AN AMERICAN PHARMACIST IN JAPAN.

BY CHARLES P. GOEHRIG, PH.G.
Brooklyn, N. Y.

Yokohama, Japan, October 24, 1903. This is a delightful country, full of the most exquisite charm, of the most novel customs, and the most courteous people, and abounding with delightful surprises at every turn for the leisurely traveler from the Occident.

As

On alighting at the railway station, I found no baggage express wagon, but instead uniformed porters, one of whom grasped my two hand satchels and numerous bundles of various shapes and sizes, and conveyed them to the waiting room. a fee I handed him a 20-sen piece, equal in value to about 10 cents. Shaking his hand he held up two fingers, whereupon I handed him another 20-sen piece, only to elicit more, and more violent, gesticulation and jabbering from him. Being the only foreigner at the station I was soon the center of a mob of Japanese having fun at my expense, until a policeman put in an appearance and gently and courteously pointed out a sign, printed in both English and Japanese, stating that the fee for porter service is 2 sen (or 1 cent), and that the porters are not allowed to receive any more under penalty of immediate dismissal. Hence all the difficulty between myself and my hard worked porter, whom it seems I was about to outrageously pay by giving him 10 cents. Can you, back in America, imagine any such incident occurring in any of our own railroad stations?

DOMESTIC SERVICE.

And you housekeepers, who are called upon at frequently recurring periods to wrestle with the problem of domestic service, how would it strike you to be able to purchase outright at a price of 100 to 200 sen ($50 to $100) each the daintiest girls and most perfect servants in the world; faithful, intelligent, industrious and artistic to their finger tips? How I wished that the conventionalities, and our laws, would permit me to bring back two of these delightful servants with me, if only to show what perfect household service is. But should I succeed in bringing them over I know that in the atmosphere of free America they I would soon assert their freedom and become as unmanageable and as exorbitant in their demands as any of the Bridgets, Fridas or Gretchens whom we now have to struggle with.

Aside from the purely esthetic aspects, the country has much of interest to Americans, though the prospects of trade for American manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and chemicals seem to be not the most brilliant. The difficulty is that American manufacturers are not exact in complying with the Government standards, which are closely defined, and which are most rigidly applied on all important drugs and chemicals. Not long since a shipment of acetic acid from America was rejected on account of being 4/100 of 1

per cent. below the required strength. Unfortunately, American chemicals have frequently been rejected, a result that is discouraging alike to the American exporter and the Japanese importer. Should American manufacturers fully realize the fact that the standards set up by the Government are rigidly adhered to, they would save themselves much expense and annoyance, for they would then not ship goods that did not fully comply with the required standards in every respect. In marked contrast to the care exercised in the supervision of imported chemicals is the laxity of supervision of the quality of goods manufactured here in Japan.

THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTION.

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The Government inspects all drugs and chemicals imported, and places on inspected goods a stamp, which is accepted everywhere as being a sufficient guarantee of quality. The name of the manufacturer is of no consequence, the Government stamp is everything. Goods not bearing this stamp are in reality drug on the market." Since this stamp plays so important a part in the drug business of Japan, I have, after going through endless red tape, and only through the kind assistance of friends in the Imperial Army, obtained one of the stamps from the Superintendent of the Imperial Laboratory of Osaka, and send it to you herewith. As you will see, the stamp is in two colors, being printed in rose, surcharged with black, on white paper. The stamp bears the serial number of the package, the date of the inspection, the quantity and the name of the drug. In this way the Government guarantees the quality of the goods sold to the purchaser, and at a very small cost to the manufacturer, the charge being 50 cents, or one yen, for every 10 packages. Absolutely everything is imported in large containers and repacked and rebottled in smaller containers under the supervision of the inspectors. The manufacturer may, course, enter his goods under his own label and in his own original packages, but in this case he will be obliged to submit each individual package to analysis in order to secure the Government indorsement, which, as I have above indicated, is absolutely necessary.

THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTION LABORATORIES.

of

I had an opportunity to inspect the laboratories both in Yokohama and in Tokio, and to observe closely the great care exercised in the supervision of this work. The largest of these laboratories is, however, at Osaka, which town is really the commercial metropolis of the empire. In Osaka the laboratory is located in the center of the district occupied by wholesale druggists, of whom there are quite a large number, though they are not of the kind familiar to us in the United States. In the laboratories at Yokohama and Tokio, I found many chemicals, the labels of which did not give the name of any manufacturer, but the majority of the chemicals could be traced to either English or German origin. Germany also supplies all the apparatus and scales used for assaying purposes, and I noticed throughout, to my chagrin, the general absence of chemical and pharmaceutical products of American origin.

PROPRIETARY GOODS.

Many obstacles are placed in the way of the entry into Japan of proprietary goods of foreign manufacture, and unless the manufacturers have their special local representatives, these restrictions amount practically to prohibition. First of all, the manufacturer must secure a special permit from the Government before his goods will be allowed entry. Second, In order to protect his trademark rights, it is necesary that they be registered here, and since the Japanese Government does not allow trademarks to be issued to foreign concerns, they must be used in the name of the local agent or manufacturer, and should the local agent turn out to be irresponsible the actual owner has no redress. Thirdly, preparations will not be registered unless they bear a formula giving the ingredients (and this formula must be a genuine one), and moreover, if the preparations contain any active ingredient, even such ingredients as senna, etc., their entry is prohibited. Cod liver oil preparations, however, are exempt from the restrictions named above, since they are classified as food products, and not as drugs.

BORN SUBSTITUTORS.

Even then the proprietor's troubles are not over, for the Japanese are the greatest imitators I have ever come across, or rather they have the habit of attempting to "Japanese everything. Anything and everything is imitated, though in the majority of cases with comparatively poor success.

Another difficulty which faces a manufacturer of proprietary preparations is the necessity for printing his advertising literature in the Japanese language. I have never seen any people so much averse to reading matter printed in language other than their own, even where they have a knowledge of the language. In fact, advertising matter to be of any value must be in the Japanese language.

It is, moreover, necessary to address all mail matter in Japanese characters whenever intended for places outside of the treaty ports, and even in these it is not safe to depenă upon the delivery of mail addressed in Latin or German characters, except to the commercial houses. I have been told by very good authority that unless the printed matter is sent in bulk to reliable houses here, and readdressed in Japanese characters, the majority of it hardly ever leaves the office.

IN THE RETAIL STORES.

The sales, even in the large, retail drug stores, are in very small lots, and I found on visiting the Japanese stores, both here and in Tokio, that the principal sales were in quantities of no greater value than 2 sen or 1 cent. Ointments are dished out by the 2 sen worth in clam shells as containers. Spanish saffern is carefully wrapped up and sold in the same quantity. Court plaster, principally of domestic manufacture, is very much in demand, the average quantity being half a sen's worth. Curiously enough, this plaster is looked upon as an excellent headache remedy. A little square is cut off and placed alongside the eye. At first I could not understand why every second woman I met bore this decoration on her temple, but on asking was informed it was a court plaster being worn for the cure of headache.

European dealers have not covered the interior of the country, and, in fact, so far as I could earn, only one drug house, and that a German house, has worked the trade up here to any extent. I do not know that there is much opportunity for Americans to secure any of this trade, but it would seem that with so large and so densely populated a country there should be some opening for American products in the line of pharmaceuticals and druggists' sundries. Whatever is done, however, must be done through local representatives here and not from foreign soil, as the Government places all contracts with Japanese firms, which, however, may be acting as sub-agents for foreign houses.

At the present time, commerce is much unsettled here, with the exception of the export of raw silk, for Japan has not yet entirely recovered from the effects of the war with China, and this talk of war with Russia hangs like a dark cloud over all business transactions.

A New Inhalation Apparatus.

