What an Unregistered Person Can Sell in Illinois (52). Your inquiry is one which is frequently repeated, and we publish the following letter from F. C. Dodds, secretary of the Illinois Board of Pharmacy, and trust it will set aright those of our readers who have an idea that an unregistered person can sell quinine and other similar medicines in original packages in the state of Illinois.

Under our law an unregistered person can sell patent or proprietary preparations in original and unbroken packages only. In addition to this the Board holds that an unregistered person can sell any of the articles mentioned on the enclosed slip. The Board holds that quinine is neither a patent or a proprietary, and therefore it cannot legally be sold in a store that does not have a registered pharmacist in charge of it.

We received frequent complain's about general merchants selling quinine, but wherever their attention has been called to it, they have discontinued its sale. Wholesale grocers who sell quinine in one-eighth ounce are largely responsible for general merchants handling it. We are trying our level best to confine the sale of quinine solely to registered pharmacists, and I believe we will succeed in the end, although it is an up-hill job to get a line on every unregistered person in the State of Illinois who handles it. The MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST can aid us materially in this matter.

State of Illinois Board of Pharmacy, Springfield.

The State Board of Pharmacy, Illinois, in session January 6, 1898, in interpreting the restrictions of the sale of drugs and medicines to certain qualified persons as provided in the law, decldes that the following drugs may be sold by any store without violating the provisions of the pharmacy law, viz:

Alum, ordinary Aqua Ammonia, Bay Rum, Borax, Cherry Phosphates (not labeled for medicinal purposes), Copperas, Cream Tartar, Extract of Ginger and other flavoring extracts (not labeled for medicinal purposes), Lubricating Castor Oil, Olive Oil, Petrolatum (not labeled for medicinal purposes). Rosin, Sal Soda, Soda Ash, Soda Bicarbonate, Sulphur, Spices of all kinds, Extract Witch Hazel (not labeled for medicinal purposes) and Turpentine.

The law prohibits the sale, at retai', of all drugs, medicines, chemicals and poisons by persons not authorized by the Board under the provisions of the pharmacy law.-F. C. DODDS, Secretary, Springfield, 111.

Micro-organisms (53) -The recognition requires special training in bacteriology. You will find such a volume as Abbott serviceable. In direct answer to an inquiry we publish the following illustrations, but must call your attention to the fact that bacteria are recognized by the manner in which they grow upon

1. Bacterium Lincola.

2. Bacterium Termo.

8. Micrococcus Urea.

(1800 Diam.)

4. Spirillum Cholera. (Koch's comma bacillus).

炎

& Bacillus Typhosus, (Eberth)

6. Bacillus Anthracia.

な

9. Streptococcus

Erysipelatis.

& & &

12 Plasmodium Malaria (Laveran)

To Refine Bees Wax (54).-Crude wax, especially that imported, is generally loaded with dirt, bees and other foreign matter. To free it from these substances, it undergoes the operation of refining. This is done by melting the wax along with about three per cent of water in a bright copper boiler, preferably heated by steam, and after the whole is perfectly liquid, and has boiled for a few minutes withdrawing the heat, and sprinkling over its surface a little sulphuric acid, in the proportion of about three to four fluidounces to every 100 pounds of wax. This operation should be conducted with great care and circumspection; as, if done carelessly, the melted wax will froth up, and boil over the sides of the pan. The acid should also be well scattered over the whole surface. The melted wax is next covered over, and left for some hours to settle, or till it becomes sufficiently cool to be drawn off into the moulds. It is then very gently skimmed with a hot ladle, and baled or decanted into basins, where it is left to cool. Great care must be taken not to disturb the sediment. When no more clear wax can be drawn off, the remainder in the melting pan is allowed to cool, and the cake or foot, as it is called, is taken out, and the impurities (mostly bees) scraped from its

under surface. The remaining portion is usually reserved for a second operation, but, if required, may be at once melted, and strained through canvas into a mould. The great art in the above process is to produce a wax which shall at once be bright or semiranslucent in thin pieces, and good colored. The former is best insured by allowing the melted mass to settle well, and by carefully skimming and decanting the clear portion without disturbing the sediment. It should also not be poured into the moulds too warm, as, in that case, it is apt to separate and the resulting cakes to be streaky, or of different shades of color. It should also be allowed to cool very slowly. When cooled rapidly, especially if a current of air falls upon its surface, it is apt to crack and form cakes full of fissures. Some persons who are very nice about their wax, have the cakes polished with a stiff brush when quite cold and hard. It is necessary to have the cans, ladles, and skimmers used in the above process kept quite hot, as without this precaution the wax cools, and accumulates upon them in such quantity as to render them inconvenient, and often quite useless without being constantly scraped out.

