MODEL PRIVATE FIRE DE PARTMENT. m. to 6.18 a. m., with two fire department captains within easy call by electric alarm. Night patrolmen report hourly to the District Telegraph Station downtown, and from sixty stations throughout the How Parke, Davis & Co.'s Plant Is buildings registering on two electric time Protected from Fire. One of the most important considerations with persons having large private formula contracts to give out is a means of making sure that their business will not be embarrassed at any time by the destruction of the manufacturing plant entrusted with their work. Such parties will be much interested in the accompanying sketch of the private fire department of Parke, Davis & Co. at their laboratories in Detroit. The chief of the department, Leon C. Fink, described the department as follows in a recent number of Fire and Water, a journal devoted to the fire department interests: "You will please understand that our fire department is not a temporary fanciful affair. It was organized in 1882 and has since been in constant service. It is maintained to protect our plant and we have devoted much careful attention to it. Its members are thoroughly drilled and its officers have been tempered by experience. For example, the writer of this communication has devoted fifteen years to a careful study of precautionary measures necessary to prevent fire, to extinguish it in incipient stages and to confine flames to limited sections of a building in case it gains considerable headway before it is discovered and placed under control. * "We have here laboratory buildings. covering three blocks of ground. In view of the fact that we are compelled to handle large volumes of alcohol, ether, benzine, and some explosive substances, our operations are naturally attended with considerable danger, which, however, has been reduced to the lowest possible degree by the establishment and rigid maintenance of fire department regulations. You are, of course, aware that we have at stake more than the mere money value of our plant. Certain features of it could not be replaced at any. price. A large proportion of our products requires weeks, and others several months to prepare. Meanwhile thousands of pharmacists and physicians throughout the world are depending upon us for supplies. Much of our machinery has been built to meet our special requirements, and we are doing everything in our power to avoid the possibility of having our facilities suddenly destroyed by fire. "We have furthermore to protect an accumulation of valuable records covering the complete history of every lot of pharmaceutical preparations made in our laboratory during the past twenty to twentyfive years. These records bear the signature of every operator who performed a part of the work and must share the responsibility. They also show the amount and identity of each ingredient used. Then, too, we have files containing all the correspondence carried on since the establishment of the laboratory in its present location. "Our fire department was organized sixteen years ago and we can point to a clean record, as no fire has ever passed beyond its control since the beginning." "Leon C. Fink, Chief.' The following equipment and precautionary measures have been adopted: Four night patrolmen on duty from 6 p. detectors in Parke, Davis & Co.'s fire department headquarters. The buildings are divided into sixty districts, and connections are made from each by an electric alarm system, whereby notice of fire can be signaled to the fire department headquarters in the chief's office during the day. This first-alarm indicator embraces a continuous ringing attachment, so that, when an alarm is once turned in, bells are rung in different departments, also a large eighteen-inch fire gong, supplemented by a triangle alarm rung by hand in the courtyard. Two hundred and fifty feet of two-andone-half-inch hose are always connected on the hose cart, and 150 feet hang under the verandas at the west side of the courtyard ready for immediate use; 200 feet also kept on a reserve reel. Two stand equipment with one sixty-four-point annunciator, showing location of alarm boxes, two electric watchmen's registers and an auxiliary fire alarm system, connected with eight boxes located at, con venient points throughout buildings and courtyard. This system is connected with city alarm box No. 512, and through it the Detroit Fire Department can be called without leaving the premises. Chief of fire department sleeps in main building subject to call by electric gong connected with push buttons in courtyard. It may be added that, in addition to the apparatus already described, Chief Fink has now in view a plan providing for the introduction of a pipe and hydrant system to be connected with a large Laidlaw & Dunn pump, fourteen by ten by ten, capacity 550 gallons per minute. By this arrangement it will be possible to stretch in a very short space of time two additional lines of two-and-one-half-inch hose and to throw strong one-and-one-quarterinch streams into any part of the main laboratory building. pipes in building No. 8 with two connections on each floor and 300 feet of twoinch hose attached. One Laidlaw & Dunn duplex fire pump 7x4 ten-inch stroke, and one Dean fire pump 53x9x10, are installed in duplicate, so that either one can be used in case of accident. Fifteen fivegallon Babcock extinguishers are carried to point