The accompanying sketch illustrates an apparatus invented by Dr. M. Saenger, and manufactured by Otto Gentsch, Magdeburg, Germany, for the vaporization of aromatic substances or the conversion of liquids into vapors for the purposes of medical application. The apparatus consists of a boiler A, a glass

reservoir B, two narrow tubes C and D, and a short tube E. The points of C and D are situated in such a manner, that the steam produced in A B issuing through C and passing

E

C

D

Medicin

A

Wasser

at the muzzle of D effects a partial vacuum in B. and carries along with it through its sucking power, so to speak, the medical vapor therein generated: the air of the sick room thus becomes impregnated. A stream of fresh air continually passes through B (entering through E and issuing through D), and gets into a very close contact with the medicament. The

NORWEGIAN CODLIVER OIL.'

Pure codliver oil has for some time been a scarce article in the world's markets, owing largely to the many admixtures and adulterations used by the unscrupulous and careless manufacturers.

The best Norwegian oil is extracted from the fat livers of the cod in the early part of the winter fisheries in the Lofoten Islands. The livers at this time, in January, February, and a part of March, are, as a rule, light colored, plump, and very rich in oil, which is extracted, after careful sorting of the livers, with simple machinery, by steam. The product is as clear as crystal, nearly tasteless, and without smell.

The islands present many advantages over other places for the production of strictly pure oil. The shoals of fish seek the shore for spawning purposes and the banks are so near land that the boats sometimes land two catches in one day; consequently, the livers are, except when stormy weather interferes, received fresh at the factories daily. The average annual catch of cod in the islands is 30,000,000. Unlike other districts in the country, the cod at this time of the year is about the only kind of fish caught, so there is less opportunity for mixing the livers from cod with those from inferior fish, such as coalfish or pollock, ling, haddock, tusk, and others. Oil from these contain less fat, the color of the oil is darker, and its medicinal properties are of less value. Oil from these and other inferior fish may be bleached by exposure to the sun in glass coverings and by various chemical processes.

Experiments have been made in this country for manufacturing codliver oil on board ships located among the fishing fleet in the open sea, but it has been found that the ship's motion had a detrimental effect on the oil thus produced. Establishments on shore, in places where unmixed cod livers can be obtained fresh every day, are found to be the best. The livers have to be carefully cleaned, and only those of the right color selected for medicinal oil.

The year 1903 was an exceptional one as regards the Norwegian winter cod fisheries. In ordinary years the shoals of fish arrive in the beginning of January, but this year no fish whatever appeared before the middle or first part of March, and they were then found to be in such poor condition that only a very insignificant quantity of oil was produced-only 3000 barrels against 30,000 barrels in ordinary years. The quality of the 1903 output was also, as a rule, poor. It is estimated that in ordinary years the livers of 4500 cod are required to produce a barrel of 30 gallons, or 100 kg., of medicinal oil, while 40,000 livers were required the present year (1903) to produce the same quantity.

Prices for the best quality of medicinal oil, f.o.b. Christiania, have for the last three years been as follows: In 1901, 56 kroner ($15) per barrel; 1902, 130 kroner ($34.80) per barrel; 1903, 400 kroner ($107.20) per barrel-all in wood covered tin barrels of 30 gallons, price including barrel.

The most reliable manufacturers of the product in Norway complain of being unable to compete in prices with other manufacturers, who are said to be less scrupulous in the production of the goods. The medicinal oil bought from here ought to pass from the factory in Norway to the importer in America, bottled and in sealed packages, under guaranty that the oil was made only from Norwegian cod livers.

Codliver oil can be properly tested as to purity by chemical analysis only. Where large quantities of oil of inferior grade are added, it can be detected by experienced people without any scientific test, simply by the difference in taste and color. If the admixture consists of an oil of fish nearly related to the genuine article, it will, of course, make the ascertainment of its presence more difficult than if oil of an altogether different kind is added. Coalfish oil is the nearest thing to pure codliver oil, and is therefore the one mostly used as an admixture. If chemicals are used, their presence is easily detected by a scientific test.

