34 THE ANALYST. NOTES OF THE MONTH. THE .Pharmaceutical Journal did us the honor, a few weeks ago, to give us one of those neat little back-handed slaps, so characteristic of Trade Journals when referring to analysts. In an article on spurious citrate of iron and quinine, which it states is now SO common, it took occasion to mention Dr. Duprk’s letter on drugs, which appeared in our last number, and wound up by expressing a hope that the change in our proprietorship WM not to be “synchronous with a series of sensational attacks on chemists, or any other body of traders.” We would remind our contemporary that, in common with himself we do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our correspondents, and therefore, the insertion of any letter cannot be construed into a (( sensational attack ” on our part.When we commence to vituperate traders as strongly as the Trade Journals expend there spleen upon us, then it will be time for them to speak, and meanwhile it would be well for our contemporary to remember the good old adage, which says :-‘‘ don’t cry out till you’re hurt.’’ If the recent decision finally settles milk of sulphur to be sulphur and sulphate of lime, then no one should be more thankful than Public Analysts; when any disputed matter of the kind crops up, the article is sure to be poured into the laboratories by the inspectors, and a moderate analyst, who desires to delay proceedings until a test case has been tried, is certain to be talked at by local wiseacres, urging him to give them certifi- cates of impurity, so as t o let them rush into court, only perhaps to turn tail, as hereafter described. Now all that mill we hope be over, and the public may be allowed to buy, and the druggists to sell, their sulphate of lime in peace, and above all the analysts will be set free from another questio eexatcc.Just another moment’s reference to the case, not to express any opinion upon its merits (although in this respect we consider that some persons go too far in utterly condemning the sale of an old-established and often useful remedy), but to point out the invidious and unfortunate position in which the Public Analyst is often placed. It cannot be too frequently reiterated that the Public Analyst ought not to have, and by the clear interpretation of the Act has not, any interest either in the collection of samples, or in the proceedings that follow.His duty is simply to receive and examine the articles brought to him by the inspectors, and to render a true account of their contents, and if, on receiving that certificate, the local authorities deem it right to prosecute, he has no Zoczcs dam% to prevent them. Supposing then that the prosecution takes place, it is as a rule left to chance, and often no legal personage is appointed to conduct it, while on the other hand the defendant frequently secures the support of a powerful Trade Society, the best counsel are employed, and trade witnesses interested in perpetuating the manufacture of the article me called by dozens.Then the analyst is subjected to the test of a virulent and in most cases personally-directed crom examination, made purposely as galling to his feelings as possible, as if he were the actual prosecutor, while the defence witnesses are not submitted t o any equivalent searching of their testimony.Almost as a matter of course the case fails, and then out come the self-constituted prophets of Israel, and denounce as incompetent, who ?-not the inspector who obtained the sample, not the local authorities who insisted on prosecuting and then left the case in the lurch, but the unfortunate analyst, who throughout the whole affair has been only aTHE ANALYST.35 passive instrument used by others and thrown over, when convenient, as a sop to the growling wolves outside ! We are not ourselves medical men, and therefore we trust that we shall be excused for commending to the notice of that learned body a new form of monomania.It is called annlystophobia, and its symptoms are more dreadful than hydrophobia, because instead of killing the victim off, they keep him for the rest of his life in a morbid state, always lying in wait to morally bite a victim, and suffering the most maddening suspense of mind, when a suitable pabulum for his literary teeth is not forthcoming.It condemns the wretched sufferer to hunt through every newspaper and watch every turn of events, and what is worse it causes his mind to be so completely engaged that he exists (on the point of analysts) entirely in a region of distortion, and his writings become charged with the most Tirulent abuse and absurd metaphor.I t is bad enough for a man to be obliged to write funny things for bread, when perhaps his heart is heavy, just as Dickens’ poor clown went from the bedside of his dying wife to tumble on the stage, but for a man to be so mentally chained, that he must unconsciously provide a continual source of amusement to the very class of men he hates, is one of the direst symptoms of analyetophobia.We have had to regret lately the absence of the lucubrations of a dear and funny little enemj, but we find that he is still in existence. We are really sorry that we have not space to reprint his last effusion from the Chemist and Druggist for the entertainment of our readers, but any analyst who wants a little relaxation of the facial muscles should obtain a copy of his amusingly abusive letter on ourselves in the character of the Analytical Baby.On another page we print a letter from Mr. Moore, of Brighton, in reply to OUP note ” of last month ; we are very glad to have the opportunity of inserting the letter, because it sets at rest the point of what he actually did say in contra-distinction to what he was reported to have said.We are sorry to observe that Mr. Moore appears to have taken offence at our note ” which we thought a t the time was very important, and that by eliciting the truth, we were doing him a real service, lest in reading the report, others should have taken a wrong idea as to the nature of his statement. Now that we have the true facts before us, we trust Mr.Moore will excuse us saying that we fancy no dealer in milk would wilfully give away