How Much Does a Teaspoon Hold (55)?—Of course, this depends upon the size of the teaspoon, and statistics show that teaspoons vary as much as do the sizes of human heads. Our older readers were taught, and perhaps in turn teach, that the average teaspoon holds one fluidrachm or about 4 Cc. That

is a mistake, and the impression should be corrected by both pharmacists and physicians. Six average teaspoonfuls of a liquid equal one fluidounce, or about 5 Cc. to the teaspoon. In this connection we find the subject discussed as follows in the columns of the Journal of the American Medical Association:

Metric Equivalent of the Teaspoon.

HANOVER, MASS., Nov. 1, 1907. To the Editor:-While a student at Yale, I was taught to use the metric system and liked it very much. I was taught to consider 5 c.c. equal to a teaspoonful. Since I have been here have written my prescriptions as formerly taught and am told by the country druggist that 4 c. c. is a teaspoonful and not 5 c.c. I ask him his authority and he produces the Dispensatory, of which Dr. Hare, Pennsylvania, is one of the editors. I write to Dr. Hare about the matter and his reply is as follows: Four c. c. equal one fluidram, therefore. 5 c. c. is wrong. Frequently I have noticed in The Journal in the department of Therapeutics, that "a teaspoonful holds 5 c. c." Whom am I to believe?-[CHARLES HAMMOND.

"Answer:-The United States Pharmacopoeia has authorized the statement that a teaspoon holds approximately 4 c. c. and this has been accepted for a long time because the teaspooon used to be regarded as the equivalent of the fluidram. This was probably correct with the smaller teaspoons that were sometimes used. But as a rule, the teaspoon has a larger capacity, and the rule that four teaspoonfuls make a tablespoonful is incorrect, the ratio being nearer 1 to 3 than 1 to 4. The capacity of spoons has been carefully investigated by M. I. Wilbert (proceedings of the American Pharmaceutical Association, 1905, liii, 301). He found that teaspoons evenly full have a capacity of from 4.6 to 5.5 c.c. Dessertspoons will hold from 8.4

th 10.4 c.c., and tablespoons from 12.8 to 15.6 c.c. All spoons if filled to their greatest capacity, will hold from 10 to 20 per cent more than the quantities here given. It is fortunate that the capacity of the teaspoon is so nearly 5 c.c., for this unit lends itself very readily to calculations in the metric system. Thus 100 c.c. will give just twenty doses. For the purpose of prescribing, the teaspoon may be taken as holding 5 c.c., the dessertspoon 10 c.c., and the tablespoon 15 c.c."

Acids...

Sulphur Vapors, Warm Chlorin Water

Tartaric Acid

Warm Oxalic Acid

Wash with Water

Concentrated Solution Tartaric Acid

Soap, Oil of Turpentine; alternate with stream of water

The same; rub gently and carefully

Same; with care

Nothing can be done. All attempts make it worse

water and turpentine

STRAY ITEMS AND COMMENTS.

Woman's Organization Page, is the title of a new department in N. A. R. D. Notes. The heading is appropriate, even though the department extends over more than one page. The part which women are taking in N. A. R. D. affairs speaks well for the justice of the cause and will do much to quiet the fears of those who have in the past expressed misgivings as to the future of the N. A. R. D.

The Pure Food and Drugs Expert Commission recently appointed for the purpose of considering exceptions made to the rulings of the Chief of the Bureau of Chemistry, Dr. H. W. Wiley, is composed of some of the best experts in chemistry and other subjects relating to foods and drugs, and the body will be of great service in carrying out the intent and purposes of the law. The appointment of this commission will prevent many cases from going to court which might otherwise entail long as well as expensive trials. The commission of five consists of Professor Ira Renson, of John Hopkin's University, Baltimore, John Harper Long, of the Northwestern University, Chicago, Christian A. Herter, New York City, Russell Henry Chittenden, New Haven, Conn., and Alonzo E. Taylor, San Francisco.