Considerable apprehension is felt that the conditions ruling the Lofoten fisheries in 1903 will also make themselves felt in 1904. According to recent newspaper reports the Greenland seal

1 From United States Consul Bordewich, Christiania, Norway.

has again appeared in great numbers in the bays of Finmarken. Before 1903 these animals were never found near the Norwegian coasts in numbers, but that year they came in large shoals as early as January, and the fishermen believe, contrary to the views of scientific people, that they were the cause of keeping the cod so long away from its customary spawning places.

It is generally believed that the Norwegian winter cod is the very same species of fish as appears and is caught on the banks of Newfoundland, but it is different from the common cod caught at all seasons of the year. The first small shoals of winter cod arrive the latter part of December on the banks along the coast as far south as Bergen; the larger shoals arrive later. The Lofoten fisheries terminate the latter part of April, and the fish gradually work farther north and last appear in great numbers on the banks at Finmarken as late as June, after which time they disappear till next season.

One large British wholesale drug house has for years managed its own codliver oil factory in the Lofoten Islands. The plant was established some 10 years ago; it is managed by an Englishman, who stays up there only about three months every year during the fishing season.

THE MASTER-WORD.

A Lay Sermon by Prof. Wm. Osler.

An address delivered by Prof. William Osler, of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, to the medical students of the University of Toronto, on the occasion of the opening of the new laboratories of the Medical Faculty, on October 1, contains a great deal of practical wisdom, and many beautiful statements of truth, all as fully capable of application by pharmacists or students of pharmacy as by physicians or students of medicine. Some portions of Professor Osler's address recall an article written by Prof. John Uri Lloyd for the AMERICAN DRUGGIST in 1901, under the title, The Art of Recreating. Professor Osler advises medical students to seek mental recreation in the reading of good literature, just as Professor Lloyd advised pharmacy students similarly. That Professor Osler is well qualified to give advice of this kind is greatly evident throughout his address. Literary references are numerous, the names of authors being given in some instances, but in others the reader is left to trace the reference for himself, as in the following paragraph, where Professor Osler betrays his familiarity with George Meredith's "A Reading of Life: "

Another potent cause of worry is an idolatry by which many of you will be sore let and hindered. The mistress of your studies should be the heavenly Aphrodite, the motherless daughter of Uranus. Give her your whole heart, and she will be your protectress and friend. A jealous creature brooking no second, if she finds you trifling and coquetting with her rival, the younger, earthly Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus and Dione, she will whistle you off and let you down the wind, to be a prey, perhaps to the examiners, certainly to the worm regret. In plainer language, put your affections in cold storage for a few years, and you will take them out ripened, perhaps a bit mellow, but certainly less subject to those frequent changes which perplex so many young men. Only a grand passion, an all-absorbing devotion to the elder goddess, can save those with a congenial tendency to philandering, those flighty Lydgates who sport with Celia and Dorothea, and upon whom the judgment ultimately falls in a basil-plant of a wife like Rosamond.

THE NEED OF HEALTHFUL CHANGE OF THOUGHT.

As to the need of intellectual recreation, Professor Osler says: "Professional work of any sort tends to narrow the mind, to limit the point of view, and to put a hall mark on a man of a most unmistakable kind. On the one hand, are the intense, ardent natures, absorbed in their studies, and quickly losing interest in everything but their profession, while other faculties and interests rust in them unused. On the other hand, are the bovine brethren, who think of nothing but the treadmill and the corn. From very different causes, the one from concentration, the other from apathy, both are apt to neglect those outside studies that widen the sympathies and help a man to get the best there is out of life.