of danger on each alarm; forty more chemical extinguishers of other descriptions and 125 fire buckets (filled) are distributed throughout the buildings. Drilled fire department of sixty men fully equipped with apparatus constantly ready for service during business hours. Fires under boilers and in forge room (Annex No. 1) only. Boiler and forge rooms arched, with cement floors. Buildings heated by steam. The entire plant is lighted throughout by electricity; current from Detroit Electric Light & Power Company being used when our electric plant is not in operation. Use of gas for heating allowed under close restrictions and ignited by safety-lamps when needed. In fire department headquarters (chief's office) there is a switch-board Apartment Disinfection. Formaldehyde has rapidly gained in favor as a disinfectant in recent years, and is now very largely employed by health authorities everywhere. The advantages of the gas are so important that the agent is without a legitimate rival in the field of aerial antiseptics. Of the several sources of the gas the commercial solution has proven in every particular the best suited. It is easily handled and economic, and does not require a great ponderous apparatus. The Sanitary Formaldehyde Regenerator, which is in large demand in the United States and Canada, utilizes the commercial solution exclusively. It is portable, non-exclusive and easily operated. With one machine an operator can disinfect twelve to twenty rooms a day, according to their size and distance one from the other. The apparatus was recently very much improved, and is now sold under a written guarantee. H. K. Mulford Company, Philadelphia, have recently issued a new brochure on the subject of disinfection, which gives details of practical work done with this apparatus. The brochure will be sup plied upon request. The Nobel Bequest. The dispute in Sweden respecting the fortune of the late Alfred Nobel has been settled by a compromise. The relatives of the famous chemist receive over £200,000. A sum of about £1,400,000 remains for the foundation, according to the testator's instructions, of scientific institutions. The interest of this sum at 5 per cent will enable five prizes of the value of £7,000 each to be founded. It is also estimated that the capital will have increased so much before the competitions for these prizes begin that the interest from it will cover the expenses of management. It will be remembered that the Nobel prizes are to be given to those persons who shall have made the most important discoveries in physics, chemistry, physiology and medicine. In addition, a prize is to be awarded for the best literary contribution in the domain of physiology or medicine, and one to the person who shall have done most for the furtherance of universal peace.-Chemist & Druggist. The Test of Time. In this young country, now only about one hundred years old, any article which has stood the test of fifty years of public scrutiny, and holds to-day the record of fifty years of public approval, is clearly entitled to especial consideration. This is the case with the Puffer soda water apparatus, whose claims are backed by half a century of reputation, and on whose diploma of merit those three great engineers-Time, Truth and Fame-have set their seals. Any manufacturer of soda water apparatus can do business for a limited time. But require him to continue successfully in business for fifty years and he must either make good apparatus or starve. A. D. Puffer & Sons, 278 Congress street, Boston, have back of them a half century of success in the building of soda fountains. They point to this as one of the best guarantees that they can and do build good fountains. Write them for catalogue, mentioning this journal. Genuine Otto of Roses. Magnus & Lauer have arranged to furnish genuine Kazanlik rose otto in original one-ounce packages direct from the the use of the President of the United States on official tours. The "New York and Florida Limited" leaves New York daily at 11.50 a. m. via the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Southern Railway, Florida Central & Peninsular Railroad and the Florida East Coast Railway, and reaches St. Augustine at 2.20 p. m. the following day, making the run, which exceeds 1,000 miles, in but little more than twenty-four hours. This "New York and Florida Limited" runs through solid to St. Augustine with the exception of one car, which is detached at Columbia, S. C., and goes through to Aiken, which it reaches at 9.35 the next morning after leaving New York, and Augusta at 9.50. Brunswick and Jeckyl Island are conveniently reached by this train at 12.00 o'clock noon through the perfect connections afforded at Everett, Ga. It is exceedingly valuable in chronic bronchitis, all pulmonary affections or nervous disorders due to, or maintained. by, an exhausted condition of the system. Write to H. K. Wampole & Co., Philadelphia, for literature on this preparation. They Have to Be Honest. In Germany the courts hold advertisers responsible for promises made in their advertisements. In Hamburg a manufacturer advertised a preparation as an "infallible grease eraser." Complaint being lodged against him by competitors, he was brought into court and directed: certain cloth. Failing to do this, the adto remove grease and other stains from vertiser was fined 100 marks and cost. A Question of Photos. M. Mariani, the