bath, from its size and weight, to loose its shape during 
the process of drying, and to crack when heated in the kiln. Messrs. Ruf- 
ford and Finch have lately succeeded in obtaining the desired result, for 
which a medal was awarded by the Society of Arts. The first specimen of 
this description of bath was fixed in the St. Marylebone baths and wash- 
houses, above twelve months ago, and a very superior bath is now in the 
Crystal Palace, on the north-west division. Steam-tubs, wash-tubs, and 
other vessels of various forms, are also constructed of the same material. 
Some of these might be usefully employed for maceration and other phar- 
maceutical purposes. — Ibid. 
An Act to Regulate the Sale of Arsenic, 5th June, 1851. — -Whereas, the 
unrestricted sale of Arsenic facilitates the commission of crime : be 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 fol- 
lows : — 
1. Every person who shall sell any Arsenic shall forthwith, and before 
the delivery of such Arsenic to the purchaser, enter or cause to be entered 
in a fair and regular manner, in a book or books to be kept by such per- 
son for that purpose, in the form set forth in the Schedule to this Act, or to 
the like effect, a statement of such sale, with the quantity of Arsenic so 
sold, and the purpose for which such Arsenic is required or stated to be 
required, and the day of the month and the year of the sale, and the name, 
place of abode, and condition or occupation of the purchaser, into all 
which circumstances the person selling such arsenic is hereby required and 
authorized to inquire of the purchaser before the delivery to such pur- 
chaser of the Arsenic sold, and such entries shall in every case be signed 
by the person making the same, and shall also be signed by the purchaser, 
unless such purchaser profess to be unable to write (in which case the per- 
son making the entry hereby required, shall add to the particulars to be 
entered in relation to such sale, the words, "cannot write/') and, where a 
witness is hereby required to the sale, shall also be signed by such witness, 
together with his place of abode. 
2. No person shall sell any Arsenic to any person who is unknown to the 
person selling such Arsenic, unless the sale be made in the presence of a 
witness who is known to the person selling the Arsenic, and to whom 