"Like art, medicine is an exacting mistress, and in the pursuit of one of the scientific branches-sometimes, too, in practice-not a portion of a man's spirit may be left free for other distractions, but this does not often happen. On account of the intimate personal nature of his work the doctor, perhaps

more than any other man, needs that higher education of which Plato speaks, that education in virtue from youth upward which enables a man eagerly to pursue the ideal perfection.' It is not for all nor can all attain to it, but there is comfort and help in the pursuit even though the end is never reached. For a large majority the daily round and the common task furnish more than enough to satisfy their hearts' desire, and there seems no room left for anything else. Like the good, easy man whom Milton scores in the Areopagitica, whose religion was a traffic so entangled that of all mysteries he could not skill to keep a stock going upon that trade,' and handed it over with all the locks and keys to ‘a divine of note and estimation,' so it is with many of us in the matter of this higher education. No longer intrinsic, wrought in us and ingrained, it has become in Milton's phrase, a 'dividual movable,' handed over to the daily press or to the haphazard instruction of the pulpit, the platform, or the magazines. Like a good many other things, it comes in a better and more enduring form if not too consciously sought.

CULTIVATE A TASTE FOR LITERATURE.

"The all-important thing is to get a relish for the good company of the race in a daily intercourse with some of the great minds of all ages. Now in the springtime of life, pick your intimates among them and begin a systematic cultivation of their works. Many of you will need a strong leaven to raise you above the level of the dough, in which it will be your lot to labor. Uncongenial surroundings, an ever-present dissonance between the aspirations within and the actualities without, the oppressive discord of human society of which we have to see so much, the bitter tragedies of life, the lachrymæ rerum beside the hidden springs of which we sit in sad despair -all these tend to foster in some natures a cynicism quite foreign to our vocation and to which this inner education offers the best antidote.

START A BEDSIDE LIBRARY.

"Personal contact with men of high purpose and character will help a man to make a start, to have the desire at least, but in its fullness this culture-for that word best expresses it has to be wrought out by each one for himself. Start at once a bedside library, and spend the last half hour of the day in communion with the saints of humanity. There are great lessons to be learned from Job and from David, from Isaiah and St. Paul. Taught by Shakespeare, you may take your intellectual and moral measure with singular precision. Learn to love Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. Should you be so fortunate as to be born a Platonist, Jowett will introduce you to the great master through whom alone we can think in certain levels, and whose perpetual modernness startles and delights. Montaigne will teach you moderation in all things, and to be 'sealed of his tribe' is a special privilege. We have in the profession only a few great literary heroes of the first rank, the friendship and counsel of two of whom you cannot too earnestly seek. Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici should be your pocket companion, while from the Breakfast Table series of Oliver Wendell Holmes you can glean a philosophy of life peculiarly suited to the needs of a physician. There are at least a dozen or more works which would be helpful in getting that wisdom which only comes to those who earnestly seek it.

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THE THREE GREAT LESSONS OF LIFE.

A conscientious pursuit of Plato's ideal perfection may teach you the three great lessons of life. You may learn to consume your own smoke. The atmosphere of life is darkened by the murmurings and whimperings of men and women over the non-essentials-the trifles that are inevitably incident to the hurly-burly of the day's routine. Things cannot always go your way. Learn to accept in silence these minor aggravations; cultivate the gift of taciturnity and consume your own smoke with an extra draught of hard work, so that those about you may not be annoyed with the dust and soot of your complaints. More than any other man, the practitioner of medicine may illustrate the second great lesson, that we are here not to get all we can out of life for ourselves, but to try to

make the lives of others happier. Fully one-third of the work you do will be entered in other books than yours. Courage and cheerfulness will not only carry you over the rough places of life, but will enable you to bring comfort and help to the weak hearted, and will comfort you in the sad hours when, like Uncle Toby, you have 'to whistle that you may not weep.'

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And the third great lesson you may learn is the hardest of all-that the law of the higher life is only fulfilled by love or charity. Many a physician whose daily work is a daily round of beneficence will say hard things and will think hard thoughts of a colleague. No sin will so easily beset you as uncharitableness toward your brother practitioners. So strong is the personal element in the practice of medicine, and so many are the wagging tongues in every parish, that evil speaking, lying and slandering find a shining mark in the lapses and mistakes which are inevitable in our work. The opportunities are numerous, but there is no real reason for discord and disagreement, and the only way to avoid trouble is to have two plain rules. From the day you begin practice never under any circumstances listen to a tale told to the detriment of a brother practitioner. And when any dispute or trouble does arise, go frankly ere sunset and talk the matter over, in which way you may gain a brother and a friend."

