Am.  Jouk.  Pharm.  ) 
Aug.  1,  1874.  J' 
Editorial. 
399 
had  been  made  in  Boston,  this  case  is  one  of  peculiar  interest  not  only  to  the 
profession,  but  likewise  to  the  public.  Messrs.  Weeks  &  Potter,  not  having- 
sold  anything,  either  directly  or  by  their  agents  or  employees,  to  M  rs.  Black,  we- 
fail  to  see  upon  what  legal  or  equitable  grounds  the  former  could  be  held  respon- 
sible to  the  latter  for  damages  ;  if  they  were  liable  in  damages,  they  could 
have  been  so  only  to  the  one  to  whom  the  damage  had  been  done,  namely,  to 
Mr.  Webster.  The  latter  having  received  the  wrongly  labelled  package  of  ground 
aconite  root,  was  bound  to  exercise  the  ordinary  care  of  examining  the  articles 
to  satisfy  himself  of  their  being  correct;  omitting  this  precaution,  assuming 
the  contents  to  be  correct,  and  not  acting  as  the  agent  of  the  wholesale  house, 
he  naturally  assumed,  for  himself  and  his  agents,  towards  his  customers  what- 
ever responsibility  might  be  connected  with  the  disposal  of  the  goods.  The 
ground  aconite  root  bears  no  resemblance  to  the  powdered  picra,  the  former 
will  not  pass  through  a  sieve  tiner  than  No.  8,  and  is  easily  recognized  (in  the 
sample  submitted  to  us)  as  a  root,  and  by  a  little  investigation  even  as  aconite 
root;  picra,  as  is  well-known,  is  a  fine  powder,  differing  also  in  color  and  taste 
very  strikingly  from  the  former.  Without  requiring  a  chemical  examination, 
the  physical  properties  of  both  are  such  that  no  apothecary  of  ordinary  attain- 
ments and  experience  can  possibly  mistake  the  one  for  the  other,  and  that  the 
error  assumed  to  have  been  committed  in  Boston,  should  have  at  once  been 
detected  in  Pall  River,  in  fact,  the  difference  was  such  that  even  the  suspicions 
of  the  customer  were  aroused^  and  were  allayed  only  by  the  assurance  on  the  part 
of  the  clerk  that  the  article  was  picra  root.  The  latter  displayed  in  this  trans- 
action a  surprising  degree  of  want  of  information  for  one  who  had  been  at  the- 
business  for  about  two  years.  Had  Mr.  Webster  been  present,  the  supposed 
erroneous  labelling  would  doubtless  have  been  at  once  detected  and  corrected 
but  this  not  being  the  case,  can  Messrs.  Weeks  &  Potter  be  held  responsible 
for  the  employment  by  Mr.  Webster  of  an  incompetent  clerk,  or — if  the  latter's. 
incompetency  was  known  to  him — for  permitting  him  to  take  upon  himself 
responsibilities  for  which  he  was  not  qualified? 
The  extraordinary  feature  of  this  case  appears  to  us  to  be  the  accountability 
of  a  firm  for  no  act  of  their  own  or  of  their  agents,  because  they  would  have 
readily  corrected  the  supposed  error  in  labelling.  All  apothecaries,  the  entire 
drug  trade  and  the  public  at  large  are  deeply  interested  in  the  question:  To 
whom  does  the  responsibility  of  such  a  sale  really  attach?  And  we  shall  be 
glad  if  it  be  answered  by  the  decision  of  a  higher  tribunal,  to  which,  we  have 
understood,  an  appeal  has  been  taken.  There  is  no  doubt  in  our  minds  where 
the  responsibility  morally  belongs. 
Instructor  of  Pharmacy  and  Materia  Medica  in  Harvard  University. 
—  Prof.  G.  F.  H.  Markoe  has  been  recently  appointed  to  this  position  in  the 
medical  department  of  the  Harvard  University,  and  we  are  pleased  to  notice 
this  step  in  advance  of  other  institutions,  and  the  selection  for  the  position  of 
the  gentleman,  who  is  actively  engaged  in  the  pharmaceutical  business  and, 
though  not  an  M.  D.,  qualified  for  his  new  duties. 
A  Serious  Explosion  occurred  on  July  3d,  last,  at  the  laboratory  of  Allaire, 
Woodward  &  Co.,  Peoria,  III.,  severely  injuring  Mr.  H.  A.  Wetzel,  one  of  the 
clerks,  while  powdering  chlorate  of  potassium  for  the  purpose  of  making  some 
fire  works.  The  newspaper  accounts  which  we  have  received  are  not  quite  clear, 
but  some  precaution  must  have  been  omitted,  the  explosion  occuring  during 
the  trituration.  The  attention  of  those  occasionally  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  fire-works  is  directed  to  the  process  for  powdering  chlorates,  published 
on  page  360  of  the  present  number. 
Centennial  of  Chemistry. — A  reunion  of  American  chemists  will  take 
place  July  31st,  at  Northumberland,  Pa.,  where  Priestley,  the  discoverer  of 
