handily used as spray. Thus, in treating the roof of the mouth for carious bone, or in plugging a bleeding alveolar cavity after extraction of a tooth, the spray is excellent. We begin in such a case by applying the spray direct to the bleeding surface, and when a layer of deposit is formed we use that as a foundation for a thin layer of cotton wool ready saturated in the solution. Then we reapply the spray, and again cotton, until the whole operation is complete.

After a fresh wound has been once dressed with this solution, it requires but little further treatment. In the case of small wounds they may be safely left with one dressing. In process of cure the dressing will slowly be thrown off in the form of thick scale, and ligatures will also spontaneously come away. Even when the wound is very large, as after amputation, it is not desirable to try to open the wound unless there be systemic symptoms. In such case, in order to remove the dressing without pain, the bandage, if it be adherent, must be sponged at the adherent parts with a mixture of alcohol and ether, or with alcohol and water; this will set everything at liberty with ease and cleanliness. Water alone must on no account be used, neither hot nor cold.

Dr. Richardson cites a number of interesting cases to show the value and efficacy of this new remedial agent. He has employed it in amputations, in the treatment of open ulcers, cancer, necrosis, and obstinate hæmorrhage with singu. lar success. He has also tried various combinations of the simple fluid with other substances, of which he gives the following account:

Creasote.--With the old creasote of the shops the fluid forms an excellent compound. The creasote acts well as an additional antiseptic, and also as a solidifier of albumen. It produces, however, some degree of irritation. The proportion is one minim of creasote to two drachms of solution.

Carbolic Acid.-With pure carbolic acid the fluid also combines. The compound so produced possesses the same properties as the mixture of creasote and the styptic. Five grains of the acid may be added to two drachms of the fluid. The combination is very powerful, but it produces some irritation.

Quina. The pure alkaloid quina dissolves in the styptic fluid, and forms a good solution in the proportion of one grain to the drachm. The quina adds to the antiseptic power, but, I think, takes away from the adhesive property. Proportion, half a grain to a drachm.

Iodine.-Iodine unites readily with the fluid, and five, or even seven, grains of it may be got into the quarter-ounce. The combination is most useful in cases where there is purulent or fetid discharge from a surface surrounded with indurated tissue. The iodine produces no irritation.

Iodide of Cadmium.-Iodide of potassium and iodide of ammonium do not readily combine with the styptic; but iodide of cadmium, which possesses a similar physiological action, goes up in it readily. Half a drachm of the salt will go up in an ounce of the solution.

Bichloride of Mercury.-The bichloride of mercury is soluble in the solution, and the compound, in the proportion of the one-twentieth of a grain to one drachm of the styptic, is a most useful application in indolent syphilitic ulcers. I think this application would also be useful in lupus.

Morphia.-Morphia goes up well in the solution, and in irritable painful ulcer a compound of morphia and the styptic, in proportion of half a grain of the alkaloid to a drachm of the fluid, is of service. Pain is at once relieved, and healing is promoted. This compound on cotton would be good for a stopping of a hollow tooth to relieve toothache.

All the other narcotic alkaloids in their pure form go up in the solutionatropia, aconitina, and the rest. I have, however, no experience as to the value of such combinations in practice. This experience has yet to be learned.

Cantharidine.-This substance, on the addition of a little chloroform, can be taken up in the solution. The compound produces what may almost be called

a dry blister, the fluid secreted being taken up as it is exuded by the styptic. There are cases in which this blistering fluid would be a considerable advantage; indeed, it would probably be an advantage in all cases in which a blister is required. Two to four grains may be used to the ounce.

Chloride of Zinc.-Chloride of zinc, which, in solution, has recently been used for the dressing even of recent wounds, makes a good compound with the styptic. Half a drachm of the salt dissolves readily in an ounce of the solution.

MEDICAL PARTIALITY.

TO THE EDITORS OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL.

Gentlemen,-Permit me to ask, through the medium of our Journal, if any of our friends can suggest a remedy for a great injustice perpetrated upon the Pharmaceutical Chemists residing in the suburbs of London, and which all, particularly the examined members, must feel most acutely.

I refer to the unnecessary and ungenerous practice of physicians recommending patients to have their prescriptions prepared at one of the leading dispensing establishments in town, instead of leaving them to use their own discretion as to whether they patronize the Pharmaceutist in their own neighbourhood, or no. Why do physicians generally act thus unjustly to so large a proportion of the Pharmaceutical Chemists?

Why, after going through the trouble and expense of an examination, and often of a laboratory course as well, are we treated with such cool contempt by those who, of all others, are best able to understand our position?

The public begin to know the meaning of the term "Pharmaceutical Chemist," and those residing in the suburbs would, if unbiassed, naturally, and as a matter of course, accord to us that for which we have so assiduously laboured, and what we have every right to expect, namely, the confidence and support of those who seek the advice of a physician, in preference to that of a general practitioner who dispenses at his own house.