The Ebert Feature in the A. Ph. A. Proceedings for 1907 has attracted quite general attention. Perhaps it is best expressed by Dr. Edward Kremers, editor of the Pharmaceutical Reveiw, who says:

"To the writer at least, the feature of this year's Proceedings which most deserves special mention is its dedication, as it were, to Albert E. Ebert whose half-tone portrait serves as frontispiece. Since 1864 a member of the Association, he was its President during the association year 1872-'73. There is possibly nothing inherently striking in a long membership and a tenure of office as President. A few others may be able to look back upon a like record. What makes both noteworthy are two things: firstly, that Mr. Ebert's interests in the Association in no way abated after he had occupied the highest office within the gift of the Association; and secondly, that his brief tenure of office was marked by a gift such as no American pharmacist has duplicated.

"The Ebert Prize, based on an original donation of $500.00, now amounting to $900.00, is the only gift of its kind in this country. Mr. Ebert never was a rich man, but his devotion to pharmacy becomes even more apparent from the fact that at his death he bequeathed all he had to the Association. Though the sum be small the spirit is such as no one has previously displayed. Whatever his faults, no matter how he occasionally emphasized commercial pharmacy, he has done more, in a way at least, for scientific pharmacy than any one else, he gave all he had."

LINIMENTS OF THE U. S. P.

The New York City Branch of the A. Ph. A., at its April meeting discussed a number of practical subjects.

Otto Raubenheimer read an interesting and instructive paper on "The Liniments of the U. S. P." In his opinion the formulas in the eighth revision of the Pharmacopoeia are quite satisfactory, the resulting products being far superior to the liniments of any earlier edition or of any foreign pharmacopoeia. He suggested, however, a few further improvements. In the formula for ammonia liniment, he thought that the ingredients should be weighed rather than measured; also that in lime liniment, the linseed oil and lime water should be equal parts by weight. He suggested the use of circulatory displacement in the manufacture of camphor liniment, as with the present process there is some loss of camphor. In support of the twenty per cent camphor strength he read a table showing that in but six pharmacopoeias out of eighteen is the standard as low as ten per cent. Although the synonym camphorated oil is not official, he said, it was the duty of the pharmacists to dispense camphor liniment when camphorated oil is called for. He criticised the decision of a local police judge who had held that the Pharmacopoeia specifies no standard of strength or purity for this preparation, hence a prosecution brought for the selling of a camphorated oil of less than 20 per cent camphor strength could not hold. He also criticised the statement of the editor of a medico-pharmaceutical paper who in commenting on this decision said that it was made possible because the title camphor liniment is not found in the Pharmacopoeia, the official title being oleum camphoratum, or camphorated oil.

In criticising the formula for soap liniment he said that it is unnecessary to heat the water and the soap to form a gelatinous mass, and is a disadvantage to mix the alcohol with the yet warm soap solution, and add the alcoholic solution of camphor and oil to the warm soap mixture. He showed that with a pure olive oil soap free from stearates and palmitates it is quite possible to prepare this liniment in a few minutes by shaking together the grated dry soap, the camphor and oil of rosemary with the alcohol and He suggested the name spirit of potassa soap as a better synonym than tincture of green soap, for the official liniment of soft soap.

water.

Mr. Raubenheimer's paper was received with many expressions of approval and the author was voted the thanks of the branch. Messrs. Diekman and Lohmann added a little to Mr. Raubenheimer's remarks.

the presence of his teacher or before an audience.

LEGAL PHARMACY.

Notes of Recent Decisions of Interest to Druggists and Physicians.

BY L. FRANK OTTOFY, ST. LOUIS.

