between two and three ounces of the acid remain at the bottom of the vessel used, this will be a sufficient residue to hold and contain all the impurities; with bad samples, less water must be used and more acid. The watery solution is to be siphoned off, and filtered, if necessary, through fine paper, till perfectly clear. It is then placed in a tall cylinder, and pure powdered common salt added, with constant agitation, till it no longer dissolves. On standing for a time, the greater part of the carbolic acid will be found floating as a yellow oily layer on the top of the saline liquor, and merely requires to be removed to be ready for use. As it contains 5 per cent. or more of water, it does not generally crystallize, but it may be made to do so by distilling it from a little lime. The portion collected has, at ordinary temperatures and up to 365° F., scarcely any odor save a faint one resembling that of geranium leaves. The addition of about four drops per fluidounce of the French oil of geranium will still further mask the slight odor of the acid, and has an additional advantage of liquefying the pure crystallized product. The pure acid may be dissolved in 230 parts of water, and used as a gargle, or in 25 parts of water for painting the throat, or in 50 parts for the carbolic spray. By this process it becomes sufficiently deodorized for toilet purposes." Indigo Carmine Test for Sugar. N. C. E., Pennsylvania, asks: "Is indigo carmine a reliable test for sugar?" According to Dr. George Oliver, indigo carmine is superior to Fehling's solution because it does not react with phosphate of lime or phosphate of soda, nor with many of the abnormal constituents met with in analyses. If you have obtained proper sugar reactions with indigo carmine and with bismuth subnitrate, we believe you are fully justified in maintaining that sugar is present. Gelatinization of Fluid Benzoin Comp. M. C., California.-Fluid benzoin comp. is one of the several preparations which are prone to gelatinization, and manufacturers are powerless to prevent the deterioration and at the same time manufacture an honest preparation. Gelatinization is probably caused by astringent acids which constitute a part of the active properties in the drug, and while it would be possible to employ a menstruum which would overcome the diffi culty, the product would not yield a U. S. P. tincture. when diluted. The statement is made in a number of reputable journals that if castor oil be applied to a wart once a day for a month the wart will entirely disappear. many cases it will not require so long a time. Heat together 90 parts of spermaceti, 50 parts of gum arabic, 50 parts of borax, 120 parts of glycerin, and 750 parts of rain or distilled water, with constant stirring until complete solution is achieved. Let cool, and fill into suitable bottles, which must be thoroughly stoppered. Directions: Take 1 ounce of good starch, and add just enough cold water to make a paste, carefully rubbing with a spoon until all lumps are broken down. To I pint of boiling water add 5 tablespoonfuls of this liquid, pour the whole over the starch paste, and boil for not less than half an hour. Dissolve the acetate of lead and the alum in a little water, and separately dissolve the gum arabic in a fair quantity of boiling water. Thus, if the 500 parts of wheat flour represent a pound, the quantity of water needed will be about a quart. The gum having dissolved, add the flour, put the whole on the fire, stir well with a wooden stick, then add the solution of acetate and alum. Continue the stirring in order to avoid the formation of lumps, then take it off the fire without allowing it to boil. This cement is used cold, and will not scale. It is very useful in making wood, glass, cardboard, etc., adhere to metals, and is extremely strong.-A. M. GARANCE, in Oils, Colors and Drysalteries. ASSOCIATIONS. ILLINOIS PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION. The following have been nominated by the Executive Committee of the Illinois Pharmaceutical Association to be voted upon by the registered pharmacists for recommendation to the Governor for appointment of a member of the State Board of Pharmacy, Illinois, to fill vacancy occurring December 30, 1897, by the expiration of the term of office of Mr. Albert Zimmermann, Peoria: At Large-William K. Forsyth and William G. Morris, Chicago; G. Henry Sohrbeck, Moline. District 1-Ferdinand C. Schapper, Chicago. District 4-George H. Ackerman, Chicago. District 9-Herman J. Moogk, Freeport. The following have been nominated by the same committee to be voted upon by the registered pharmacists for recommendation to the President of the University of Illinois for appointment of a member of the Advisory Committee, Department of Pharmacy, University of Illinois (Chicago College of Pharmacy) to fill vacancy occurring in 1897 by the expiration of the term of service of Dr. H. H. Rogers, Kankakee. Three names are sent to the President by the Association at the next annual meeting. At Large Albert E. Ebert, Henry Biroth, and Andrew Scherer, Chicago. District 1-Emil Thiele, Chicago. District 2-John P. Garner, Austin. District 4-Walter A. Brabrook, Chicago. District 5-Paul J. Behrens, Chicago. NOTES AND NEWS. WISDOM IN THIS.-It must not be forgotten that by simply. The ordinary factory is built with from six to fourteen pairs of cast-iron or steel retorts of from one to one and a half cords' capacity to the pair, and the wood, after being hermetically sealed in the retort, is charred far the greater part of the patronage of the average drug by a baking process, the fumes of which are condensed store comes from women. The pharmacist who pleases the women and the children is sure of being able to pay his bills, even if he do not become rich enough to wear diamonds.