We have drugs and chemicals of precisely the same purity as any of the firstclass houses in London, and we can prepare a prescription as well as any of them, and perhaps better, for as a rule we of the suburbs can give the matter more attention than some of our more fortunate brethren in town.

The physician naturally desires his prescription should be prepared accurately, hence, no doubt, the request to have it sent to one of the well-known firms (I should be sorry to think him prompted by any sordid motive); but is not our examination a guarantee to the physician, as well as the public, of our ability to occupy the important position we do?

By all means let the physician recommend his patient to have the prescription prepared by a Pharmaceutical Chemist,-and he might also, at the same time, suggest the desirability of employing an examined meinber of the Society,-but what I object to is, the naming of some individual firm in particular, instead of recommending us collectively.

I am, Gentlemen, your obedient servant,

A SUBURBAN M. P. S.

CONCENTRATIVE MEDICINES-CHARGES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL.

Sir,-Several correspondents have called attention to a fact, which must be severely felt by the great majority of chemists, though kept sadly in the back

grounds to publicity, viz. the want of proper payment for our skill, time, and labour. It is true that, in general, we get a large profit on the cost of our goods, but this, however large, is no more a sufficient remuneration for our services than it would be for a joiner or shoemaker only to charge a profit on the articles they consume. It is a remarkable fact, that while all this description of artisans charge" stuff and time," the latter being the principal charge, chemists generally fail to make a competent income by entirely overlooking the value of their time, training, skill, and education, and charge only, as a rule, for the value of the medicines. The consequence is that, as a class, they are less prosperous than almost any other body of men, while their duties require the most arduous attention, and their occupation is of the most wasting and toilsome character. The young chemist commences business with large and promising profits; he looks upon the neighbouring tradesmen, and contemplates an infinite advantage over them; but, before he has been many years in business, he finds out his sad mistake. Their goods are in large and constant demand, and require little preparatory study, labour, or preparation; while every pennyworth he has to sell requires not only all these, but he is obliged to furnish an amount of information with much that he sells which, at the hands of a lawyer or other professional man, would be charged,-an amount sufficient to make a chemist's fortune ten times over. Take a simple case. A lady complained to me that I had overcharged her in charging twopence for a powder (in prescription I charge threepence or fourpence), and that she could get a grey powder for one penny; during the time I served her, she asked me more than twenty questions in relation to the powder and the complaint. I calculated the time altogether, and convinced her that she had been an expense to me by coming into the shop,-that in cost, in preparation, in articles, and in rent, rates, taxes, and wages, I had spent more while she was in the shop than her powder came to. For many years I charged powders 1s. per doz.; pills, 4d. do.; mixtures, 3 or 4 oz., 8d.; 6 and 8 oz., 18. and 18. 4d. The last few years, myself and many neighbouring chemists have charged one-third to one-half more, especially on the smaller items; and I am fully convinced that these prices generally should be doubled; and if large quantities are required, in cases of long illness, a suitable discount made off the bills according to amount. Some customers have been lost, others have complained of the charges, but, on the whole, the change has been much easier than I thought at first possible, and the impression on the amount returned has been very decided. Chemists have only to be a little more united as to a scale of charges, and the public will not be found so unreasonable as is generally supposed.

I am, Sir, yours faithfully,

PHARMACEUTICAL LEGISLATION.

A FOUNDER.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL.

Sir,-Having on former occasions taken a somewhat prominent part in the discussion of pharmaceutical politics, I feel that I ought not now to neglect publicly expressing the satisfaction with which I view the general tenor of the Bill now before the Society. I have not hesitated, in the organ of the outsiders, to attack what I conceived to be one-sided views of its contributors, and I should not now refrain from protesting against anything like selfish or narrowminded policy on the part of our own members. Self-interest has been much too prominent in the letters of several of your recent correspondents. The question "how it affects me " is one unworthy of being introduced into the consideration of any measure for the public good.

VOL. IX.

D

Our Society would lose all title to public respect if its object were the protection of its members against competition. And any member who makes the attainment of the three titular letters M. P. S. the object of his study and examination, is little more worthy of their distinction than they who wish to enjoy the same without the attainment of that knowledge the possession of which these letters are supposed to indicate.

The first object of the Society should be the reduction, into one concrete body, of all dealers in dangerous drugs, with the view to the subsequent regulation of their proceedings in accordance with the requirements of public safety. And the first element of these regulations will of necessity be the requirement of an education of such degree and kind as will enable the dealer to carry on his business with all possible safety to the public. The reservation of the title M. P. S. to those who have earned it by their attainments, though abstractly desirable, is an object not to be compared with the reservation of the right to sell dangerous drugs, to those who have proved their knowledge of materia medica.

