No. 182.

The Sale of Poisons

Chemical Engineering, XXIX.... 302
Society of Chemical Industry.
Bone Dust.

Tar and Ammonia Products 308 The Liverpool Mineral Market.... 308 West of Scotland Chemicals.. .... 303 305

The Production of Castor Oil in Senegal

The Metal Markets
Report on Manure Material

......

309 399 309

305

The Copper Market

Peile's Patent Floating Disinfectant 305 Platinum

The Tyne Chemical Report

309 310

306

The Liverpool Colour Market..

310

Preparing Alkaline Cyanides

306

New Companies.

Gazette Notices

Selected Correspondence:

Patent List

Mining Germany

Imports

Correspondence

308

Exports

Trade Notes..

308

Prices Current.

310

310

310

...... 31I ...... 313

... 316

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STRAV

THE SALE OF POISONS.

Vol. VII.

TRAWS show which way the wind blows, and there are not wanting indications that the Medical and Pharmaceutical Associations are moving in the direction of increased restrictions on the sale of poisons. The humane object they have in view is above criticism. We are at one with them in an earnest desire to diminish the risks of crime, of suffering, and of death from the unrestricted supply of poisons. There are, however, considerations which strike us as important, which do not appear to have been noticed by our contemporaries. The sale of poisons and the distribution of poisons are not necessarily synonymous-expressions.

66

In our issue of September 6th last, we commented on the evidence adduced in connection with the Ardwick Poisoning Case, which went to prove that there were other and more dangerous risks of distributing poisons than those arising from the sale by persons qualified" (!) under the Pharmacy Act. Few people would regard arsenic as a harmless, innnocuous substance, yet it was proved that the casks which had contained this substance were allowed to lie about, with considerable quantities of white arsenic adhering to them, much as if they had only contained plaster of Paris. We have in our recollection a glassworks where, in about a week, as much arsenic was used as would have sufficed to fatally poison the whole population of London. Yet this substance was not the subject of any special vigilance on the part of the proprietors, it being certainly very easy for anyone to have taken a handful of arsenic at a time. If it be assumed that three grains is a fatal dose, it is easy to see what a serious matter is this unrestricted possession of poisons. The stuff lay about in open kegs, and the kegs when emptied lay about also. Little need we have wondered if death by poison had been the principal factor in the Registrar's returns. We have referred to this to show that if increased legislative control is needed in relation to the sale of poisons, increased legislative control is needed to reach the users of poisons in quantity, and prevent their reckless exposure to risks of distribution. We are not advocates of too much legislation, but in this case, legislation having been thrust upon us, it behoves us to see that it is at least effective and complete. We commend this view of the subject to the agitators for reform.

There is another standpoint from which we may view the question. That of qualification.

The Pharmacy Act provides :

(a) That only persons possessing the qualification specified in the Act shall be allowed to sell or keep open shop for retailing, dispensing, or compounding scheduled " poisons," or to assume the title of chemist and druggist or equivalent title.

(b) That the qualification shall be having been in business as a chemist and druggist before the passing of the Act, or having passed certain examinations conducted by the Pharmaceutical Society.

(c) That the evidence of qualification shall be registration. In our editorial capacity we hear ever and anon the grievances and complaints of chemists of various denomina

tions, and among them, with sufficient frequency to call for some notice on our part, we have had the complaint that an analytical, as distinguished from a pharmaceutical, chemist, even though he be a Fellow of the Institute of Chemistry, is by law prohibited from selling or compounding a poison. We certainly agree with them that Fellowship of the Institute of Chemistry is as good a guarantee of their knowledge of chemicals and competence as distributors of poisons, as the present legal qualification of pharmacists is or can be. Without desiring in any way that the consulting or analytical chemist should degenerate into a mere seller of nostrums, we do say that to prohibit him from selling poisons if he finds it necessary to do so, is wanting both in justice and common sense. This will especially be seen by referring to the further provisions of the Pharmacy Act, viz.:

(d) That the foregoing provisions shall not extend to or interfere with the business of any legally qualified apothecary, or of any member of the College of Veterinary Surgeons, or with the making or dealing in patent medicines, or with the business of wholesale dealers in supplying poisons in the ordinary course of wholesale dealing.

Surely the scientifically educated body of chemists who are on the Register of the Institute of Chemistry are as fit to have the disposal of poisons as any person or body of persons within the four seas of Britain, be they qualified apothecaries (Shakespearian or otherwise), veterinary surgeons, patent medicine vendors, or wholesale dealers. We have italicised the latter, because it is an important point of attrition. In the first portion of our remarks, we have shown that it is in wholesale dealing with poisons that a great element of danger lies. The cases cited show the absurdity of leaving wholesale dealers entirely outside the pale of the Act; and on the ground that a Fellow of the Institute of Chemistry is as competent to deal with poisons as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, or of the Pharmaceutical Society, we are decidedly of opinion that the Fellows of the Institute of Chemistry should be placed on an equally favourable footing with pharmacists in any pending Their special opportunities of seeing how legislation. poisons are dispersed would of itself be of great national service.

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING.*

XXIX.

A notch is cut in the board, sufficient in depth to pass all the water to be measured, and not more than two-thirds of the width of the stream in length. The edges of the notch on the bottom and sides must be bevelled to a feather-edge facing down-stream, and the surface of the water below should not be less than one foot. The illustration shows very clearly how the notch-board should be arranged; about three feet behind the notch-board, or sill, as it is sometimes called, a stake should be driven into the bed of the watercourse or channel, the top of the stake being level with the knife edge of the sill. When the water at the stake has reached its greatest depth, measure the depth of water over it with a thin-edged rule, which will give the necessary data for our calculations. The following table will show the quantity of water in cubic feet per minute, for each inch in length of the sill, for various depths of water (H) over the stake.

