^ptembef^mT}    Revision  of  Dispensing  Pharmacies.  413 
the  iron  hoops  very  tightly  and  placed  in  the  wedge-press.  The 
liquid  fat  is  caught,  placed  in  molds  and  thoroughly  pounded  into 
shapes  by  the  tread  hammer.  This  vegetable  tallow  is  very  hard, 
and  as  the  process  is  complicated  and  difficult,  also  as  the  great 
standard  on  oils  (Lewkowitsch)  does  not  mention  this  manner  of 
obtaining  the  vegetable  tallow,  it  is  interesting ;  he  mentions  only 
the  castor-bean  product. 
Swatow  is  the  centre  of  sugar  manufacture  in  the  south.  To  ex- 
press the  cane,  they  have  large  upright  revolving  pillars ;  these  are 
revolved  ;  the  force  is  supplied  by  buffaloes  hitched  to  the  end  of  a 
long  timber  working  at  the  top  of  the  pillars.  A  native  feeds  the 
stalks  one  at  a  time  on  one  side ;  the  juice  exudes,  runs  into  a  sunken 
well,  at  the  base  of  the  rollers.  The  juice  is  carried  into  the  evapo- 
rating-house  in  buckets ;  here,  over  the  free  fire,  it  is  concentrated ; 
naturally,  the  sugar  so  obtained  is  rather  yellowish  in  color.  Some 
samples  that  would  here  be  called  a  rather  poor  grade  of  gray 
sugar  are  labeled  white  sugar. 
It  would  not  do  to  say  nothing  of  the  curse  of  China — the  opium 
habit.  In  the  Yunnan  province,  also  in  Sechuan  province,  in 
Southern  China,  opium  is  grown;  this  is  near  India.  Samples  ot 
opium  in  little  jars,  as  prepared  for  smoking,  are  shown;  also  some 
as  sent  into  the  drug  trade.  The  latter  is  done  up  in  rectangular 
parcels  of  brown  paper,  tied  with  hemp  twines  a  number  of  times. 
The  saloons  of  China  are  the  opium  houses ;  some  streets  have  one 
of  these  on  every  corner  ;  but  this  traffic  is  on  the  down  road,  as  the 
government  is  gradually  running  these  dealers  out  of  China.  It  is 
only  in  those  towns,  such  as  the  treaty  ports  of  Southern  China, 
that  this  practice  is  carried  on  to  any  great  extent,  and  that  mainly 
among  the  coolies. 
PERIODICAL  REVISION  OF  DISPENSING  PHARMACIES. 
By  M.  I.  Wii,bert, 
Apothecary  at  the  German  Hospital,  Philadelphia. 
At  the  coming  meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Associa- 
tion it  is  quite  probable  that  the  proposed  "  National  Bureau  of 
Medicines  and  Foods  "  will  be  brought  forward  once  more  for  discus- 
sion, with  a  view  of  securing  the  endorsement  of  the  association  in 
favor  of  its  proposed  objects. 
