EDITORIAL. 
285 
enters,  who  were  anxious  to  comply  with  the  law,  saw  their  trade  gradually 
pass  into  channels  not  obstructed  by  scruples  on  this  point.  'Their  con- 
stant appeals  and  patient  waiting  have  developed  only  more  clearly  the 
helplessness  or  indifference  of  the  Government  officials,  notwithstanding 
the  stringent  provisions  of  the  law. 
We  beg,  therefore,  to  add  our  earnest  protest  against  further  experi- 
ment with  the  tax  of  two  dollars  per  gallon  on  Distilled  Spirits.  Its  re- 
sults as  to  revenue,  and  to  public  morality,  we  may  confidently  leave  to 
be  judged  by  your  honorable  bodies  ;  but  for  the  interests  of  honest  in- 
dustrial pursuits,  we  earnestly  urge  that  its  failure  and  injustice  are 
demonstrated.  The  demoralization  already  caused  by  it  will  be  felt  by 
generations  to  come.  The  Druggist,  the  Chemist,  the  Perfumer,  the 
Varnish-maker,  see  with  dismay,. a  gloomy  alternative  presented.  They 
may  maintain  the  law  and  incur  the  ruin  of  their  business  ;  or,  they  may 
violate  it,  and  bear  the  humiliating  consciousness  of  complicity  with 
fraud,  in  order  to  earn  their  daily  bread. 
We  respectfully  petition  that  the  tax  may  at  least  be  reduced  to  fifty 
cents  per  gallon,  as  recommended  by  the  Special  Commissioner  of  the 
Revenue.  The  same  evils,  in  degree,  might  exist  at  that  rate  ;  but  the 
main  motive  of  enormous  gain  being  withdrawn,  distillation  would  be 
likely  to  return  to  its  legitimate  channels,  and  to  fall  again  under  the 
control  of  those  responsible  establishments  who  have  shown  some  dispo- 
sition to  meet  the  demands  of  the  Government. 
Our  deliberate  conviction  is,  however,  that  a  lower  rate, — probably  25 
cents  per  gallon — will  ultimately  be  found  to  be  more  desirable,  for  both 
revenue  and  morals.  It  would  restore  the  use  of  Distilled  Spirits  to 
many  branches  of  industry  from  which  it  is  now  excluded  by  its  high 
price.  A  prominent  instance  is  the  manufacture  of  White  Lead,  in 
which  several  of  us  are  engaged,  and  in  which  large  quantities  of  Whisky 
were  formerly  used ;  but  we  have  been  compelled  to  seek  a  cheaper  sub- 
stitute. A  low  price  would  also  extend  its  consumption  among  Varnish- 
makers,  Dyers,  Soap-makers,  and  for  many  minor  uses. 
For  the  Philadelphia  Drug  Exchange, 
Robert  Shoemaker,  President. 
German  Exchanges. — Through  the  aid  of  our  friend  Albert  E.  Ebert, 
now  in  Munich,  we  have  been  able  to  make  arrangements  for  exchange 
with  six  of  the  prominent  German  Pharmaceutical  Journals. 
Crew's  Spread  Mustard  Plaster. — The  great  value  of  the  mustard 
poultice  as  a  rubefacient  in  cases  requiring  rapidc  ounter-irritation  is  uni- 
versally admitted,  but  the  inconvenience  of  applying  them  is  often  very 
great,  especially  when  the  patient  is  not  in  bed.  Several  attempts  have 
been  made  to  prepare  a  portable  and  permanent  mustard  plaster,  of  which 
the  "  Papier  Sinapise"  of  M.  Rigollet  (see  p.  276  of  this  Journal)  is  an 
example.  We  have  also  seen  a  translucent  paper  called  "  Cooper's  Sina- 
pine  Tissue,"  or  mustard  paper,  which  appears  to  owe  its  rubefacient 
power  to  capsicum,  and  is  not  entitled  to  the  name  of  mustard  paper, — both 
tasting  and  smelling  of  Cayenne  pepper.  Our  attention  has  been  directed 
to  this  subject  by  an  examination  of  the  mustard  paper  of  Benj.  J.  Crew, 
who  has  been  for  some  time  past  engaged  in  working  out  the  problem  of 
an  efficient  and  portable  mustard  plaster.  This  he  has  succeeded  in  doing 
perfectly.    The  mustard  in  substance  forming  a  uniform  layer  on  the 