manufacturer of the well-known medicated wine that bearshis name, is at present in litigation with M. Reutlinger, a Paris photographer, concerning the question of the right to reproduce photographs. The dispute arose in this way: M. Mariani addressed samples of his wine to a number of Pariscelebrities, and from many of them obtained a complimentary letter in reply, most of which he secured permission to publish, as well as the photographs of the writers. The letters and photographs were in due course issued in the form of an album. The prosecuting photographer claims that the photographs taken by him cannot be reproduced without his permission. The legal question will be duly contested, but M. Mariani found a way of improving the occasion. He has succeeded in getting written opinions on the point in dispute from most of the leading literary men, journalists, artists, and others whose testimonials of his wine he has already published with photographs. Most of the letters are cleverly written and speak volumes for the inspiring qualities of the medicated wine.Chemist & Druggist. Parisian Periodicals. The number of periodicals now published in Paris is estimated at 2,587; of these, 187 made their first appearance last year. In this host of publications medicine bulks largest numerically, having no fewer than 1,206 representatives of one kind or another in the periodical press. Finance comes next with 795 journals, politics being a bad third with 144. Medical distillers, Botu Pappazoglou & Co., of Ka- The Original Tasteless Cod Liver journalism flourishes with tropical luxur zanlik, Algeria. There is real economy in purchasing this genuine article, as one can make sure of getting not only the finest flavor, but the full strength of the oil. Druggists can purchase these packages through the wholesale houses, or packages will be sent direct by mail on receipt of $6.50 by Magnus & Lauer, 4 Cedar street, New York. Florida and the South. The opening of the Florida season will be signalized this year as usual by the placing in service of the "New York and Florida Limited" between New York and St. Augustine, Fla. This is acknowledged to be the finest train in the world, in its appointments, luxury and detail of finish, and the first of these trains was constructed by the Pullman Company for Oil. On another page in this issue Henry K. Wampole & Co. direct attention to the fact that theirs is the original tasteless preparation of cod liver oil which has grown steadily in popularity with the medical profession since its first introduction twelve years ago. Wampole's preparation is a solution of the combined alkaloidal and other active medicinal principles, obtainable from onefourth its volume of pure cod liver oil, the oily and fatty portion being entirely eliminated. These principles are extracted from the oil while it is yet contained in the fresh cod liver, and combined with extract of malt, fluid extract wild cherry bark, and syrup of hypophosphites compound (containing lime, soda, potassium, iron, manganese, quinine and strychnia). iance in the French capital because every Parisian physician who can afford such a luxury thinks it due to himself to have an "organ" of his own. Probably not more than half a dozen of these journals serve a useful purpose as far as medical science and the medical profession are concerned. A Wrinkle in Dispensing. The filling of prescriptions calling for such active drugs as strychnine, atropine, cocaine, etc., is greatly simplified and expedited by the use of Sharp & Dohme's Dispensary Tablets. These tablets are advertised elsewhere in this issue of the AMERICAN DRUGGIST, and those of our readers who are interested in these laborsavers and accuracy-assurers will receive a price list and further information by addressing Sharp & Dohme. Vol. XXXIV. No. 2. Whole No. 416. ISSUED SEMI-MONTHLY BY NEW YORK AND CHICAGO, JANUARY 25, 1899 41 Profitable Preparations, by John A. Foote. 37 40 I THE PURE FOOD BILL. N another part of this issue will be found our report of the second annual convention of the National Pure Food and Drug Congress, held in Washington, D. C., January 18-21, in which is given in full the text of the Pure Food and Drug bill, which the congress is exerting itself to have enacted into a law. Ours is the amended bill as reported to the Senate on the 17th inst., and has not before been published. The agitation in favor of the enactment of a National Pure Food and Drug bill (particularly the drug part) has gathered considerable momentum during the past two years, thanks to the activity displayed by the Dairy and Food Commissioner of Ohio, and to the officials of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, whose office the proposed law is calculated to do much to perpetuate. Issued Semi-Monthly. attempt on the part of the citizens of Ohio to inflict on the rest of the people of the United States a food and drug law similar to the one which the Ohioans have been suffering under for some time past, it certainly does look as though the Department of Agriculture were thorough-going expansionists, for the relationship between drugs and agriculture is surely remote. Except for the agricultural chemists connected with it, the Department of Agriculture has nothing in common with the interests of pharmacists and chemists, and the regulation of this branch of business belongs to a scientific pharmaceutical