THE SECRET OF THE MASTER-WORD

was disclosed by Professor Osler at an earlier stage in his address than it has been placed here. The secret of life, as he had seen the game played and as he had tried to play it himself, was introduced in the following manner:

"You remember in one of the Jungle Stories that when Mowgli wished to be avenged on the villagers, he could only get the help of Hathi and his sons by sending them the masterword. This I propose to give you in the hope-yes, in the full assurance that some of you at least will lay hold upon it to your profit. Though a little one, the master-word looms large in meaning. It is the open sesame to every portal, the great equalizer in the world, the true philosopher's stone which transmutes all the base metal of humanity into gold. The stupid man among you it will make bright, the bright man brilliant, and the brilliant student steady. With the magic word in your heart all things are possible, and without it all study is vanity and vexation. The miracles of life are with it; the blind see by touch, the deaf hear with eyes, the dumb speak with fingers. To the youth it brings hope, to the middle aged confidence, to the aged repose. True balm of hurt minds, in its presence the heart of the sorrowful is lightened and consoled. It is directly responsible for all advances in medicine during the past twenty-five centuries. Laying hold upon it Hippocrates made observation and science the warp and woof of our art. Galen so read its meaning that fifteen centuries stopped thinking and slept until awakened by the De Fabrica of Vesalius, which is the very incarnation of the master-word. With its inspiration Harvey gave an impulse to a larger circulation than he wot of, an impulse which we feel to-day. Hunter sounded all its heights and depths, and stands out in our history as one of the great exemplars of its virtues. With it Virchow smote the rock and the waters of progress gushed out; while in the hands of Pasteur it proved a very talisman to open to us a new heaven in medicine and a new earth in surgery. Not only has it been the touchstone of progress, but it is the measure of success in everyday life. Not a man before you but is beholden to it for his position here, while he who addresses you has that honor directly in consequence of having had it graven on his heart when he was as you are to-day. And

THE MASTER-WORD IS WORK

a little one, as I have said, but fraught with momentous sequences if you can but write it on the tables of your heart and bind it upon your foreheads. But there is a serious difficulty in getting you to understand the paramount importance of the work habit as part of your organization. You are not far from the Tom Sawyer stage with its philosophy that work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that play

consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.' For most of us it means a hard battle; the few take to it naturally; the many prefer idleness and never learn to love to labor.

HARD THINGS SAID OF THE WORK-HABIT.

"A great many hard things may be said of the work-habit. Listen to this-says Robert Louis Stevenson :

Look at one of your industrious fellows for a moment, I beseech you. He sows hurry and reaps indigestion; he puts a vast deal of activity out to interest, and receives a large measure of nervous derangement in return. Either he absents himself free from all fellowship and lives a recluse in a garret, with carpet slippers and a leaden inkpot; or he comes among people swiftly and bitterly, in a contraction of his whole nervous system, to discharge some temper before he returns to work. I do not care how much or how well he works, this fellow is an evil feature in other people's lives.

A WARNING AGAINST WORRY.

"These are the sentiments of an overworked, dejected man; let me quote the motto of his saner moments: To travel hopefully is better than to arrive, and the true success is to labor.' If you wish to learn of the miseries of scholars in order to avoid them read Part I, Section II, Member 3, Subsection XV, of that immortal work, the Anatomy of Melancholy, and I am here to warn you against these evils, and to entreat you to form good habits in your student days."

Professor Osler denies that work, legitimate work, has anything to do with ill health, either of mind or body. But he warns students against worry, saying: "It is that foul fiend Worry who is responsible for a large majority of the cases [of mental and physical breakdown]. The more carefully one looks into the causes of nervous breakdown in students, the less important is work, per se, as a factor. There are a few cases of genuine overwork, but they are not common."

