THE ANALYST. 87 NOTES OF THE NONTH. We reprint the report of a case of oatmeal mixed with barley which is especially interesting as showing a wonderful concordance in two separate analyses. Mr. Jones reports (( 24 per cent. of meal chiefly barley,’’ and the inland revenue chemists find d L 22 per cent. of meal not oat.” This is the more satisfactory when we consider that in such microscopic determinations there is really room for considerable divergence of opinion as to quantities.Here is a delicious little piece of ingenuousness from a trade journal: ( 6 LU tact the analytical star has not shown very brilliantly of late, and the more it is obscured the more zu6 shall like it.” No doubt, Mr. Grocer, because it is evident to the meanest com- prehension that turning the honest penny by selling chicory and flour for the price of coffee and mustard respectively is really a remunerative undertaking.If by the analytical star shining our friend means convictions for adulteration, then we would respecthlly suggest a simple and efficient means of making it set altogether. Let him persuade the persons he represents t o stick to the letter of the law, and always sell that which they pretend.If the traders would only do this, no body of persons would be more thankful than public analysts, who do not relish wasting their time in police courts more than is absolutely necessary for the carrying out of the duties imposed on them by the state. Listen t o the latest scoundrelism of that worst of monsters the Public Analyst. Not content with honestly seeking his prey, (‘ it is observed,” bays the Grocer, ‘‘ that, as a rule, samples are taken from the shops of the smallest traders, it being applirentIy pre- sumed that there will be less trouble with them than with those in a more substantial position.” It is really a pity that such a profound and masterly exercise of the talent of observation should stop short of noticing the fact that the monster has nothing whatever88 THE ANALYST.to do with the collection of samples, and cannot, even to satisfy his terrible greed for victims, in any way interfere with the work of the inspectors, who are perfectly independent officers, and would resent his slightest hint as to the performance of their duties. We are not so sure, after all, that Government support of science is an unmitigated blessing.Earnest workers, at their own cost, will always be found, but immediately it becomes a question of giving away money, so soon does jealousy and all uncharitableness arise in the breasts of those interested. The tendency of any Government is to dispenae its favours to those best known to the men in power, and consequently me have certain persons eating the oyster while only the shells fall to their less fortunate brethren.It is not to the poor and struggling man of science that the prizes fall, but to those already enriched, and who for the time become poor on paper, and, like the eminent head of the Challenger expedition, unable to earn any money by literary or other employ- ment.” Those interested in fairly considering the matter should read the articles which have lately appeared in the Echo, and we think that on the broad question, and putting aside all discussion as to jobbery in any particular case, they will agree with us that science were better left to be self-supporting, than subsidised for the benefit of the few and the neglect of the remainder. It is not to the credit of men of science that a journal should even have a prima facie case t o call forth such comments as those invoked by the Challenger expedition and by the doings at South Kensington.The list we publish of fortunate recipients of a portion of the &5,000 granted by the Government will very probably call forth further remarks. I f only a tithe of the terrible letter which has appeared in the Medical Examiner of 12th July be true, then the present system of making bread is, to my the least, utterly repulsive. The picture of half-naked men throwing cockroaches and other even more disagreeable insects at each other in play, and then plunging half-naked and all dirty into the dough, while they add to i t flavouring ingredients in the shape of perspiration, and neglect the use of pocket handkerchiefs, is not at all appetising.No wonder that, after making the dough in such dens of dirt, the bakers are tempted to add a little alum to whiten the sepulchre. Surely bread-making by machinery would be demanded if the public Qnderstood the case, and meantime have we no Government provision for the inspectiou of bakehouses, so as to at least ensure ventilation and cleanliness? It is, of couree, acknowledged by everyone that the process of manufacturing white lead is necessarily an objectionable one, and dangerous to health, but it is really astonishing to find what singular inventions are brought forward from time to time with the object of preventing its injurious efects.Among the latest of these we have seen is a process invented by a Mr.Thompson, who, with a cool ingenuity which is quite refreshing, and an equally remarkable ignorance of the process which really takes place in a white lead stack, seems to think that all that is necessary in order to make white lead is to bring metallic lead into contact with carbonic acid. Consequently he builds a gas-tight chamber, with doors at each end, and a line of rails running through it, On these rails a carriage runs, and the metallic lead, in some way not very clearly defined, has to be stacked on to this carriage, which is outside the chamber, and theTHE ANALYST.89 carriage is then run along the rails into the chamber. The doors are to be closed, and the carbonic acid gas pumped, this pumping apparently to be continued without inter- mission until the whole of the lead has been carbonated or converted into white lead, i.e., probably for some three months.Mr. Thompson’s ingenuity, however, does not stop here, for in order to prevent any possibility of the carbonic acid gas being wasted by acting on the chamber itself, the cells are to be lined with glass. We need hardly say it will be many years before such a process as this is taken up.Another ingenious inventor thinks that the principal cause of injury to health which occurs in white lead manufacture results from the dust rising from the pulverised white