534  A  Resume  of  Recurrent  Topics.       { A n^tSSe^mm' 
of  chance,  as  it  were.  Soon  we  shall  be  highly  entertained  by  an 
account  of  the  proceedings  of  the  medical  celebration,  in  Boston,  of 
the  semi-centenary  of  the  use  of  ether  as  an  anaesthetic.  This  was 
but  fifty  years  ago,  and  when  the  personal  connection  of  Jackson 
and  Morton  with  that  event  is  again  recounted,  it  will  be  seen  how 
purely  casual  it  was.  Who  thought  of  boric  acid,  except  as  a 
chemical  oddity,  prior  to  1870?  This  constituent  of  borax  is  now 
marketed  by  the  ton. 
T/ze  Vacuum  Pan. — From  a  comparison  of  products  it  might 
reasonably  be  inferred  that  many  operators  use  the  apparatus  for  a 
partial  purpose  only,  whereas  the  intention  of  its  construction  con- 
templates that  a  product  should  be  reduced  from  a  liquid  to  a  solid 
state — even  to  a  dry  solid — with  as  complete  an  exclusion  of  atmos- 
pheric exposure  and  pressure  as  possible  throughout  the  whole 
operation.  The  features  are  a  rapid  reduction  of  bulk  below  1200, 
the  recovery  of  alcohol,  and  a  chemically  unchanged  substance. 
With  all  these  paramount  and  manifest  advantages,  particularly  in 
the  preparation  of  solid  extracts  of  vegetable  drugs,  it  required  many 
years  to  convince  of  its  great  utility.  Even  as  high  an  authority  as 
Dr.  Redwood  is  quoted  as  having  given  but  an  indifferent  approval 
of  it,  and  that  as  late  as  1840.  It  is  quite  likely  that  the  Professor 
did  not  see  the  best  practical  results  and  was  misled  in  that.  It  is 
stated  that  when  first  introduced,  extracts  prepared  in  vacuo  (so- 
called)  were  pronounced  a  failure  because  they  could  not  be  kept 
in  the  necessary  physical  condition.  We  now  make  a  closer  study 
of  the  chemical  composition  of  drugs  than  prevailed  at  the  former 
day,  consequently  we  get  better  products,  and  there  is  yet  much  to 
be  learned  in  this  fertile  direction— a  hint  to  the  pharmacist  now. 
Philadelphia,  September  7,  1896. 
For  some  years  inventors  have  been  trying  to  transport  fruit  in  cars  filled 
with  carbonic  acid  gas.  Inasmuch  as  the  germs  of  fermentation  cannot  live  in 
this  gas,  it  is  assumed  that  no  ice  would  be  needed,  and,  since  this  is  both 
heavy  and  expensive,  it  is  thought  that  fruit  can  be  transported  for  long  dis- 
tances much  more  cheaply  in  the  new  way.  A  carload  of  fruit,  in  one  of  these 
gas  cars,  was  lately  sent  from  San  Jose,  Cal.,  to  Chicago,  but  the  result  was  not 
satisfactory.  It  is  reported  in  the  local  papers  that  the  fruit  had  not  rotted,  but 
owing  to  the  extreme  hot  weather  it  had  almost  been  cooked.  Ice  will  still  be 
a  necessity  in  very  hot  weather,  unless  some  means  of  keeping  the  car  cool  is 
added  to  the  antiseptic  advantages  of  the  gas. — Garden  and  Forest. 