SELECTIONS FROM THE FORMULARY OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY OF ANTWERP.

Dionine Syrup.

Dionine, 1; distilled water, 19; simple syrup, 1,980. Mix.
Jaborandi Syrup.

Tincture of jaborandi, 1; simple syrup, 19. Mix.
Convallaria Syrup.

Extract of convallaria, 1; distilled water, 4; simple syrup, 95. Dissolve the extract in the water and mix.

Codeine Phosphate Syrup.

Codeine phosphate, 3; distilled water, 17; simple syrup, 980. Dissolve the codeine in the water and mix with the syrup. Licorice Syrup.

Incised licorice root, 4; dilute solution of ammonia, 1; water, 20. Mix and macerate for twelve hours at 15 degrees to 20 degrees C. with frequent agitation; press, heat the liquid to boiling, then evaporate to two parts on the water-bath; add alcohol, two parts, allow to stand for twelve hours, then filter. Add to the filtrate enough simple syrup to bring the final weight to 20.

Wismol, a Substitute for Iodoform.—According to the Pharmaceutische Centralhalle, for November 5, 1903, wismol, an odorless substitute for iodoform, is an alkaline magnesiabismuth, which readily parts with its oxygen. It is prepared by Buchlos, in Frankfort-on-the-Main, and occurs as a fine white powder, permanent in the light, odorless and tasteless. It is used as an antiseptic powder like iodoform.

Formula for Rubber Adhesive Plaster.-C. S. N. Hallberg proposes the following as a good formula for a rubber adhesive plaster: Twenty grammes of rubber cut in small pieces are heated to a temperature not exceeding 150 degrees C., and melted, and then the same weight of petrolatum is added, the heat being continued until the rubber is thoroughly dissolved. The mixture is then incorporated with 960 grammes of leadplaster by heating until it is fluid; stirring, and allowing to cool.

Dangerous Hypnotics.-Sulphonal, according to a writer in The Hospital, may cause drowsiness, headache and ataxic gait, collapse with rapid and weak pulse, and even death; while trional has been found to produce anorexia, vomiting, constipation and hæmatoporphyrinuria, and in some cases collapse and death. Paraldehyde has such a pungent, disagreeable taste that a habit is not easily established, but cases have been recorded showing that its prolonged use produces mental and physical deterioration similar to that which results from chronic alcoholism.

Aluminum-Potassium Permanganate.-Butte (Pharmaceutische Centralhalle, November 12, 1903) speaks of a new preparation of potassium permanganate which is obtained by mixing finely powdered potassium permanganate with gelatinous aluminum, the latter being prepared by the decomposition of a solution of alum by means of potassium carbonate. This mixture is used as a dressing in skin diseases, being allowed to act for 20 minutes, and washed off with tar soap, ichthyol soap, etc., in the treatment of psoriasis, etc. This mixture of potassium permanganate, in combination with waterglass, gives a varnish that has been found valuable in skin dis

eases.

White Balsam of Peru.-Biltz (Chemiker Zeitung, quoted in Pharmaceutische Centralhalle, November 5, 1903) describes the new form of balsam of Peru made by the Helfenberg works. If the balsam is allowed to flow, under constant stirring, into absolute alcohol, a white pasty substance is separated, which, after proper purification and drying, becomes very friable. It is easily soluble in benzol, acetic ether and chloroform; insoluble in alcohol, ether and water. It cannot be crystallized, and its melting point varies between 120 and 130 degrees C. On shaking the balsam, freed from alcohol and dissolved in ether, with a 5 per cent. sodium carbonate solution, cinnamic acid was obtained. On prolonged extraction a waxlike, sticky mass was isolated which crystallized from alcoholic solutions in the form of white needles and melted at 260 degrees C. A white balsam of Peru was also mentioned in a recent report of Gehe & Co.

