this good-natured fellow. It will never do, Jacob, never! a diploma bought and paid for at Bloomsbury Square will rank even below those of Heidelberg, Erlangen, &c.; besides, who would pay 2 guineas a year, or 20 guineas in one payment, for the loan of a diploma entitling him to M.P.S.G.B., when he may have for the same amount a trip up the Rhine, and the well recognised M.D. tagged to his name?

Look on this picture-

JACOB FUNK, M.P.S.G.B.,

and on this

Sir CHARLES BELL, M.D. Even Jenkins of the Morning Post has been known to acknowledge this truth; and surely his opinion, as a literary man, will have weight with Jacob.

Dress up the quack in what way you will, The stamp of dispenser sticks to him still. ONE WHO CAN DISPENSE WITH,

AYE, AND WITHOUT, A DIPLOMA.

ON PICKLING WITH PYROLIG-
NEOUS ACID.

To the Editors of The Chemist.
GENTLEMEN,-

THERE seems to be some prejudice existing against the use of this acid in the preparation of pickles, more particularly as imparting a very peculiar flavor to them: this may, however, be overcome in a very great degree by the addition of more spice: the advantages which this acid has over malt vinegar ought not, nevertheless, to be

:

over

looked it possesses a very desirable property-that of hardening or rendering crisp whatever is pickled in it, and that in a very short space of time compared with vinegar; it is also suitable where distilled vinegar is required, and moreover not more than onefourth the price of the latter.

Although the London Pharmacopia does not order this acid in the preparation of the liquor ammoniae acetatis, yet I do not see why it would not answer as well as the acetum distillatum : it would, in fact, always be alike; whereas I have found the latter very often to contain traces of copper, evincing its having been distilled through a copper alembic.

There is no doubt of this acid being extensively used in the wholesale way, and although the pickles would not appear of so good a color (unless deleterious ingredients were used, which is often the case), yet its price and other obvious qualities, will, when

THE Chinese name (Gin-schen) of the root and of the plant which furnishes it (Panax quinque folium, L.) signifies, according to the literal translation, human forces.

This long-lived plant grows wild in the Mandchourie, on the north of the Schantaun chain of mountains, in damp places : it reaches the height of from 33 centiemetres to 1 metre.

The root, consisting of a rhizanth, five or six centimetres long, somewhat resembles that of a carrot, with circular striæ of a brownish grey color. The stem is striated, without branches, and of a red color in the portion nearest the root.

The leaves, to the number of from four to six, have their petioles attached to the stalk, and dilated at their base, so as to present a sort of canal; they are composed and divided at their summit into five ovoid folioles, of a pale green color, reticulated and serrated on the edges.

The flowers, sustained by elongated peduncles of a green color, are arranged in clusters: the calyx and the corolla are red.

The root varies in color according to the countries in which it is gathered. Thus, in the Corea, and in China, it is white, wrinkled in the dry state, and externally covered with a layer of pulverulen amylaceous matter; in Mandchourie, and in Dauria, on the contrary, it is yellow, smooth, and resembles yellow amber in appearance. The latter is considered more active than the former; and, on account of its rarity, is sold by the weight of silver. It has a sweetish taste, and is almost inodorous.

Roots are sometimes found which are divided into two portions, and which, for this reason, have been compared to the lower extremities of man: hence the Chinese denomination Gin-schen-gin (root resembling man). These roots, which are sold at the court of the Celestial Empire, belong exclusively to the Emperor, and are found in the possession only of high dignitaries.

The high price of this substance owes its origin to the superstitions of the Chinese: ndeed, among that people, it is firmly believed

*Gaugers's Repertorium der Pharmacie, &c., in Russland, Vol. I.

that eternal and unalloyed happiness must reign in the houses of those who possess this root. At the death of the head of a family, it passes by inheritance to the eldest and most worthy of the surviving members.

The root of Ginseng should be carefully kept from the air, otherwise it very soon loses all its medicinal virtues. For this reason, as soon as it is extracted from the earth, it is placed in a vessel which is hermetically closed, after which it is immediately ried by exposure to heat.

In China it is regarded as an extremely strengthening medicine, and as capable of prolonging life; and the Chinese physicians administer it under the form of decoction, associated with chicken or mutton broth. The Chinese pretend that patients who are unable to leave the room on account of weakness, should be in a condition, after the administration of the first dose, to run a long race; and that a subject arrived almost at his last moment may, by this means, even have his life prolonged for five or six days.

REVIEW OF THE CHEMIST IN THE

MEDICAL TIMES.

WE are seldom disposed to notice the vituperative animadversions in which our contemporaries, maddened by jealousy or soured by disappointment, may indulge. Fair criticism, be it in censure or in praise, on the part of those whose opinion we value, we should respect. The office of the critic, shorn of its rigid impartiality, is a disreputable and justly infamous one.

As journalists, it has always been our earnest endeavor to discharge our duty of the public in such a manner as to merit the favorable opinion of our brother journalists: we have been successful in obtaining it to a greater extent than many of our more pretending contemporaries; and we feel an honest and proper pride in the handsome and liberal manner in which THE CHEMIST has been reviewed in more than THREE HUNDRED PERIODICALS in this country and in all parts of the world.