the cream to the first comers, and the skim milk to the last, but would, for his own reputation’s sake, stir up his milk every time he served a customer. Putting all this aside, however, is it not contemplated by the Act, that a man who professes to sell milk shall sell it as from the cow, and be bound to take all reasonable precautions t o that end? We commend this view of the case to the legal advisers of local authorities, if indeed they think it worth while to waste ti precious thought on their duties under the Act.For some reason best known to himself, the writer of the “food reports” in the Medical Examilzer falls foul of the present system of butter analysis. This gentleman does not think that it has been sufficiently established, that butter never yields more than the prescribed percentage of fatty acids.We were not aware that there was any such positive percentage laid down, except for the purposes of cadculation, in cases where the butter exceeded the possible limits given, and fully discussed a year ago in our first number. We should be glad to see the figures upon which this writer bases hisTHE ANALYST .statement. that " there is some room for suspicion. that exceptionally good butter does not conform well to the test. " and until we see these figures. we may be pardoned for preferring the published results of Messrs . Angell. Eehner. Muter. Dupr6. and Jones. t o his unsupported statement . We remember that when Mr .Wanklyn first published his milk standards. and others carped at them. and brought forward isolated analyses calculated t o throw doubt upon the researches. he always answered by simply saying that these results were merely the outcome of bad work . We think that this would be the best answer to the writer in the Hedical Examiner . The Grocer. of the 21st April. devotes nearly a column to the consideration of '( THE ANALYST." We cannot say very much for the artick.but still we think it is on the whole the best in the number . It considers that although '' THE ANALYST " is not a large periodical. yet its articles are of a profound character. and cheap at sixpence . We really feel flattered . A correspondent of the Chemist and Druggist. who signs himself '' Bella Donna." states that a short time since he was at a dairy where churning was going on. and as the butter would not come. a few coppers were put into the churn in the proportion of about one penny to a pound of butter. in order t o cause the more rapid separation of the fat. and he also states that he has since been informed it is not an uncommon practice; under these circumstances it is very possible that copper may occasionally be found in butter if the practice is as common as '' Bella Donna " supposes .KECENT 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 . 1876 . N O . 2755 2778 2966 3006 3056 3119 3125 3164 3173 3209 3213 3227 3264 3342 3381 3383 3389 3390 3465 3666 3479 3651 3576 3623 3633 3640 3674 3693 3709 3734 4280 4329 4386 4597 3880 3384 Name of Patentee .. . . . . . J . H . Johnson C .. H. Gill . . . . . . F . A . Lockwodd R . J . Hutchings E . V . Gardner . . . . . . . . . W . R . M . Thompson . . . . . A . Fryer . . . . . . P . Brotherhood" . . . . . . W . Young .. . . . . . . . L . De La Peyrouse . . . . . . J . Wotherspon ... T . Baldwin and W . H:'Baile;' A . M . Clark W . Lord and L . Kaberry ... W . W eldon . . . . . . . . . Ditto . . . . . . . . . Ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . Ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . Ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . Ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . J . Clark . . . . . . . . . J . T . Lockey . . . . . . . . . J . H .Johnson . . . . . . . . . W . White . . . . . . . . . C . W . Harrison E . A . Cowper . . . . . . . . . C . E . H . Rogers . . . . . . R . Harris . . . . . . . . . W . R . Watson A . T . Becks L . Henry . . . . . . . . . H . J . Haddan . . . . . . . . . T . L . Vad-sworth . . . . . . A . M . Clark E . H . C . Monck ton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D . G . Fitzgerald .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 . . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Title of Patent . Balsnces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sugar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Treating Leather or Hides . . . . . . . . . . . . Tin Terne and Metal Plate .. . . . . . . . Explosive Compounds . . . . . . . . . . . . Drying Tea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Treating Refuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compressing Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RIanufacture of Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . Asbestos Paper and Nillboard . . . . . . . . . Dynamo Electric and'Magneto Electric Machines Cleaning Cotton . . . . . . .. . Reducing Sulphates of Potash & Soda to Sulphidei Furnaces for manufacture of Alkaline Sulphides ... Manufacture of Alkaline Sulphides . . . . . Obtaining Carbonate of Soda & Alkaline Carbonates Manufacture of Soda and Potash . . . . . . . . . Coating Metals with Collodion . . . . . . . . . Electrical Condensers . . . . . . . . . . . . Evaporating Brine . . . . . . Treating Iron Residues obtd . in Pifyng . 'Coal Ga's Disinfecting Sewage . . . . . . . . . . . . Compounds for Preserving Metals . . . . . . . . . Centrifugal Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . Disinfecting Clothing, &c . . . . . . . . . . . . . Purification of Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sugar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Preventing Corrosion in Steam Boilers Substitute for White Lead . . . . . . . . . . . . Xagneto-electric Machines . . . . . . . . . Converting Loose Granular Sugar into Cubes Generating Motive Gas, Bc . . . . . . . . . . Carburetting Air and Gases . . . . . . . . . Pressure Gauges . . . . . . . . . . . . Manufacture of Sulihide iF Sodium ... . . . . . . ... Electric Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Price . 6d. 8d. 6d. 6d. 6d. 6d. 6d. 8d. 6d. 2d. 6d. 6d. 4d. 4d. 4d. 4d. 6d. 6d. 2d. 4d. 6d. 4d. 4d. 4d. 2d. 6d. 2d. 6d. 4d. 6d. 6d. 6d. 8d . 112 1/10 2a.