a clear passage for the filtrate in all directions, whilst the support given is practically equal to that by a solid surface. Near the top is placed a small safety valve which is regulated to blow off at 5 lbs. pressure. The main steam pipe (if not required for drying closet) should terminate in this direction with a T-piece, fitted with screw tap and hose connection, so that a rubber tube can be attached when desired; it is useful for many purposes, one example is that of steaming nux vomica beans before grinding.

The still is placed on the opposite side of the boiler; it is of copper with a cast iron jacket, similar to those on the pans, and has fittings like them. In the body of the still is a gun-metal hand-hole for removing any solid residue and for cleaning out purposes. It is also fitted with a removable perforated false bottom for separating any solid matter from the liquid contents drawn off by the tap underneath. The distillate is condensed in a block tin worm contained in a circular wrought iron cistern of 60 gallons capacity, the exit being from the side near the bottom.

or £30, so that the whole could be fitted up for something like £150. The still, pans and funnel are tested by hydraulic pressure to bear 20 lbs. on each square inch of surface.

Doubtless, different pharmacists work their apparatus at different degrees of pressure. My experience is that with pans of the size mentioned a pressure of from 2 lbs. to 5 lbs. to the square inch, giving a temperature of from 216° to 2251° F., is the most suitable when stirring is actively continued, and when not stirring, a nominal pressure, say of lb. to the square inch is quite ample.

[The discussion on this paper is printed at p. 790.]

Passing direct from the boiler is a steam-pipe which terminates in another block tin worm at the top of the cistern, going within the coil of the other worm and out at the centre of the bottom of the cistern. Underneath is a stoneware barrel to receive the distilled water as it flows from the last-meter of 0.04 mm. named worm. This is found to be a convenient arrangement, and whenever the pressure is increasing unduly round the still or pans, or when it is necessary to stop the working of one or more of these, then the distilled water tap can be turned on, with the result that one has a good supply of distilled water, practically free of cost.

It has been mentioned that each pan is fitted with a syphon pipe and back pressure valve. The former prevents waste of steam, and consequent power; a foot of condensed water in the pipe would represent approximately half a pound of steam pressure. The latter prevents the waste steam from one pan from entering the chamber of the next, replacing a tap and acting automatically; it is exceedingly simple, as will be seen from the drawing. The arrows indicate the direction in which the steam (or condensed water) passes, lifting the small valve in the centre and moving forward freely; but if it attempts to pass in the opposite direction, the more tightly the valve is closed against it.

The apparatus described does not by any means constitute the equipment of a pharmaceutical laboratory, but it forms some of the essentials for everyday work, and a foundation on which to build. The capabilities are but moderate, still the expense is moderate also. The cost, exclusive of main supply and waste steam pipes, the tub and stone barrel, is £110. A two horse upright tubular boiler costs £28

The primary bast-bundles of the stem do not form a connected ring, and its fibres are mostly separated by intermediate parenchyma. The cortical parenchyma is not sclerenchymatous. At the base of the stem the fibres are mostly about 0.12 mm. in diameter; higher up they are thinner; but even at the summit they have a diaThe thinnest fibres of the nettle are therefore as thick as the thickest of hemp. In consequence of their isolation they are seldom polygonal. At the commencement of the time of flowering the fibres in the upper portion of the stem only are completely thickened; those in the lower part have still large cavities. There are no pore-canals. Fibres were measured 22 mm. in length; they are very irregular in form. They consist of nearly pure cellulose; their behaviour with cuoxam is characteristic. They swell with extraordinary rapidity from without inwards; a sharply differentiated internal at length dissolved; and in addition to a small quantity layer resists the action for some minutes; but this is also of contents of the fibres a delicate network remains, the primary membranes of the parenchyma cells which surrounded the fibres.

Fibres baked or treated with acids or alcohol show two

peculiarities. They are very irregularly isolated, being either united into bands or disintegrated into separate fibres; there are no thin bundles, like those of combed flax or hemp. This peculiarity depends on the structure of the primary and on the want of secondary bast-fibrebundles. The second peculiarity is their complete and nearly regular investment with parenchyma, in consequence of which they are rough and dull; resulting from the incomplete differentiation of the wall of the fibres and of that of the parenchyma-cells.

Both these peculiarities are very disadvantageous to the employment of the nettle-fibre as a technical product. The chemical means employed to separate the fibres completely from the surrounding parenchyma would affect injuriously the fineness of the fibre.

