Am.  Jour.  Phaim.  ) 
June,  1875.  / 
Editorial. 
285 
V.  The  Final  Examination  is  public  and  verbal,  on  subjects  of  Chemistry,  Physics 
and  Botany,  and  on  the  legal  enactments  relating  to  pharmacy. 
The  answers  are  rated  as  ^ery  good  (i),  good  (2),  sufficient  (3),  insufficient  (4)  and 
had  (5).  The  rates  for  each  branch  and  each  portion  in  branches  I  to  IV,  are  made 
up  by  the  majority  vote  of  the  examiners  for  each  branch.  The  examination  in 
either  branches  I  to  IV  will  be  rejected  if  any  portion  thereof  is  rated  4  or  5  5  and 
the  final  examination  will  not  he  recognized  if  the  candidate  receives  one'  vote  bad,, 
or  two  votes  insufficient.  The  examinations  in  the  unsuccessful  branches  must  be- 
repeated  in  six  months ;  failure  after  two  repetitions  is  equivalent  to  an  absolute  re- 
jection.   The  examination  fees  amount  to  140  marks  (i  mark  =  24  cents.) 
Popular  Health  t^lmanac. — By  refering  to  the  Minutes  of  the  PharmaceuticaF 
Meeting,  our  readers  will  be  advised  of  the  contemplated  publication  of  this  Alma- 
nac for  the  coming  year.  It  is  done  in  accordance  with  a  suggestion  first  made  by 
Dr.  Fred.  Hoffmann,  in  a  communication  published  in  the  Chicago  "  Pharmacist 
for  November,  1874.  The  rapid  realization  of  such  a  project  was  not  expected  by 
us,  and  we  therefore  take  special  pleasure  in  commending  it  to  the  favorable  consid- 
eration of  our  readers.  The  main  aim  of  the  undertaking  is  to  counteract  the  de- 
mand for  the  thousands  of  vile  nostrums,  by  giving  to  the  consumer  information  on 
questions  connected  with  public  health  and  making  the  pharmacist,  what  he  naturally 
should  be,  the  medium  of  communicating  this  information  for  the  benefit  of  the  pub-' 
lie  as  well  as  for  the  advancement  of  his  own  business  interests.  The  project  can 
hardly  fail  to  enlist  the  sympathy  and  support  of  all  pharmacists  who  are  not  man- 
ufacturers of  nostrums,  and  the  energy  of  Dr.  Hoffmann,  if  he  will  consent  to  act  as- 
editor  of  the  Almanac  for  a  number  of  years,  will  give  and  preserve  for  it  a  high 
character  and  lasting  usefulness. 
Strychnia  Eating. — Several  months  ago  a  valued  friend  sent  from  California  a 
newspaper  account  which  related,  what  appeared  to  be,  the  impossible  feats  of  a 
strychnia  eater.  The  "  Pacific  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,"  has  further  inquired 
into  the  truthfulness  of  these  statements,  and  contains  in  its  issue  for  April  a  letter 
from  Dr.  H.  C.  Morey,  of  Gllroy,  Cal.,  who  has  known  this  strychnia  eater  since 
the  fall  of  1 861,  and  saw  him  very  frequently  eating  strychnia  until  1867,  ^'^d  again 
in  November,  18745  he  confirms  the  statements  made  in  California  newspapers  and 
In  the  "  Druggists'  Circular  "  for  January. 
"The  person  who  Is  known  by  the  sobriquet  of  'Jack,'  is  a  man  of  about  52 
years  of  age,  about  5  feet  8  inches  high,  and  weighs  about  158  pounds  5  he  Is  of  In- 
temperate habits,  and  has  his  periodical  sprees,  which  last  from  one  to  three  weeks, 
during  which  time  he  keeps  completely  saturated  with  whisky.  If  occasion  requires 
that  he  should  be  sober  at  a  certain  time,  or  if,  perchance,  he  feels  the  slimy  folds  of 
*  snakes  '  coiling  in  his  boots,  he  Immediately  procures  a  bottle  of  strychnia,  and 
eats  from  ten  to  twenty  grains.  If  the  desired  effect  is  not  produced,  say  within  an 
hour,  the  dose  is  repeated.  Unless  his  spree  has  been  protracted,  one  dose  usually 
straightens  him  up,  and  no  matter  how  drunk  he  is  when  he  takes  it,  within  three- 
hours  every  trace  of  his  debauch  has  left  him,  and  the  closest  observer  could  not  dis- 
cover the  slightest  indications  of  recent  dissipation.    Instead  of  a  hectic  flush  or  dull„ 