-Spatula. STRIKING PROOF.-In a large factory in Schenectady, N. Y., employing two thousand hands, much inconvenience was felt, independent of the season, from prevalence of diarrheal diseases, sometimes to the extent of 10 per cent. of the employés. The company substituted distilled for river water, allowing no other in the works. The improvement in the health of the hands was so marked that arrangements are being made to supply the families of the operators with distilled water as well. Another firm is about to adopt the same practice. HOW HE TREATS THE PUBLIC.-Walter S. Rockey, the enterprising New York druggist, has recently purchased a third store, of which he proposes to make a first-class pharmacy. These are a few of the enticements he proposes to offer the public: Telephone, messenger service, postage stamps, private letter-boxes, American Express money orders, American Express call, carriage call, theatre-ticket agency, Journal and World advertisements, time tables, bulletins, guides, etc. This is broad-guage enterprise. But does the public deserve it? RESPONSIBILITY FOR ERROR OF EMPLOYÉS. — An important decision has just been rendered in the Court of Common Pleas of Pittsburg involving the question of responsibility of the druggist for errors committed by a registered clerk. The case under consideration was a suit for damages brought against Charles L. Walther, of Allegheny City, by Andrew E. Ivory. The registered clerk of the defendant had filled a prescription for the plaintiff, substituting belladonna for buchu, the result being that on taking the medicine the plaintiff was thrown into convulsions. He therefore came into court claiming dam ages from the employing pharmacist as being responsible for the acts of his employé. In the Court of Common Pleas $370 damages were awarded the plaintiff. It is understood that the case will be appealed, and in the interest of the profession it is to be hoped that a reversal will be obtained.-American Druggist. WOOD ALCOHOL.-McKean County, Pennsylvania, is noted for the number and extent of its wood-alcohol factories, the spirit being produced by dry distillation and precipitated by lime and other chemicals. This pyrogenous fluid is drawn off and re-distilled and shipped to refiners for the final treatment, after which it is ready for the market. Only hard wood of the best quality is supposed to be used-the better the quality of wood, the purer the quality of the liquor. The wood-beech, birch, and maple-yields on an average some six gallons to the cord, a good deal depending on the age and quality of the wood, and the best results are obtained when the retorts are well packed.-New York Sun. POTATO ALCOHOL.-A great many striking things are being brought out by the congressional committee which is investigating the idea of abolishing the import tax on alcohol. One of the interesting witnesses was a representative of the firm of J. C. Ayer & Co. of Lowell, who testified that his house sold its proprietary medicines in Europe and South America cheaper than in this country because the alcohol used in them is manufactured in Germany from potatoes; if it is brought into this country for export, it does not have to pay a duty; but when consumed here, it does. Now if alcohol can be produced from potatoes, and it is good enough to take as a beverage, which is a use to which many proprietary medicines are put, the fact opens up an immense field of possibilities in this country. We have large areas of land, even in New England, on which potatoes can be raised so prolifically that they could be made to yield a large crop. This is especially true of Maine. The inquiry into the tax on alcohol might properly be extended to the cost and virtues of potato alcohol. If there is any virtue in this decoction for mechanical and medicinal purposes, its production ought to be domiciled in this country.-Boston Advertiser. BETRAYING TRADE SECRETS.-Some of the people in the bottling trade are prone to think that anything and everything that comes their way is subject to selfappropriation. Nothing, legally speaking, is farther from the truth. If you have an employé in your service in whom you have trusted and to whom you have entrusted some trade secrets, he is legally bound, as well as in honor, to keep your secret and work only for your benefit and profit. The courts of the country seem recently to have waked up to the necessity of laying a heavy hand upon those employés, associates and others who get hold of valuable trade secrets and use them to their own advantage and to the injury of legitimate owners. In addition to the cases of the perfidious employés already noted by us, a court in Philadelphia recently sent a young woman to jail for six months for having betrayed the formula and methods of her employer to her lover, and assisting him to counterfeit the preparations. The lover was mulcted in the sum of $50,000 damages, and has yet to stand a criminal trial for counterfeiting the labels, etc. Counterfeiting packages and labels, and wholesale substitution, have been dealt some heavy blows recently, and the men who are engaged in the business are beginning to find that it is a very precarious method of making a living, to say the least.-National Bottlers' Gazette. THE MODERN ADVERTISEMENT.