Lately, however, there has been an exception to this rule. The editor of a fourpenny journal, of small circulation, called the Medical Times, has twice thought proper to vent the ill humor produced by want of success of this Journal. On the first occasion, making full allowance for the cause of his bitterness, we took no notice of the crabbed emanation from a fractious mind; we treated with good-natured contempt the paltry spite of our puny assailant. Now, however, that this ill-conditioned individual has again attacked us, we feel it may be necessary to remind him of his own littleness and to warn him of the propriety of a more strict adherence to truth.

In the first of these reviews the editor of the Medical Times calls Mr. Bell our "rival tradesman;" now, as we are not in the drug or any other trade, we are at some loss to understand the expression.

In the second, we are accused of having, in our September number, taken about "oneeighth of our matter from the Medical Times," without acknowledgement. To say that this is a wilful perversion of the truth, would be but telling the writer that which he already knows; in proof of its falsity, we have only to refer our reader to the number in question; they will there find that we borrowed five unimportant articles, namely:-" On the preparation of Hydrochlorate of Morphia," by M. Michiels; "On the Bebeeru Tree of British Guiana," by Dr. Maclagan (filched without acknowledgement by the Medical Times from our respectable and admirably. conducted contemporary, the London and Edinburgh Monthly Journal of Medical Science); "Mercurial Ointment in Small Pox," by Dr. Stewardson, also borrowed by the Medical Times "without the frigid formality of an acknowledgement;" Dr. Schlesior, "On the Continental Treatment of Neuralgia;" and "Ammonia as an application to Bruises." The whole of these articles make but about three of our columus, instead of "one-eighth," or six pages, of our work. Our readers will perceive that these are the only articles the source of which was not acknowledged in the department of Pharmacy, and this may be explained as follows :-At the last moment, when we thought that we had supplied the printer with sufficient copy, he sent to us for more; as we were on the eve of leaving town, we immediately made some extracts from the Medical Times, and, in our hurry, omitted to append the usual acknowledgement.

We always feel some reserve, when taking articles from the Medical Times, in owning the source, as that journal is in the habit of taking from others without acknowledgement.

Some months ago, the Editor of this weekly miscellany having made very free

with our articles (translated and communicated), we wrote to him on the subject, in preference to publicly exposing his disreputable practice, a piece of courtesy which he has not had the gentlimanliness to extend to our accidental negligence.

LIFE ASSURANCE.

The Medical Times has long been a violent assailant of the Lancet, with very little success, however; for that journal, with all its faults, is still immeasurably the best conducted and most widely circulated of all the weekly medical periodicals.

We shall make but one extract from the Medical Times this month; and here it is :

We shall next week give our 'Students' Number'-the last number of the present volume. It will consist of twenty-four pages, being a presentation of an additional eight pages to our readers, without increase of charge. The number will thus, for fourpence, contain more, and we hope better, matter than the Lancet' and' Medical Gazette' present their readers for one shilling. Advertisements cannot be sent too early for a number the circulation of which will not, we anticipate, be less than 7,000i.e., about three times the circulation of all the other medical journals put together. This will be a good lime for subscribers wishing to take the new volume to enter their names. Our programme of the new vol. will appear next week."

We have no doubt that the writer of the above wishes it was as true as he would have others believe. How any man can have the audacity to state that the circulation of all the medical journals put together does not amount to one-third of 7,000 is most astonishing. Why, the Lancet alone has five or six times the circulation of the Medical Times. Does the Editor include the British and Foreign Medical Reivew in this estimate? Does he include THE CHEMIST and the Pharmaceutical Journal? Monstrous! We intend shortly to review all the medical periodicals of the day, and in due course we shall come to the Medical Times, and we shall then show whether it contains "better matter than the Lancet."

of retaining the profits as a double guarantee founded; amongst which is the novel one to the assured-a principle which ought to be more fully carried out, for it is the want of faith which in a great degree prevents providing for their families, from taking so those who are desirous of insuring, and thus necessary a course. It is not the habit of the journalist to allude to one society more than to another, but here the very novelty observed upon demands a passing expression of congratulation, and it is freely accorded to those who have assisted by their confidence the spirited projector of the experiment.-Evening Paper.

THE HYDRO-ELECTRIC MACHINE AT THE ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.

Ar the invitation of the directors of the above Institution, we attended at the private exhibition of Armstrong's Hydro-Electric Machine, on Friday, September 15, previous to the reopening of the Institution, which had been closed for about three weeks during the fitting up of this wonderful machine.

Mr. Bachhoffner demonstrated the extraordinary powers of the machine, and performed some very beautiful experiments. He exploded loose gunpowder, fired some dry shavings, and showed that a permanent but very trifling deflection of the galvanometer was obtained. He exhibited, also by its means, the aurora borealis, and showed that it is capable of doing all that the glassplate electrical machine can, and of much that it cannot do.

The exhibition is a highly interesting one, and we have no doubt will prove highly attractive to the public. We understand that great numbers of persons have already been to witness it, and we recommend every one to embrace an early opportunity of doing so.

