188 
EDITORIAL. 
is  gratifying  information,  as  it  indicates  a  determination  upon  the  part  of  our 
Boston  friends  to  advance  in  the  right  way-  Pharmaceutists  established  in 
business;  who  are  willing  to  expend  time  and  money  to  provide  means  of 
education  for  their  assistants  and  apprentices,  aie  disinterested  advocates  of 
professional  advancement. 
To  Correspondents. — A  Correspondent,  K.,  asks  the  rationale  of  the 
action  of  the  mixture  known  as  "  Twigg's  Hair  Dye"  on  the  hair,  and  why 
it  will  dye  some  kinds  of  hair  and  not  other  kinds.  An  ingenious  medical 
friend  informs  us  that  the  reaction  that  takes  place  is  between  the  oxide 
of  lead  in  the  acetate  of  lead,  and  the  sulphur  naturally  existing  in  the 
hair,  which  results  in  the  deposition  of  a  layer  of  sulphuret  of  lead  on  and 
perhaps  in  the  exterior  layer  of  the  hair.  In  cases  where  it  does  not  act, 
he  suggests  that  the  sulphurous  ingredient  is  absent,  as  is  known  to  be  the 
case  in  some  specimens  of  hair.  This  seems  to  prove  that  the  sulphur 
that  enters  Twigg's  preparation  is  of  no  use,  it  only  being  active  where 
sulphur  exists  in  the  hair  to  be  acted  on,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  the 
officinal  solution  of  subacetate  of  lead,  from  its  ready  decomposition  so 
as  to  yield  oxide  of  lead,  is  much  more  appropriate  and  efficient  for  this  use 
than  the  neutral  acetate.  The  friend  above  quoted,  considers  that  ammo- 
nia, associated  with  oxide  of  lead,  increases  its  efficiency  as  a  dye  by  virtue 
of  its  detergent  action  on  the  surface  to  be  dyed. 
An  Irish  Opinion  of  Philadelphia  Reformers. — The  Dublin  Medical 
Press  for  Jan.  5fch,  1853,  contains  the  following  letter  addressed  to  its  Edi- 
tor, in  relation  to  the  joint  Report  of  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical  So- 
ciety, and  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  published  in  our  Journal 
for  January  1852.  We  do  not  know  whether  the  "  Press  "  published  the 
whole  of  the  "  Report"  or  not,  but  if  it  did,  it  is  singular  that  the  writer  of 
the  subjoined  letter  should  have  mistaken  an  attempt  to  correct  existing 
evils  in  one  city  and  county,  for  a  general  manifesto  addressed  to  the  physi- 
cians and  apothecaries  of  the  whole  United  States.  The  writer's  hints  as 
to  the  mode  of  reforming  medico-pharmaceutical  practice  in  this  country 
are  rather  amusing,  especially  that  about  appointing  committees  of  inquiry. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  Medical  Press. 
Sir,— In  your  paper  of  the  8th  of  December,  you  give  a  code  of  "Phar- 
maceutical Ethics."  framed  by  the  Medical  Society  and  College  of  Pharmacy 
of  Philadelphia,  U.  S.,"  and  you  commend  its  "candid  and  patient  con- 
sideration to  th^  Dublin  praci itioners  in  this  line."  Now,  sir,  my  object  in 
writing  to  you  is  to  show  the  Pniladelphia  faculty,  who,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  read  the  Medical  Press,  that  your  recommendation  of  their  code 
of  laws  will  never  be  attended  to  as  long  as  the  present  system  of  gross 
neglect,  with  regard  to  professional  acquirement  and  legitimacy,  exists 
within  the  States  ;  because  there  is  no  man  could  respect  the  laws  of  a  body 
who  allow  Tom,  Jack,  and  Jerry  to  practise  physio  and  pharmacy  in  their 
country;  never  taking  the  trouble  of  inquiring  whether  he  is  a  tinker  or  a 
tailor,  but  permitting  him  to  practise,  to  the  loss  and  detriment  both  of  the 
legitimate  practitioner  and  the  public.  This  is  too  well  known  a  fact  to 
admit  of  even  the  least  denial.    I  am  myself  cognizant  of  such  a  case  at 