commission if anywhere. Some of the arguments made by the Philadelphia Drug Exchange against the Paddock bill, which was the predecessor of the present, are again applicable. It protested against the drug business being singled out as one upon which there should be an espionage, and against the department named to conduct such supervision, as the class of experts in the Department of Agriculture are not the kind that are qualified for the work. HE presidential address at the last It is not surprising that the Food Congress has found its largest following among the agrarian element (the necessity of pandering to the prejudices of this element seems to be as great as ever), government chemists, grocers and the members of the various Domestic Science THE SUPPLY OF NITROGEN. Associations, with scarcely any following whatever among the manufacturing pharmacists or makers of proprietary medicines, who regard the Brosius-Faulkner bill as a choice specimen of class legislation, which will place under the control of the Department of Agriculture both pharmacy and chemistry, which have no connection with it. That the proposed law would embarrass many industries that are legitimate and honest, and prove a source of oppression is evident on a casual inspection of its provisions. Section 7 of the proposed law which the Proprietary Association objected to in its present form confers almost autocratic power on the Secretary of the Department and those under him. While we would not go so far as some persons have in saying that the movement for the enactment of a measure of the character of the Brosius-Faulkner bill, with its objectionable drug features, is an for the Advancement of Science, delivered by Sir Wm. Crookes, was highly sensational in its character. That gentleman, posing as a statistician, claimed that England and all civilized nations stand in deadly peril of not having enough to eat through the exhaustion of the available nitrates in the soil. The article would make an excellent brochure for distribution by the nitrate syndicate, and might even have been made the basis for a slight advance in nitrates but for the fact that Dr. H. W. Wiley in our own country, and Sir J. B. Lawes and Sir J. H. Gilbert in England have very cleverly shown the fallacy of Sir William's rather alarming prognostication. It is interesting to note that the brilliant essayist found his greatest hope for permanency in our nitrate supply in the production of ni trates direct from atmospheric nitrogen by means of electricity furnished by the water power of Niagara Falls. Between this source of nitrates and the proper utilization of the nitrifying bacteria, of which Dr. Wiley is the special exploiter, we can look forward to an at least fairly adequate supply of nitrates for a good many generations to come. PACKING-HOUSE SECRETS. T is an open secret in the chemical market that the meat-packing houses are among the largest consumers of borax, and that their consumption of salicylic acid is by no means inconsiderable. While some of the borax might possibly be used for cleansing purposes, packers can have no possible use for the salicylic acid save as a preservative for meat. There is, therefore, the strongest circumstantial evidence to support the charge of Dr. Daly, chief surgeon of the army of Porto Rico, that some of the refrigerated beef furnished that army contained both boracic and salicylic acids. Moreover, the testimony of Dr. Daly was positive and direct, and so far as the presence of the preservatives in the extract prepared by himself from the meat is concerned, was fully corroborated by the findings of Prof. F. W. Clarke, of the Geological Survey. It only remains for Dr. Daly to bring corroborative evidence of his statement that the extract presented to the investigation commission and examined by Prof. Clarke was prepared from the beef sent to the army in Porto Rico to fully establish the charges of General Miles that chemically-treated meat was furnished to the army. The use of chemical preservatives of any kind in food stuffs is decidedly objectionable under any circumstances and becomes a very serious matter when the food so preserved is fed to people with already enfeebled digestions. Salicylic acid is particularly objectionable, as the same qualities which render it of value as a preservative agent enable it, to a greater or less extent, to arrest the activity of the digestive ferments. Apart from the disturbances of the digestive functions thus brought about, the acid when injested in appreciable quantities for any length of time produces marked systemic disturbances. The toxicity of salicylic acid in the doses in which it is likely to be present in preserved fruits has been strenuously denied on the ground that no one individual would be likely to eat enough of the fruit to obtain a poisonous dose of the acid. Even if this contention be conceded, it cannot be urged as justifying its use on meat, for the quantity likely to be taken by anyone fed on meat preserved by the use of salicylic acid is so large as to become a serious matter. The attitude of the pure food laws of all European nations toward the use of salicylic acid may be taken as the official expert opinion on this subject, for its use. in food stuffs is absolutely prohibited there. The fact that the United States uses more salicylic acid than all the remainder of the world shows the result of our