324  Varieties. 
The  Importatton  of  Preserved  Meat  into  England. — An  interesting  return 
has  just  been  issued  from  the  statistical  department  of  the  Board  of  Trade, 
giving  the  importation  of  preserved  meat  into  this  country  for  the  last  five 
years,  which  shows  the  enormous  extent  to  which  this  branch  of  commerce  has 
been  developed,  and  the  rapidly  increasing  proportions  which  ii  has  assumed. 
As  might  be  expected,  Australia  figures  in  the  list  as  the  largest  exporter,  and 
some  indication  of  the  startling  rapidity  which  has  distinguished  the  progress 
of  the  preserved  meat  trade  between  that  country  and  England  will  be  gleaned 
from  the  fact  that  in  the  year  1866,  the  exports  from  Australia  to  the  United 
Kingdom  were  only  91  cwts.;  in  1867,  6,721  cwts.;  in  1868,  16,337  cwts.;  in 
1869,  28,306  cwts.;  and  in  1870,  72.812  cwts.,  which  shows  that  in  a  period  of 
only  five  years  this  trade  has  risen  from  comparatively  nothing  to  a  very  impor- 
tant and  considerable  amount.  This  is  also  forcibly  evidenced  by  the  fact  that 
the  importations  of  the  meat  from  Australia  in  1866  were  valued  at  £321,  while 
in  1870  they  are  valued  at  £203,874 — assuredly  a  sufficiently  striking  augmen- 
tation. 
No  other  countries  export  preserved  meat  to  an  extent  at  all  approximating 
to  Australia.  This  will  be  seen  from  the  statistics,  which  show  that  the  total 
importation  of  meat  from  all  countries  amounted  in  1870  to  80,636  cwts  ,  of 
which  72,812  cwts.  came  from  Australia,  thus  leaving  only  about  8,000  cwts.  as 
the  imports  from  all  other  countries.  Next  to  Australia,  Belgium  figures  in 
the  list  as  the  largest  exporter,  3,299  cwts.  of  the  meat  having  arrived  in  Eng- 
land from  that  country  during  1870.  In  the  same  year,  also,  1,105  cwts.  were 
received  from  the  United  States,  although  in  the  preceding  four  years  America 
did  not  send  us  any  of  the  meat.  Other  countries  which  export  this  article  in 
moderately  small  amounts  are:  British  India,  837  cwts.;  Uruguay,  693  cwts.; 
Norway,  678  cwts.;  and  France,  671  cwts.  In  the  year  1867,  Italy  exported 
this  meat  to  England  in  considerable  quantities  ;  but  latterly  this  branch  of 
their  exportation  appears  to  have  been  entirely  abandoned. — Journ.  of  Applied 
Ghem.  June,  1871,  from  London  Grocer. 
Young's  Patent  Poison  Ca,binet. — M.  J.  C.  Young,  of  Warrington,  has  con- 
structed a  poison  cabinet,  which  it  is  claimed  will  render  difficult  the  occurrence 
of  mistakes  in  dispensing.  It  consists  of  a  certain  number  of  shelves  to 
accommodate  a  given  number  of  bottles,  which  are  not  of  uniform  size.  Each 
bottle,  correctly  labelled,  is  made  to  fit  a  certain  space  upon  the  shelf,  on  the 
front  edge  of  which  the  name  is  painted  corresponding  with  the  label  upon  the 
bottle.  Under  each  shelf  is  a  movable  indicator,  which,  if  pushed  along  until 
it  rests  under  a  name,  allows  the  corresponding  bottle  only,  and  no  other,  to  be 
removed  or  replaced.  This  arrangement  requires  the  intelligent  reading  of  the 
label  twice,  thus  calling  the  dispenser's  attention  to  the  nature  of  the  substance 
which  he  is  about  to  use. — Pharm.  Journ.,and  Transact.,  April  29, 1871,  p.  870. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Phakm. 
1     July  1,  1871. 
Poisoning  hy  Sulphate  of  Atropia. — By  mistaking  two  vials,  and  without 