I am glad to hear that the Society at its late meeting did not commit itself to anything which is narrow-minded or illiberal. For my own part I should feel that any efforts which I have hitherto made for the good of the Society would be degraded if I were now to make the Society in any way subservient to my personal interests. I am, yours, etc.,

BARNARD S. PROCTOR.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL.

Sir,-I must express surprise at the line of argument adopted in a leader of this month's ' Pharmaceutical Journal,' in reply to the objections raised by a Major Associate and myself, in reference to some parts of the proposed Pharmacy Bill. In the first place we are told that we start with a false assumption, viz. "That membership is the highest grade granted by the Council." For my own part, I do not see how it can be considered otherwise; there are two positions-that of Membership, and that of Pharmaceutical Chemist. To obtain the former, a man must qualify for the latter; if he does not, he cannot be elected. Such being the case, is the assumption that membership is the higher grade so very absurd? Is it not rather the commonsense view of the question?

A great mistake we are said to have fallen into is, that the public cannot be made to understand the difference between the two titles. In reply to this objection, I can only say that I have repeatedly asked my friends (not connected with the trade) the question, "Suppose I put over my door Pharmaceutical Chemist,' and my next neighbour puts over his, 'Member of the Pharmaceutical Society,' should you understand there was any difference in our respective qualifications ? The answer in each case was in the negative; and not unfrequently the persons asked said they supposed it was two ways of expressing the same thing. I certainly think that if we could enter into a long explanation with each member of the public, they could be brought to understand the difference; but this would be utterly impossible. Exception is also taken to my quotation from the President's reply to one of the deputations on the 19th of February. I merely quoted the passage literally, and assume it to be correctly reported. He distinctly said that they had nothing to gain by opening the doors, and were satisfied to go on prospering as of late.

After this there follows a passage that for cool assurance I think it would be difficult to surpass, if indeed to equal. It is as follows:-"It may seem inconsistent for this Journal to ignore the title of Member of the Pharma

ceutical Society,' but, looking at all the facts of the case, we cannot avoid doing so, although we attach the greatest importance to membership, its duties and its privileges." It is only charitable to suppose that this was inserted by an oversight of the editor; for surely he must know that it is by means of the subscriptions and exertions of those members (whose title he is compelled to ignore) that the Society has become what it now is. If the sentence were knowingly inserted, I cannot imagine a more gross insult to men who have paid subscriptions for years, very many of them from the foundation of the Society. I trust the writer will think proper to qualify this statement in the next Journal, for it is scarcely one of either the duties or privileges of membership to hear such opinions now from the Journal which has hitherto always loudly proclaimed the importance of it.

Objection is also taken to the money question being imported into this discussion. I only mentioned it because it was discussed by the deputations in February last. No man can go through the course of study requisite to enable him to become a Pharmaceutical Chemist, without being greatly benefited by it; but it must be remembered that he undergoes this expense with the direct object, in most instances, of obtaining entrance into the society; and when outsiders seek to enter, and raise the question of buying themselves in, it is only fair for the other side to argue on the same grounds.

There is also a letter in the same Journal by Mr. S. C. Betty, in which he asks whether it would not have been much fairer for me to have assured myself that I was not guilty of injustice before assailing the injustice of others. Of what injustice have I been guilty? When I was younger, I aspired to what I considered to be the highest honours of the trade to which I belonga connection with the Pharmaceutical Society. I adopted the course then open to me, which I was assured was the only one that would be available for the future, and passed the examinations; but if the proposed Bill becomes law, I (with many others) shall have the mortification of finding that the hard-won distinction will be open to others, without the expenditure of either time or money. The rights and privileges I have worked for are assailed by those who will not take the same trouble to obtain them; and as I object to this, because I think it unjust, I am politely requested to assure myself that I am not unjust also, and am further informed that I am selfish, illiberal, unwise, etc. etc.

I cannot help thinking that the position taken up by that portion of the trade, for which Mr. Betty stands forth as champion, is a very unfortunate one. Many, if not most of them, have already had the option of joining the the Society without examination, and have declined to do so; but now that it has attained a position, the importance of which cannot be contradicted, they insist on admission-and do not seek it as a privilege, but demand it as a right. Mr. Betty complains that I call them a few clamorous outsiders, which he denies; yet he tells us that although there are 4000 outsiders to be legislated for, and to whom we must open our doors, probably the very utmost who would care to join the Society (and he asserts he knows) would be 500-the very utmost, we must remember; in reality, there might not be half that number who would care to come in; and as it may be assumed that it is only this part of the trade who now seek admission, am I so very far wrong in calling them a few ? and as for their clamour, what does Mr. Betty think of their present position, when they do not ask for, but persistently demand to be enrolled as members of the Pharmaceutical Society?

Mr. Betty tells us that before we speak of justice to the examined members, the founders, and the public, we must see justice as she is, and examine the weights for either side the scales. He asks, how are two-thirds of the trade to be legislated for? and says, certainly not by treating them as aliens to a