lack of legal restrictions on its use. Boracic acid is rather less objectionable than salicylic acid, but its continued use in any considerable quantities could not but prove deleterious. When issuing beef to an army the sick must also be provided for, and any broth or beef-tea made from meat containing any chemical preservative would contain practically all the preservative contained in the meat. The administration of such a broth to a patient whose vitality had already been impaired by typhoid or pernicious malaria would be followed by the direst consequences. The investigation has now reached a stage where it is impossible to stop, and a further study of the subject will probably disclose some very interesting packing-house secrets. POLITICS AND PHARMACY. T HE entry of pharmacists into politics is highly commendable, but the introduction of politics into pharmacy is not to be borne. We have urged the individual pharmacist to take an active part in the conduct of local affairs, as becomes a man of his education and standing in the community. The introduction of partisan politics into the affairs of a board of pharmacy is a wholly different matter and is so fraught with danger to all concerned that pharmacists everywhere must unite in condemning Governor Tanner of Illinois for endeavoring to prostitute the Illinois Board of Pharmacy to partisan purposes. Full details of the affair are given in our news columns, and if the newspapers report the Governor correctly, he proposes the most flagrant violation of a rule which has heretofore been rigidly adhered to. not only in Illinois, but in all the other States of the Union. This rule is that there shall be no party politics in the administration of the affairs of the Board of Pharmacy. It is only by a rigidly non-partisan administration that the pharmacy laws can be made effective, and if Governor Tanner carries out his threat of removing the members of the present Board and putting into office puppets who will obey his behests, he will so discredit the Board as to practically nullify the pharmacy law of the State. It is an axiom of legislation that no law can be made effective if unsupported by public opinion. Let the Governor of Illinois. carry out his threat of removing the members of the present Board merely be cause they refuse to be made political tools of, and he will find the usefulness of the Board destroyed, for as soon as it becomes a political machine the Board of Pharmacy will cease to have that support of public opinion which is essential to its greatest usefulness. It is charged by some that the Board was used in the last campaign by a political opponent of the Governor, an independent candidate for a State Senatorship. This charge lacks confirmation and is, so far as we are aware, not substantiated by circumstantial evidence. But whether this candidate or whether Governor Tanner is responsible for introducing "practical politics" into the Board of Pharmacy, the movement is one to be deplored by all who have the good of pharmacy at heart. T NEWSPAPER MEDICINE. HE "New York Journal" has given much space and many scare heads to the subject of "druggists' blunders," at the instigation of Labor-Agitator Thimme, but in its issue of January 22 it has perpetrated such egregious, asinine, sil blunders as no drug cleik was ever guilty of. The realm of medicine has a wonderful fascination for the untutored mind. and the greater the ignorance of the sub ject the more the assurance of the individual in parading it. Turn a newspaper loose into the field of medicine and you may at once call the coroner. The newest freak of this abomination of yellow journalism is a collection of formulas (?) for cosmetics. If any person could be found who was fool enough to follow the directions laid down in the first formulas given, and any druggist could be found who was stupid enough to put up the medicines ordered, the "Journal" would soon have a damage suit on its hands. Under the heading "To make the face fair," Mrs. Cleona M., of Paterson, N. J., tells the readers of the "Journal" to "take before meals a wine-glass of the following: Mix half an ounce of sulphate of manganese with one pint of water. After meals take one pill made of the following mixture: Two scruples extract of gentian, sixteen grains of sulphate of iron, ten grains of sulphate of quinine.” No druggist would put this up precisely as printed, or if he did the "Journal" would be the first to blazon forth in big letters, "Another druggist's blunder." Fortunately for the fools who will read and may try this silly collection of cosmetic recipes the majority of them are not dangerous or even harmful, save to the purse and patience of those who waste time and money experimenting with them, and in most cases the much-maligned druggist's advice will be asked and evil consequences thus avoided. Dissolve the menthol and thymol in the oils. Triturate the cocaine with the magnesia and add the oily mixture in small portions until it is fully absorbed by the magnesia, and continue the trituration. Then add the other solids, triturate thoroughly and sift the powder in a fine sieve. Put up in ordinary two-drachm homoeopathic vials. Label as follows: DIRECTIONS: Dip the end of the paper tube in the bottle until a small portion of powder is forced into the paper tube. Place the opposite end in the nostril and take a quick inspiration. and attach to each