Attempts have been made to naturalize in Germany the North American Laportea pustulata; but similar disadvantages attend the structure of the fibre. In August the bast-fibres in the upper third of the stem are not yet developed; in the lower portion they are but imperfectly thickened. The cortex, bast and fibres, resemble those at the base of the stem, usually 0.5 mm. in diameter, and of Urtica dioica; but the fibres are considerably larger they have still a diameter of 0.1 mm. They consist of more than 80 mm. long; in the middle part of the stem pure cellulose; they dissolve rapidly and completely in cuoxam, leaving behind a parenchymatous network and the protoplasmic contents of the fibres.

The Pharmaceutical Journal.

SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 1884.

Communications for the Editorial department of the Journal, books for review, etc., should be addressed to the EDITOR, 17, Bloomsbury Square.

Instructions from Members and Associates respecting the transmission of the Journal should be sent to MR. ELIAS BREMRIDGE, Secretary, 17, Bloomsbury Square, W.C.

Advertisements, and payments for Copies of the Journal, MESSES. CHURCHILL, New Burlington Street, London, W. Envelopes indorsed "Pharm. Journ."

forms prescribed by the Pharmacy Act. Now apart from the fact that this appears to be a reversal of the order of the Bill, according to which a patent medicine was to be considered a poison until it had been declared non-poisonous, a reference to the second clause will show that the provision as to the Pharmaceutical Society passing a resolution to the effect that a patent medicine contained poison would have been permissive in its terms, and that even in the event of such a resolution being passed it would have required the sanction of the Privy Council before coming into force, a not unimportant limitation.

Dr. FARQUHARSON, who, from the fact that his name was on the back of the Bill, might have been expected to bless it rather than to ban it, did not betray any excessive admiration for some of its provisions. His view that an authoritative declaration, based on analysis, such as was proposed, would increase the tendency of the public, already imparted by the revenue stamp, to look upon such medicines as bearing a Government sanction, is no doubt correct. Indeed his suggestion that the Government should sacrifice the sum derived from the patent medicine stamp duty will probably commend itself to most persons who have considered the subject apart from the necessities of the public revenue. It is satisfactory to observe, however, that although it was outside the scope of the Bill under discussion, Dr. FARQUHARSON'S appeal to the Government to consider the anomalous liberty at present allowed to co-operative stores in respect to dealing in

THE PROPOSED LEGISLATION AS TO POISONS. THE past week has not been without its history, for on Wednesday, Mr. WARTON's exceptional effort at constructional legislation,-the Bill to Restrict the Sale of Patent Medicines-was withdrawn, after a brief public existence of only seven days. This result was not unexpected in view of the declaration of the Government as to its intention to deal with the poison question, and little ingenuity was required to anticipate the tenour of the greater part of the discussion attending the withdrawal in the House of Commons, which will be found on another page. The member for Bridport is evidently strongly impressed with the evils consequent upon the unrestricted sale of poisons under the guise of patent medicines, and the measure proposed by him for diminishing them can hardly be said to have been wanting-in intention, at least-in stringency. Whether the provisions would have proved work-poisons was endorsed by the approval of his hearers. able is quite another affair, and notwithstanding the high compliment to the Pharmaceutical Society implied in the willingness of the honourable member to entrust it with the onerous-and honoraryduty of carrying them into effect, it is not probable that the collapse of the proposed arrangement will arouse much regret in that quarter. Nevertheless, Mr. WARTON did good service in impressing upon the attention of the Legislature the fact that the very same poisons that it has decided shall not be sold in an undisguised form except by skilled persons and under certain restrictions, are being sold under the cover of the patent medicine stamp by any persons and without any precautions. Moreover, he very properly pointed out that the makers of innocuous preparations would have no difficulty in placing them outside the operation of the proposed law. In connection with this latter point it is rather curiousthough under the circumstances perhaps hardly worth noticing that such a high authority as the Attorney-years not more than seven deaths had occurred through General appeared to be imperfectly acquainted with the actual provisions of the Bill that he was discussing. In order to enforce his argument, he said that according to the Bill, if, on analysis, one trace of poison, however slight, should be found in a preparation, notwithstanding the medicine might be of a beneficial character, it must be labelled poison and the sale of it must be regulated by all the