lead adhering to the skin, and being to some slight extent absorbed. No doubt this is partly true, but his remedy is certainly unique. The hands and face, in fact all parts of the body exposed to dust are directed to be washed three times a day in petroleum. We think that, like the last-mentioned invention, it will be a long time before this practice comes into general use.But considering such statements as these, which are made oil the authority of respectable journals, it really seems necessary to repeat, what every white lead maker ought to know, that the best remedy t o prevent injurious effects among the workpeople is to insist upon thorough washing with plenty of soap and water, carefully avoiding anything in the shape of an alkali, adding, if anything, a few drops of sulphuric acid to the water in order to give it a slight acidity, and also adding a few drops of acid to the water which the workpeople drink, as sulphuric acid converts the lead, in whatever form it may be, into an absolutely insoluble substance, and therefore of course prevents its being injurious.The subject of the payment of analysts by coroners is one which requires a most careful consideration at the hands of our legislators, when the whole question of Coroners’ Courts comes up in Parliament. We are glad to see that, the Zanoet has taken the subject in hand, as we could tell some startling stories of analysts who have been obliged to waste days of valuable time in long and disgusting researches on semi-putrid matter, a d then have been kept waiting for years for their fees, until, out of patience, they had to resort to the extreme measure of a summons.When a coroner believes an analysis necessary, he should be instructed to send the article, with a certificate to that effect, to the publie analyst for the district in which the enquiry occurs, and on tendering that certificate at the offices of the county, the analyst should receive a fixed sum of so many guineas per day, according to the time he is employed in the analysis.We commend this to the notice of those at present considering the reformation of (‘ CROWNERS’ QUEST.” Space will not allow us to refer fully this month to a recent article in a scientific con temporary-an article eridently written with the object of supporting the proposed organisation scheme, but we give one quotation, which, coming from so favourable a quarter, will, we hope, be duly appreciated by those whom it concerns:-“The originators of this movement were not certainly and strictly speaking, professional chemists.” Comment ie needless, as this is one of the main grounds of objection to this proposed organisation scheme.90 THE ANALYST.BECENT CHEMICAL PATENTS. The following specifications have been published during the past month, and can be obtained from the Great Seal Office, Southampton Row, Chancery Lane, London.19iG. Name of Patentee. NO. 903” J. Cammack and A. Walker ... 4420 4461 4626 4559 4576 4595 4613 4636 4655 4721 4751 4758 477 9 4791 4805 4806 4848 4900 4954 6007 1877. 91 171 952 1423 G. W. Von Namrocki ... ... J. C. L. Loemer and R. W. Higgs G. Symes ... ... J. and J. Xidd ... ... C. F. Mathieson. .. ... W. R. Lake ... ... P. Moritz ...... J. S. llutler ... ... E. Rumbold ... ... F. T. Bond ... ... D. McKechnie ... ... W. P. and C. E. Cherry A. Graham ... ... R. Werdermann.. . . , . J. W. Bantock ... ... G. Itydell .. . . . . J. J. Hicks ... ... E. Simmonds ... ... w. Ycung ... ... W. Morgan-Brown .., E. Solway ... ... Ditto ... ... S. Hallsworth and R. Bailes W. R. Lake ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. I ...... ... ... 1.. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Title of Patent. . Price. Manufacture of Sulphates of Soda and Potash ... .,. Manufacture of Sugar .. . ... ... . . . ... Electric Telegraphs . . . , . . . . . .. . .. . Apparatus for Manufacturing Gas, Cc. . , . ... .. . Manufacturing and Carburetting Gas ... ... . , . Manufacture of Gas ... ... ... ... ... Electro-Magnetic EngInes... ... . . . . . . . . . Manufacture of Illuminating Gas.. . ... ... . .. Electric Night Signal Apparatus , . . ,. . . , . .. Preparation of Aniline Dyes ... ... ... ... Purifying Sewer Gas .. . ... , . . . . . . , . Production of Sulphurous Acid Gas . . . , . . , , . Treating Oxides of Iron ... . . . . . . . . . . . . Manufacture of Gas ... .. . ... ... ... Obtaining Fatty Matters from Sewage, &c.... ... Electric-Light Apparatus ... ... ... ... ... Manufacture of Nitro-Cellulose . , . . .. . , . . . . Treating Sewage, &c. ... ... ... ... .., Thermometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Composition for Rendering Walls Impervious and Damp Proof ... . . . . . . . . . .. , .. , ... Preparing and Applying Oxygenated Air for Combustion 4d.6d. 6d. 2d. 6d. 6d. 2d. 6d. 2d. 2d. 2d. 2d. 2d. 2d. 6d. d. 4d. 2d. 2d. 4d. 6a. Manufacture of Hydrochloric Acid ... ... .. . 2d. Utilising Silicates and Aluminates of Lime and Magnesia 4d. Treating and Clarifying Sewage ... ... ... ... 4d. Machinery for Manufacture of Sugar ... ... ... 6d. &ale of Food and Drup’ Act, 1875.-Three members of the House of Commons have brought in a Bill to amand this Act.Its general purport is that in determining whether adulteration is committed by diluting spirits with water, regard shall be had t o the price at which the spirits so diluted are sold. This is certainly a new phase of the adulteration movement, and wc shall be rather glad to know what will be the next, BOOES, &c., RECEIVED. The Chemist and Druggist; The Brewers’ Guardian; The American Chemist ; The British Medical Journal; The Medical Examiner ; The Medical Times and Gazette ; The Pharmaceutical Journal ; The Sanitary Record ; The Telegraphic Review ; The Medical Record ; The Geological Society’s Proceedings ; The Miller ; The Anti-Adulteration Review A correspondent writes, (( Excuse the suggestion, but I think that analysts might each in their own district keep you properly informed of any information specially interesting to the members of the Society.” We can only say that we wish they would do so, for such information would be of great value to the Society. We have received a letter signed I‘ B. Sc.” with reference to Mr. Allen’s paper on L L Potable Waters.” We shall be happy to publish the letter on receiving the writer’s name and address.