Among those present we observed Mr. Armstrong, the gentleman to whom we are indebted for the perfection to which this apparatus has been brought, and whose zeal we are glad of this opportunity of commending. Would that his example were more extensively followed!

BOOK RECeived.

LECTURES on Polarized Light, delivered before the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain; and in the Medical School of the London Hospital. Illustrated by above fifty wood-cuts. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. 1843.

us

TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS. We take this opportunity of thanking those gentlemen who have kindly furnished with the valuable communications inserted in the present Number, and we hope that their example will be followed by others of our readers, who may feel disposed to advance science by communications the results of well-directed experiments. We have promises of articles from several eminent men, and we hope by the insertion of such papers to increase the reputation of our work, which is by far the oldest, and we hope we may add, without vanity, the best, of the kind.

The circulation of THE CHEMIST, in Great Britain and all over the world, has become so considerable as to convince us that it will occupy its present highly gratifying position for many years, in spite of the opposition of journals which are inferior to it as regards both the quantity and quality of the matter.

If you

Clear Cloudy. Overcast Showers

TO CORRESPONDENTS. "R. T." answered in our next. will send your address, &c., you shall have a reply by post.

"A Subscriber, London." Accidentally neglected. In our next Number.

"E. E. N., Andover." We will write according to your request.

"A. G." will receive a letter.

Many other correspondents answered by post.

We have to apologise to some of our correspondents for having delayed to answer their queries; this has been caused by the great pressure of business attendant on the removal of our place of publication.

Days.

2

1

The weather during this month, so important to the farmer and the country in general, has been upon the whole genial.

The temperature has been but 3 or 4 degrees below the average at the metropolis for this month.

Rain has fallen on 12 days, but the whole amount has not been very considerable.

The harvest in this part of the country has just commenced at the end of the month.

ON THE ACTION OF SULPHUROUS ACID ON THE METALLIC OXIDES.*

BY DR. VOGEL, SEN., OF MUNICH.

BESIDES the gaseous combinations which hydrogen forms with phosphorus, sulphur, &c., we are also acquainted with several acids, not saturated with oxygen, of these same combustible bodies, namely, phosphorous, arsenious, and sulphurous acids, which have the property of reducing, at a low temperature, various metallic oxides.

The modus operandi of sulphurous acid on the metallic oxides is presented in several points of view; and, with regard to the changes which the oxides undergo, on the part of sulphurous acid, they may be divided into three classes :

1. The oxides which are totally reduced to the metallic state by means of sulphurous

aoid:

2. The oxides which yield to sulphurous acid only a portion of their oxygen, passing to an inferior state of oxidation :

3. Finally, the oxides which undergo no reduction by contact with sulphurous acid.

Berzelius says, in the fourth volume of his Treatise on Chemistry, third edition, that the action of sulphurous acid on red oxide of mercury has not been examined, and he advances that a neutral protosulphate should result from their combination; this opinion induced me to make some experiments on this subject.

As phosphorus acid readily reduces several metallic oxides, it seemed probable that sulphurous acid would act more or less in the same manner, especially as we are already acquainted with the partial reduction of the salts of copper and iron by means of this

acid.

RED OXIDE OF MERCURY.

When a concentrated solution of sulphurous acid gas in water is poured on well-pow

*Journal de Pharmacie, Sept. 1843. N. S. VOL. I.-No. XI. November, 1843.

dered red oxide of mercury, the mixture is | heated, the red color of the oxide disappears, and a light, white powder is immediately formed and slowly deposited. If, for example, a thermometer be steeped in an ounce of sulphurous acid at a temperature of 64° F., and if half an ounce of red oxide of mercury be added to it, the thermometer rises from 64° F. to 78° F. By filtering the liquid after some minutes' contact with oxide of mercury, potassa produces in it, indeed, a black precipitate, and common salt a white one; a certain quantity of protosulphate was at once formed by the first action of sulphurous acid, as Berzelius had predicted; the white powder acted the same as a protosulphate and a sulphite, for it was blackened by the alkalis.

This white powder, which is formed at the first contact of sulphurous acid with the red oxide of mercury, acquires a greyish tint by the addition of a larger quantity of sulphurous acid. The decanted liquid was acid, and contained an excess of sulphurous acid, plus mercury, but in the state of deutosulphate; there was no protosulphate, for the solution of common salt produced in it no precipitate.

By boiling this liquid, which still contained free sulphuric acid, a greyish powder of a metallic lustre was deposited, and the odor of the sulphurous acid had entirely disappeared. By adding to it a fresh quantity of sulphurous acid, and by heating it de novo, all the mercury was separated in the metallic state, and the decanted liquor contained nothing but sulphuric acid.

The change which red oxide of mercury undergoes is more striking, if the sulphurous acid which is poured on this oxide be boiled. In this case, and with a suitable quantity of acid, the whole quantity of oxide is immediately reduced to the metallic state, and the supernatant liquor consists of sulphuric acid, without any trace of mercury.

SALTS OF OXIDES OF MERCURY.

If, then, as we have just seen, red oxide of mercury may be reduced in a short time 3 K