Vermont.-Master Held Liable For Unlawful Sale of Intoxicating Liquor By Clerk.-One Gilmore had taken out a license to sell intoxicating liquor and placed a clerk in charge of his establishment where the liquor was kept for sale but instructed the clerk not to sell to minors. The clerk, however, did sell intoxicating liquor to a minor and permitted it to be drunk on the premises in violation of the statute. The employer was not present at the time and knew nothing of the sale. He was convicted in the lower court and the Supreme Court, on appeal, affirmed the judgment of the lower court on the theory that one who acts through another acts through himself. The court suggested that, as the employer placed it within the power of the of the clerk to disobey or observe the law and since he received the benefit from the illegal sales, he could not escape liability on the ground that he did not approve or authorize the acts.

State vs. Gilmore, 68 Atlantic Rep. (Vt.) 658.

Missouri.-Prescription Must be Written Before Being Filled.-Omer Willis, a physician and pharmacist, was convicted in the St. Louis Court of Criminal Correction, of selling cocaine in violation of the act of March 9, 1905. The evidence showed that defendant was a regular licensed and registered physician and conducted a drug store in the City of St. Louis; that one Rogers, a cocaine fiend, the prosecuting witness, on the night of May 21, 1907, went to defendant's drug store and called for cocaine. The defendant went behind his prescription case, and returned with a box containing cocaine and handed it to Rogers who paid him for it. Defendant testified that when Rogers came in on the 21st of May and called for the cocaine he was nervous, and that knowing his condition he went behind the prescription case, wrote out a prescription for the drug, filled it and handed the drug to Rogers. Just as Rogers walked out of the store he was arrested by officers who were watching the defendant's store for the sale of cocaine. The prescription was dated May 22, and the Court of appeals held that the lower court was justified in finding that the prescription was written after the sale was made and affirmed the judgment of the Court of Criminal Correction.

State v. Willis 106 S. W. (Mo.) 584.

Missouri. Druggist or Dealer in Drugs, Though Not a Registered Pharmacist, Held to be Within the Statute.Section 3051 Revised Statutes of Missouri, 1899 provides as follows:

"Any druggist, or dealer in drugs and medicine, who shall suffer alcohol or intoxicating liquors to be drunk at or about his place of business, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and

upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months."

The evidence showed that the defendant Chipp, was the proprietor of a drug store and dealt in drugs, and that he permitted liquor to be drunk at his store. The St. Louis Court of Appeals, in discussing the applicability of the statute to the facts of this case, said:

"But common observation teaches that the duties of a pharmacist in most instances pertain to a small part of the business carried on by a druggist. We find no difficulty in arriving at the conclusion that an individual may be a druggist or a dealer in drugs without being or having in his employ a pharmacist. It is not the drug store that is registered, only the pharmacst."

XXX

"Under the foregoing view, we hold that it was immaterial whether defendant was a registered pharmacist or had such in his employ if he was a dealer in drugs, he was liable for suffering intoxicating liquors to be drunk at or about his store." State vs. Chipp, 121 Mo. App., 556.

Missouri.-Prescription Held Insufficient to Authorize Sale of Liquor by Druggist.-An information was issued by the prosecuting attorney of Stoddard County, Mo., against one G. A. R. Davis, a physician. The information contained ninety-five counts, each charging Davis with a violation of Section 3050 of the act concerning druggists. That section makes it unlawful for a physician to issue a prescription to any person for intoxicating liquors or any compound of which such intoxicating liquors shall become a part, to be used otherwise than for medicinal purposes. Section 3047 provides that no druggist shall dispose of alcohol or intoxicating liquor of any kind in any quantity less than four gallons for any purpose except on a written prescription, dated and signed, first had and obtained from some regularly registered and practicing physician, and then only when such physician shall state in such prescription the name of the person for whom the same is prescribed, and that such intoxicating liquor is prescribed as a necessary remedy. The prescription issued by the defendant was as follows: "Bearing date the twelfth day of September, 1905, for one quart of whisky. (Signed) A. Davis. M. D." The defendant was found guilty on eighty-nine of the ninty-five counts. The St. Louis Court of Appeals, however, reversed the judgment of the Trial Court on the ground. that the prescription was not sufficient to authorize the druggist to sell the said liquor and that the prescription was not good even as a written order for intoxicating liquor. The Appellate Court also held that the prescription in this case would be no defense to a prosecution against the druggist.

State vs. Davis, 108 S. W. (Mo.) 127.

