6l2 
Notes  and  News. 
/Ann.  Jour.  Pharm. 
X   December,  1901. 
A  Number  OF  Book-pirates,  designed  by  various  persons,  have  been  sepa- 
rately printed  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Review  Publishing  Co.,  Milwaukee. 
These  plates  are  interesting  and  valuable  to  designers,  authors,  and  others. 
Popular  German  Names  of  domestic  drugs  and  medicines,  compiled  by 
Fr.  Hoffmann,  has  been  revised  and  enlarged  and  may  be  obtained  of  the  Phar- 
maceutical Review  Publishing  Co.,  Milwaukee. 
The  Theory  of  Electrolytic  Dissociation,  as  viewed  in  the  light  of 
facts  recently  ascertained,  is  considered  by  L.  Kahlenberg,  with  the  co-ogera- 
tion  of  A.  A.  Koch  and  R.  D.  Hall,  in  Bulletin  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin, 
No.  47. 
Feeding  of  Infants  at  Public  Expense. — While  it  is  universally  recog- 
nized that  improper  and  deficient  feeding  is  the  principal  cause  of  infant  mor- 
tality, and  it  is  conceded  that  the  ideal  and  universal  infant  food  has  not  yet 
been  devised,  it  is,  however,  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that  the  greatest 
sufferers  from  inadequate  and  improper  food  are  the  children  of  the  poor. 
"A  project  has  recently  been  mooted  in  England,  which,  if  carried  out,  might 
go  far  to  effect  the  solution.  The  proposal  alluded  to  is  that  children  of  the 
poor  should  be  fed  at  the  public  expense.  The  Hospital,  referring  to  the  mat- 
ter, suggests  that  some  of  the  money  that  is  so  lavishly  spent  on  education, 
might,  with  advantage,  be  devoted  to  the  feeding  of  infants,  and  asks  whether 
it  would  not  be  better  to  spend  public  money  for  a  short  time  during  infancy  in 
securing  that  they  shall  grow  up  strong  and  straight  and  fit  to  earn  a  living, 
rather  than  to  spend  money  in  their  support  during  these  long  years  in  after 
life,  when,  in  consequence  of  their  imperfect  development,  they  have  become 
inmates  of  workhouses,  reformatories,  and  jails.  The  scheme  reads  Utopian 
and  visionary,  but  although  perhaps  at  present  impracticable,  it  yet  contains 
the  germs  of  sense.  Any  plan  that  will  tend  to  improve  the  stamina  of  the 
human  race  and  to  stay  the  present  fearful  infantile  mortality  is  at  least  worthy 
of  attention." 
A  Strange  Cause  of  Fire. — Fire  may  be  caused  by  a  bottle  of  water  stand- 
ing harmlessly  on  a  table.  A  correspondent  writes,  showing  how  this  may  be 
the  case  : 
"  In  my  laboratory,  the  other  day,  I  detected  the  odor  of  burning  wood,  and, 
seeking  the  cause,  noticed  a  tiny  wreath  of  smoke  rising  from  the  counter. 
Setting  aside  a  flask  of  water  that  stood  close  by,  I  sponged  over  the  burning 
spot  with  a  damp  cloth.  Shortly  after  I  again  detected  the  odor  of  burning 
wood,  when,  to  my  surprise,  I  discovered  another  burning  spot  on  the  table 
close  to  the  water  flask.  The  flask  was  standing  in  the  sunlight,  thereby  con- 
centrating the  rays  to  a  focus  on  the  top  of  the  table,  acting  in  this  case  as  a 
burning  glass.  A  handful  of  highly  combustible  material  was  thrown  over  the 
burning  spot,  catching  fire  almost  immediately.  I  cite  this  instance  merely  as 
a  warning  to  chemists  and  apothecaries  who  may  not  realize  how  easily  a  fire 
may  be  started  in  their  storerooms  by  the  sun  shining  through  bottles,  flasks, 
and  carboys  of  liquid,  converting  them  for  the  time  being  into  burning  glasses 
of  great  power.  I  have  in  mind  now  the  instance  of  a  fire  originating  in  a 
storeroom  from  this  cause." 