The arguments for the rejection of the Bill were of two kinds. That by Mr. W. JAMES was advanced from the point of view from which the Bill would naturally be regarded by persons interested in the patent medicine traffic. No doubt regulations dealing with the question in any way will constitute an interference with trade and will exercise a limiting influence in direct proportion as the nostrums to which they apply contain those substances that are supposed to exercise a deleterious influence upon the public health. But the emphasizing of the enormous proportions of the traffic and the extent to which it would be affected by restrictions imposed in the interest of the public will hardly be accepted as a reason that nothing should be done to control it. Moreover, in the face of well-known official statistics that had already been referred to in the course of the discussion, it seemed barely courteous to the House to assert that during the last two

poisoning by patent medicines. No serious discussion could be maintained on the basis of such a statement. The reason urged by the Attorney-General for the rejection of the Bill, that the Government is prepared to deal with the question in a broader sense, was much more reasonable, and probably Mr. WARTON will consider that his object has been sufficiently attained in eliciting a definite statement

as to the introduction of a Government Bill. In The first, which is based on the reports of obserconclusion, we may remark that in referring to this | vations taken at 8 a.m., and arriving between subject recently, we ventured to express an opinion as to its unsuitability for treatment by "amateur legislators," and, although members of parliament were hardly the class to whom it was intended to allude, this latest episode in the poison controversy seems to show that even that further application of our remark would not be unwarranted.

THE PROGRESS OF METEOROLOGY. THE annual Report of the Meteorological Council to the Royal Society, which makes its appearance about this period of the year, is usually more suggestive of an enormous amount of investigation that remains yet to be undertaken than of any very marked progress in acquired knowledge of the science. This is attributable, however, rather to the laches of the past than to want of energy amongst present investigators, though the infinite extent and variety of the field wherein the work has to be done is apt to bewilder the uninitiated as to the object towards which all this effort is tending. In fact, observations continuous and ubiquitous are at present of prime importance, in order to provide the material from which future generalizations shall educe the laws, if there are any sufficiently apparent, that affect the rule of sunshine or of-storm. The ambition of the meteorologist is far-reaching, and in this fact there is justification for the hope that the service that will be eventually rendered to mankind by his science will be great. Whether it ever will be possible to prognosticate trustworthily as so the character of a coming season, or to advise a farmer in the spring as to the crops that will best suit the weather conditions of the succeeding summer and autumn, is at present very problematical. But it is a step towards it that across the Atlantic, and in the Old World to a less degree, some success has been attained in forecasting the weather for more limited periods; whilst the acceptability to the public of this amount of service is shown by the fact that weather reports and prognostics are no longer confined to the Times, but are now to be found in most daily newspapers of any pretensions.

9 and 10, refers to the probable weather between noon on the day of issue and noon on the day following; this is supplied to the afternoon editions of the newspapers and posted up in several public places in London. The observations on which the 8.30 p.m. forecast is based are taken at 6 p.m. This forecast comes, however, first under the cogrizance of the public in the newspapers of the following morning, so that it has the disadvantage of not being read generally until twelve hours after it has been drawn up and fourteen hours after the observations upon which it is based were taken. The Council has had the subject of this delay in the publication of the most widely-read of the two sets of forecasts under its consideration, and has ascertained that for the London morning newspapers and the local issues of those in the more important provincial towns the delivery of the forecast might be made as late as 2 a.m. This would, however, necessitate the organization of a night service, for the cost of which there are no funds available. But it is stated that should the public interest in securing at an earlier hou such information as to probable weather as is conveyed by forecasts become sufficiently developed to induce local authorities of various towns to contribute their quota of the cost of procuring it and to undertake its distribution in their respective neighbourhoods, the Meteorological Office would have no difficulty in supplying it.

In presence of this challenge it will be interesting to observe the value of these forecasts as indicated by the measure of success claimed for them in the Report. Taking the average of the eleven districts into which Great Britain and Ireland are divided the proportion of success attained during the year ending the 31st of March, 1883, is represented as having been equal to 79 per cent., being an improvement of one per cent. as compared with the previous year. This total is divisible into "complete success," 44 per cent., and "partial success," 35 per cent. The greatest amount of "complete success," 50 per cent., was attained in the south of England, the smallest amount, 40 per cent., in the north of Ireland. The proportion of storm warnings sent to In fact the portion of the report just issued that the coasts which were justified by subsequent will interest the widest circle of readers is probably events amounted during the year to 82-5 per cent., that which deals with weather telegraphy, and the showing a slight improvement. It is admitted that details connected with the preparation of the fore- the year formed no exception to its predecessors in casts now become so familiar. Briefly it may be the fact that more than one serious storm occurred stated that the office receives, when the telegraphic of which no warning was given, but it is believed communications are perfect, fifty-three reports every that such occasional failures are unavoidable. This morning, thirteen every afternoon (except on Sun- fact, however, does not detract from the value of days) and nineteen each evening. The foreign service to life and property rendered by so large a reporting stations are twenty-three in number, and proportion of justified warnings out of upwards of extend along the entire western coast of the Conti- five hundred issued during the year. Another nent and include four stations on the Baltic coast valuable service rendered by the Office was the issue and one in the Mediterranean. At present, forecasts of special forecasts gratis during the hay harvest of are issued twice a day, at 11 a.m. and 8.30 p.m. I 1882 to persons selected by the Royal Agricultura!