WE

WEIGHING AND MEASURING.

E have already seen that the theoretical discharge of water from an orifice is found by multiplying the area of the orifice, in feet, by the velocity of the effluent water, measured in feet per second. If the orifice, instead of opening freely into the air, opens into another reservoir of fluid, such as a sluice valve placed at the bottom of a division separating two tanks, the difference of level between the two reservoirs must be taken as the effective head. (H in the foregoing formula.)

It is often required to note with a fair degree of accuracy the quantity of water flowing down a given stream or channel. This may be done by placing a board-such as is shown in the accompanying illustration-across the stream, at a point where the water flows very slowly.

*A course of lectures delivered by Mr. George E. Davis, at the Manchester Technical School. All rights reserved.

D

Sometimes the sill or notch-board cannot be employed for sundry local reasons. In this case, a length of the stream should be chosen-say one hundred feet-and the average area of the section found by multiplying the width by the average depth. A stake should be fixed at each end of the measured length, and a float consisting of a bottle, cork, or piece of wood, thrown into the middle of the stream a little above the first stake, and the time noted which is occupied in passing from one stake to the other. This trial should be repeated several times and the average taken, as the method can only be approximate. From the quantity thus found, one fourth should be deducted to allow for friction of the bed and sides.

The foregoing formulæ must not, of course, be used without due intelligence or knowledge. The velocity of approach to the weir must not be neglected, as the formulæ are for still water, and require modification when there is sensible velocity. The thickness of the crest of the weir must also be taken into account, a thick wall will only allow about 71 per cent. of the volume to pass under a given head, as when a thin knife edge is used, while if a two-inch plank be employed, about 85 per cent. will flow under similar conditions.

Narrow weirs inserted in a stream require a further correction, but these are refinements I can hardly enter into in this course of lectures.

It is often required to be known what size of a pipe (say two or three diameters long) would be necessary to conduct away a given flow of water, such as the waste water from condensing tanks and the like; it is often useful in gauging small flows, if care be taken to select a size which will just run full. The following table gives approximate numbers :

=

3

G

dx 84

G

VD

8

× 8.4

These formulæ have many important bearings on chemical engineering, their use in actual practice will be more fully explained in the last lecture, when they can be worked in, to show how new plant should be constructed; in the meantime, the student should endeavour to work out problems for himself, based on these rules, as he will find it good exercise.

So far, I have only dealt with what may be called the regular flow of liquids. Where the flow is irregular, or intermittent, and the total volume passed in a given time is required to be known, the solution of the problem is often one of great difficulty. If the liquid is one in which a meter can be employed, the difficulty disappears, but the use of a meter is not often possible. Even meters deserve some attention in proper selection, as some patterns will not not register a small continuous flow. When a meter cannot be employed, two other courses remain open: the first, to collect and measure the volume in tanks or reservoirs, over a given period, which of course can be very accurately performed. The second method is to measure by means of tumbling boxes of known capacity, to which automatic counters are attached, to register the number of falls the box or bucket has made. With properly constructed buckets, the measurements are much more accurate than many believe, and I have seen them employed in several factories.

Our attention may now be turned to the measurement of gaseous volumes, especially when in a state of motion.

(To be continued.)

SOCIETY OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY.

LONDON SECTION.

THE first meeting of the session was held on Monday, November 3rd, at Burlington House, the newly elected chairman of the Section, Mr. Thos. Tyrer, presiding. After a few words from the chairman, pledging himself to an earnest effort to execute the duties of his office to the best of his ability, and in particular, to endeavour to cause the meetings to begin punctually at the time appointed, Mr. A. G. Green read a paper on the "Diazotype Process of Photographic Printing and Dyeing," by himself and Messrs. Cross and Bevan. The reader's researches about three years ago led to the discovery of a new class of dyestuffs which dyed cotton direct without a mordant, and the group of bodies thus obtained had been called the "primuline series." Further investigation had shown that when a member of this series is diazotised on the fibre and exposed to light, it receives a photographic impression capable of development by a suitable phenol or amine; the resulting colour depending on the nature of the latter; thus a-naphthol sulphonic acid would give a crimson print, B-napthol sulphonic acid a maroon, resorcin an orange, and X-naphthylamine a purple. The use of the process could be extended to films of gelatine, on glass or xylonite, and its applicability was extremely wide as a means of decoration, particularly having regard to the case with which different parts of a design could be developed with different reagents thereby acquiring different colours, it was remarkably successful, half tones of great delicacy being readily obtained. With respect to the mechanism of the change brought about by light, it was difficult to offer an exhaustive explanation; direct experimental evidence had been obtained by observation of the fact that, the action was accompanied by the evolution of nitrogen, which led to the belief that the diazo group was split off, but at present, little additional knowledge had been gained. It appeared that the diazotised primuline was more sensitive than the silver salts generally used in photographic printing, and was affected by a greater number of the rays of the spectrum, the maximum effect being produced by the green.

In the discussion which followed, the chairman particularly adverted to the use of the process for the reduplication of engineers' drawings, and considered it might prove better than those now in vogue. Dr. Bourcart touched on the possibility of a considerable amount of fading taking place, instancing eosin as similarly unstable. Dr. Alder Wright pointed out the improbability of English sunlight being strong enough for printing quickly on a commercial scale, and drew attention to the explosive properties of some diazo bodies. Mr. Spiller referred