Paderewski's Hands carry an insurance of $100,000. So far he has had three minor accidents to his fingers, and collected more than $10,000-about $6,000 more than he has paid premiums.

A Frenzied financier out of a job is of as much use to the world as a last year's bird's nest.

OLIVE OIL.

BY H. H. SINNIGE.

Condensed from a paper read before the meeting of the St. Louis Local Branch of the International Stewards Association, February 27, 1908.

The history of olive oil is as old as the history of Creation itself, and the Garden of Eden no doubt abounded in the luxurious growth of this wholesome, fruit bearing tree. The first sign of vegetation after the waters of the great flood had receded, was the appearance of the olive twig carrried by the dove, the messenger of peace to Father Noah's Ark and up to this day the olive branch is symbolic of peace and good-will toward man, while the golden liquid pressed from the fruit is feeding and contributing to the health and welfare of millions upon millions of people.

The olive tree, though believed by some to be a native of Asia Minor or of Syria, flourishes at present

in all countries bordering on the Mediterranean and has been cultivated for centuries past in Spain, the south of France and Italy. The olive tree is also being largely cultivated in the North of Africa, especially in the vicinity of Tunis, and considerable quantities of oil are exported annually from that city.

It has also been introduced into South Australia. More recently the cultivation of the olive in California has been making rapid strides and is becoming of considerable commercial importance in that state.

Magnitude of Olive Oil Industry.

To give you an idea of the magnitude of the olive oil industry I will mention that according to the figures

taken from the official consular reports, published in Washington under the auspices of the department of Commerce and Labor, in Italy alone two million acres of land are at the present time devoted to the culture

of the Olive, the average yield of oil being seventy-five million gallons; while Spain is leading these figures, showing a cultivation of 3,323,577 acres, the total amount of olives produced there in 1906 being 1,345,775 tons. Of this amount, 1,287,413 tons are used for the extraction of oil, the remaining 58,361 tons being used for pickling.

France comes next and I quote from a report of Consul R. P. Skinner, of Marseille, as follows:

"I am unable to report the exact acreage devoted to olive culture in France. This is necessarily a matter for speculation, there being perhaps as many trees planted along roadsides or alternating with almond trees as in large orchards. This is equally true as regards the annual crop of oil and pickled olives. Thousan is of farmers crush just enough fruit or pickle just enough for their own uses and it is impossible to get at the figures. The official figures in regard to the French olive crop are as follows: Average annual crop during ten years up to and including 1904: Production, 1/4,204 tons; value, $4,580,457. In 1904 the total production was 115,626 tons; total value, $4,098.071; and in 1905 it was 85,181 tons, with a total value of $3,948,386. The statistics for Algeria in 1905 were: Number of trees, 6,371,778; gallons of oil, 11,092,859; tons of olives crushed, 331,517; tons of olives consumed. 29,733. The exports of olive oil from France in 1903, amounted to 22,820 tons, in 1905 to 21,974 tons, and in 1904 to 19,596 tons."

trees.

The olive tree is of slow growth and long life (estimated from one hundred to one hundred and fifty years), and demands a warm climate, either excessive heat or cold being alike injurious. The lowest temperature which may be borne by the tree is fourteen

degrees F. Better results (I refer to cases where the fruit is grown for its oil, not for pickling), are obtained in a hilly country with a medium soil, neither too moist nor too rich, and at a moderate elevation. In some portions of Italy one notes the olive trees

planted in rows widely separated, with the intervening spaces devoted to vines; but those who have intimate knowledge of olive culture assert that the trees should be grown by themselves. This latter method obtains very generally throughout the district of Tuscany, where the finest quality of Italian oil is produced. The olive groves of this district are usually on terraced hillsides, and the greatest care is given to their husbandry. The trees are pruned every second year and enriched every third year. Pruning is done during the months of February and March, and between April and June the groves are in flower. The fruit begins to ripen during the latter part of November, and its harvesting continues from that time until about the first of March, that is, in favorable years, when the crops are large. I am informed that the harvest for 1906-7 in the Tuscany district is very light and will not yield more than one-half the usual returns.

Gathering the Olive Fruit.

The fruit is both picked from the tree by hand and gathered from the ground as it gradually ripens and falls, the former method insuring of course a more rapid harvest, and also doing away with the great