Society, the Royal Dublin Society and the Highland Society, in different parts of the three Kingdoms, on the condition that the information should be made as

and had in many ways shown his interest in the Society. It is now proposed as a mark of recognition of these prolonged services to entertain Dr. and Mrs. Perkin at a dinner at Freemasons' Tavern on the 23rd of April. It is understood that Professor Hofmann has promised to come over specially from Berlin to preside at the dinner.

In giving evidence recently before a parliamentary commission appointed to inquire as to the causes of the commercial crisis under which France is suffer

chemicals had remained stationary in that country
during a time in which it had increased five-fold in
other parts of the world. One of the causes to
which he attributed this stagnation was the imperfect
education of French workmen, which made it neces-
their operations.
sary to look abroad for overseers to superintend

widely known as possible, and that a record should be kept of the value of each prediction and sent in weekly. From a tabulation of these reports it appears that "complete success was attained in respect to 50 per cent. of the forecasts, and "partial success in 37 per cent. more, whilst the total failures amounted to only 2 per cent. These fore-ing, M. Vée stated that the manufacture of casts were evidently highly appreciated as having an actual money value, and for one district where the hay harvest was late they were prolonged for an extra four weeks at the expense of the recipients. Although the foregoing deals only with a portion of the Report the facts are sufficient to shadow forth the services that meteorological science is capable of rendering to the community in one direction. In another, closely affecting the health of the metropolis, investigations have been continued, as opportunity offered, into the causes and prevalence of London fog. The opportunities, though too frequent to be pleasant, proved hardly sufficient to yield valuable results. But a previous observation as to the abnormal increase of the proportion of carbonic acid gas in the atmosphere has been confirmed, the quantity having risen to 13 parts per 10,000 on one occasion, or more than three times the usual amount.

According to the preliminary statistics accompanying the Medical Register for 1884, the total number of registered medical practitioners in Great Britain and Ireland at the commencement of the 1883, showing an increase of 716 during the twelve year was 24,517 against 23,801 at the beginning of months. The new Dentists' Register contains 5291 names against 5252 in the previous one.

*

The last number of the Moniteur de la Pharmacie

reports the arrest of a woman who was in the habit of obtaining the supply of laudanum for which she craved by presenting at a pharmacy a prescription, concocted by herself, ordering some pills and sixty grams The last Evening Meeting of the Pharmaceutical of laudanum. The laudanum she as a rule succeeded Society in the present session will be held on Wed-in taking away with her, requesting that the pills nesday next, when a paper on "The Aqueous Ex- might be sent to an address, which of course turned traction of Cinchona Bark," by Professor Redwood, out not to be her residence. Seventeen pharmacists and one on "The Proximate Analysis of the appeared to have received a visit from this swindler, Seeds of Amomum Melegueta," by Dr. Thresh, who obtained from them jointly about a kilogram of will be read. The chair will be taken at half-past laudanum. Another case reported in the same eight o'clock, but the Curator will be in attendance journal is that of a boy, aged fifteen years, who an hour previously to furnish information respecting poisoned himself with prussic acid obtained by recent donations to the Museum that will be ex- means of a prescription fabricated by himself. These hibited. cases are worthy the attention of doctrinaires who see a solution of the poison question in a provision making the supply dependent upon a medical order.

In the House of Lords, on Friday the 21st inst., the Chairman of Committees informed the House that the promoters of the Institute of Chemistry Bill did not intend to proceed further with it. The order of the day for the second reading was therefore read and discharged. It is understood that the promoters hope to attain the incorporation contemplated by the Bill by means of a Royal Charter.

A correspondent from the south has forwarded to us a warning against an impostor who appears to operate by calling upon a chemist and druggist, and upon the pretence that some person in the neighbourhood has promised to pay for a truss for him, obtaining an estimate of the price of a suitable instrument written upon a bill-head. Armed with this document he canvasses for subscriptions among the benevolent in the locality, and, it is needless to say, when he has exhausted this field betakes himself to another.

Previous to the election of the present President of the Chemical Society to that office, he had during fourteen years filled the office of one of its Secretaries,