vial, by means of a rubber band, a small piece of paper straw to use in snuffing the powder in the nose. This powder contains the alkaline and antiseptic virtues of Seiler's tablets, with enough cocaine to allay irritation. The bottles retail for 25 cents. The proportion of cocaine is only 1 per cent, and the amount of the alkaloid in each bottle is so small that it could be taken internally without great danger. which must be rejected. Dissolve the oils and saccharin in the cologne spirit and add to the washed castor oil. Bottle in ounce panels and retail for ten cents. This article finds a ready sale. The alcohol reduces the density of the oil and the washing partially removes the acrid principles. The sweetening and flavor make it comparatively palatable for children. HOSPITAL SALVE- -(CARBOLIC CErate). 2 lbs. 8 ozs. 8 ozs. 3 ozs. 11⁄2 ozs. 3 ozs. Dissolve the waxes by a gentle heat, and then add the lard (or petrolatum). Add the balsam fir and stir vigorously. Continue the stirring, and when partially cooled add the carbolic acid and the balsam Peru. Stir till cold. Put up in oneounce tin ointment boxes, and retail for twenty-five cents each. This cerate is a stimulating base, containing a little over five per cent carbolic acid. It is much employed in the hospitals of the coal regions, and gives good satisfaction as a household remedy. The first two formulas are partly original, but this last one is given as I received it. The nose powder I sell easily to that numerous class of individuals who want something for a cold in the head." The palatable castor oil will find favor among mothers and children on account of the partial removal of its nauseating taste; and the carbolic cerate can be sold for cuts, boils and general family use. It is an excellent dressing for wounds and sores, particularly of an ulcerous nature, and several physicians in this neighborhood prescribe it. Nomenclature of the Pharma- In accordance with a resolution, adopted at the second general session of the forty-sixth annual meeting of the American Pharmaceutical Association, recently held, President Dohme has appointed the following special Committee on Nomenclature of Materia Medica Titles. to co-operate with a similar committee, to be appointed by the Section of Pharmacy, Materia Medica, and Therapeutics of the American Medical Association, as recommended by the special Committee on National Legislation: Prof. A. B. Lyons, Detroit, Mich., chairman; Prof. R. G. Eccles, Brooklyn, N. Y.; F. E. Stewart, New York, N. Y.; Prof. L. E. Sayre, Lawrence, Kan.; Prof. O. A. Wall, St. Louis, Mo. THE COMMERCE IN CODLIVER OIL.* With Special Reference to Medicinal Cod-Liver Oil. BY J. H. STALLMAN, Of Stallman & Fulton, New York. WILL show in the course of my re marks that there are different qualities of cod-liver oil, partly conditioned by the sources of supply and principally by the care taken in the preparation. The principal sources of supply are the American coast, from Cape Cod up north to Labrador; the coast of Newfoundland, Norway and Japan, which, of late years, has furnished some of a low grade. The American Oil. The oil produced on the American coast is usually not of good quality, being more or less mixed with oil from the hake, haddock and other fish, and can, therefore, not properly be termed codliver oil. American vessels are also sent out to the coast of Newfoundland, but they are not allowed to fish within three miles of the coast, this privilege being reserved for the fishermen of Newfoundland. The fish, as soon as caught, are cut open, cleaned and either salted or dried, the livers being thrown into barrels. After a fishing vessel has sufficient cargo she starts for home. It is evident that the livers which have been collected gradually, and kept probably for weeks, will have become putrid and the oil obtained from them is more or less dark and ill-smelling. It is used entirely for technical purposes, dressing of leather, etc. The native fishermen on the Newfoundland coast, who fish within the threemile limit, have the great advantage of being near home, and able to keep the livers fresh until they reach the coast, where improved facilities are employed for rendering the oil. Naturally they produce a much lighter-colored product than the American fishermen are able to. This oil from the Newfoundland coast has to pay a duty on importation here. the same as that from any other foreign country, while the oil produced by American fishermen on the Newfoundland coast outside of the three-mile limit, comes in free. Newfoundland was the principal source of supply of medicinal cod-liver oil up to within about twenty-five years, since when importations have been made from Norway on an increasing scale. To what extent this trade has grown I will show later on by statistics. In Norway the art of refining by steam has been so perfected that an almost odorless and sweet oil is produced, which has also tended to supersede the ancient idea that a yellow or brown oil, however unpalatable it was, contained the best medicinal virtues, while, in fact, the color, more or less deep, depends entirely on the degree of the putridness of the livers. The Norwegian Fisheries. The mode of fishing in Norway is about as follows: Small fishing-smacks are sent out by their owners, who are small capitalists, traders and fishermen, a *Read before the New York College of Pharmacy, January 17. |