A New and Sensitive Method of Detecting Arsenic.Gautier (Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, July 20 and 27, 1903) describes the following method, which is intended for the detection of very small amounts of arsenic. It is said to detect one thousandth of a milligramme of arsenic in 100 Gm. of organic or animal material. The method requires the use of reagents, such as water, zinc, etc., that may contain traces of arsenic, and Gautier found that in spite of the purification of these substances they introduced one-half or threequarters of a thousandth of a milligramme of arsenic per hundred grammes of material. The method is not applicable in substances rich in chlorides, as salted meat, as some of the arsenic is lost in the form of chloride and some as iron sulpho

arseniate. The new method is simple and very exact. It is based upon the fact that in becoming oxydized and precipitated iron carries with it any arsenic which may happen to be in the same solution. The reagent is prepared as follows: 100 Gm. of commercial ferrous sulphate are dissolved in 500 Gm. of distilled water, and 25 Gm. of pure sulphuric acid. This solution is treated with hydrogen sulphide, boiled, and the ferrous salt is oxidized while hot by the addition of 28 Gm. of pure nitric acid. Solution of ammonia is added to precipitate ferric hydrate. The latter is washed and redissolved in the cold with pure dilute sulphuric acid. This ferric sulphate contains very appreciable traces of arsenic, which are removed by means of zinc shavings and boiling. The salt is again oxidized by means of a slight excess of ammonia, which redissolves the zinc oxide. The precipitate is washed and cold dilute sulphuric acid is added to the ferric hydrate. One hundred Cc. of this reagent containing 30 Gm. of Fe,O, per liter gave Gautier a ring corresponding to one-half thousandth of a milligramme.

Distilled water, which contains very small traces of arsenic, may be purified as follows: A liter of the water is boiled after the addition 5 Cc. of the iron solution described above. On cooling a few drops of solution of ammonia are added, and after boiling for a few seconds the liquid is filtered. The filtrate is evaporated in the presence of nitric and sulphuric acid and is heated until the nitric acid goes away. Then it is diluted with water and poured into Marsh's apparatus, where it will not show a trace of arsenic. Two liters of this water are mixed with two one thousandths of a milligramme of arsenic (in sodium arseniate) and 5 Cc. of the reagent, and the mixture is boiled. It is then made alkaline by the addition of a few drops of solution of ammonia, the precipitate collected and redissolved with a little dilute sulphuric acid, and the sulphate thus formed is poured into a Marsh apparatus, where the original amount of arsenic is entirely recovered. This method is applicable to the analysis of water as well as to the research of arsenic in tissues. In the latter instance the organic material is first destroyed in the usual way with nitrosulphuric acid.

Indian Aconite. Of the Indian aconites classed as toxic, all have been provisionally grouped by Wall under the name of A. ferox. The variety spicatum is considered by Wall as the principal source of the aconite of Nepaul (commercial A. Napellus). In 1897, however, Dunstan identified the variety known as crassicaulis as the A. Napellus of commerce. The identification of the roots of commerce is indeed, as yet, uncertain. The variety laciniatum, which also has a long root, is probably mixed with the variety spicatum in the aconites of Nepaul. The former, according to Wall, is probably the aconite which gave the alkaloid that was discovered by Dunstan, the chemical properties of which did not correspond exactly to those of pseudoaconitine. It is improbable, however, that this root is mixed in the aconite from Nepaul, inasmuch as the professionals who gather it have absolutely no difficulty in recognizing it. Even in the eyes of a European the numerous round cicatrices which are seen on this root give it a characteristic aspect. The atrox has a long root which is directed downward. It presents, on horizontal section, a series of horseshoe shaped bundles of vascular fibers around a core. The variety polyschizum is similar to the variety atrox, but has a single layer of these fibers. A curious thing is that Stapf, who studied the aconites at Kew, did not find A. Napellus among those from India, and asserts that this plant does not grow at all in that country. In France, Goris has studied the various roots and has established a relation between the varieties and the contents in alkaloids. Some years ago the aconites were divided into various kinds, according to their source. The French, the German and the English aconitines all vary in