-The modern advertisement is a thing of art, a poem, a sledge-hammer, an argument—a whole volume compressed into a sen tence. Some of the cleverest writing-the most painstaking, subtle work turned out by literary men to-day-can be found in the advertising pages of a first-rate magazine. Every word is measured, examined under a magnifying glass, to see just how big it is, just how much meaning it has, and how many kinds of meaning it has. The man of original ideas and keenest pen tells his story in a word, as it were—tells it in liberal space, and always so that it will attract and please the eye. White paper means more than excess of words. A single sentence on a blank page leaves its impress on the reader's mind. He can't help seeing it, can't help taking it in as he turns the pages. The ingenuity, the thought, the knowledge of human nature evidenced in the best written, best displayed advertisements, is marvellous. mit publicity to be given to the ingredients reported to it by the brewers and distillers as having been purchased from which to brew or distill. Fourth: That the local boards of health throughout the State should have a special surveillance over the sanitary condition of the breweries and should, through their health officers, visit them periodically. Fifth: That no other than pure water should be used in brewing. Sixth: That the local boards of health should have a surveillance over the saloons and should take samples from them from time to time for analysis. Seventh: That no condition of secrecy should be imposed in the law, but it should be admissible on the finding of any adulterants or harmful ingredients in any sample examined, to have the facts made public, as the best means of correcting the pernicious practice. The enforcement of these regulations would bring the brewing business of the State directly under the eye of another set of Raines agents. The probabilities are that laws regulating the manufacture of beer will be enacted by the Legislature this winter.- Utica Observer. AMERICA'S PREEMINENCE IN MILITARY MEDICINE. -The French Army lost in the Crimean war 33 per cent. of its men, namely 95,615. Of this number, 10,240 were killed on the battlefields, and about as many died of their wounds in the hospitals. More than 75,000 men died of infectious diseases. In the American civil war 97,000 died of their wounds and 194,000 perished of infectious and other diseases. What a vast amount of pain and misery! What an ocean of blood and tears, and besides what a number of errors, mistakes, and prejudices! It is not necessary now to enumerate the long list of blunders and sins. They are so well known as to serve in the future as warning examples. Let me say here that it was not misfortune alone that showed where the cause of evil was and then provided aid. If the French learned little or nothing in the Crimea, and the Americans so much in their civil war as to create a new era in military medicine, the explanation is not to be sought for in the immensity of misfortune and misery undergone by the Americans, for they did not suffer any more than the French did in the Crimea. The explanation is in the critical and thoroughly scientific spirit, the clear perception, the sound and practical common sense which penetrated gradually every part of the American military administration, and which, with the astounding co-operation of the entire nation, accomplished more humane results than any great war ever produced before. Whoever studies the copious publications of the medical staff of the American Army must again and again be astonished at the vast experience collected in them. Absolute accuracy of details, the most painstaking statistics, acquaintance with all branches of medical learning, and a comprehensive style, are united in them for the purpose of collecting and preserving in the interests of the present and future generations the new knowledge so dearly bought. RUDOLPH VIRCHOW, "Progress of Military Medicine." Glacial, com❜l. ...per lb. Anodyne, Hoffman's.. 1116 Antifebrin.. per lb. 20 c. p... per lb. 40 Arsenous.. .per lb. .......per oz. •per lb. 75 15 70 per lt. 16 ......... per lb. .......................OZ, vials 45 18 Camphoric .....oz. vials 54 Carbolic, cryst.....per lb., cans incl. 46 per lb., bottles incl. 48 in 5-lb. cans, per lb. 36 crude, 20%. ..per gal. 48 Chrysophanic.. Chromic, c. p..... ...per oz. incl. 18 .per oz. 60 Citric. 42 in 50-lb. lots........ Gallic..... .per oz. 10 Hydrobromic, conc............................ per lb. 1 05 ..per oz. (1 gr., 2 gr., 3 gr, 5 gr. or 10 gr. each.) Antikamnia and Codeine tablets....per oz. (434 gr. antikam., 4 gr. sulph. codeine.) Antikamnia and Quinine tablets....per oz. 1 00 (2% gr. antikam., 2% gr. sulph. quinine.) Antikamnia and Salol tablets.......per oz. 1 00 (2 gr. antikamnia, 2 gr. salol.) Antikam., Quinine and Salol Tabs..per oz. 1 00 (2 gr. antikam., 2 gr. quinine, 1 gr. salol.) Antimony, Black, powd., com'l.....per lb. (sulphuret.),powd.,pure per lb. Chloride Sol. ..per lb. Tartrate and Potassium, per lb. per oz. per lb. 1 00 1.00 26 Poplar...... per lb. 30 .per lb. 14 powd.... .per lb. 20 Prickly Ash.. 25 .per lb. 20 Quebracho... 40 per lb. 20 Sassafras per lb. 12 ..per lb. 24 ground. per lb. 10 per lb. 12 powd... per lb. 15 Wahoo. ....per lb. 25 White Pine.. per lb. Bay Rum, imported.. in bbls ........per gal. 1 80 Beans, Calabar..... .per lb. St. John's (St. John's Bread) per lb. Tonka, Angostura... per lb. 2 25 Vanilla, 5, 6, 7, and 8-inch ... per lb. 22 .per gal. 2 10 16 10 8 00 to 14 00 |