A chapter in criticism : practical chemists and therapeutical critics.
- Condy, Henry Bollmann.
- Date:
- 1871
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A chapter in criticism : practical chemists and therapeutical critics. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![recognized my exclusive claim to the discovery of those properties, you might have stated the fact without qualifi- cation. You go on to say;—“ But though the initiative in establishing their manufacture on the largo scale belongs to Mr. Condy, he seems to have allowed himself to be out- stripped in iheir economical i>roduction. In the following table Avill be found the strength of three kinds of Condy’s Patent Fluids as sold in London, measured by their oxidiz- ing power in comparison to pure permanganate of potash.” The table in question seems to me, however, utterly to fail in proving that I have allowed myself to bo outstrip2)ed in economical j>roduction. It shows, indeed, that the selling ]»rice of Condy’s Fluid is somewhat higher, in two of the kinds, than that of the equivalent quantity of its active ingredient. But surely this is nothing unjArecedented. On the contrary, it is the necessary rule in such cases, as every chemist and druggist knows. Is even the Liquor Potassm Permanganatis of the Pharmacopoeia, which is, of course, unburdened with the heavy charges * that fall on jirojuietary articles, dispensed per ounce at the price of the four grains of ])ermanganate of potash therein contained ? On the contrary, threepence per ounce is very commonly charged for it, and sometimes oven as much as sixpence. Is it not the case that all projirietary disinfecting preparations are sold at rates greatly in excess of the value of the quantity of the active ingredients in them ? Would not, for instance, the selling prices of McDougall’s Powder and some of Calvert’s Disinfecting preparations have to be very much reduced if they were to be conformed to that of the quantity of carbolic acid which they respectively contain ? f And, after all, what is the excess in price of Condy’s Fluid which your table * Such as outlay for bills, showcards, and a mass of special and occasional printing, travelling or representation expenses—extremely heavy on a single article, and, above all, costs of advertising, which, with the present multiplicity of periodicals, are enormous. t The prices of carlx)lic acid disinfectants would have to be still further rc<liicod if the quantities of them reqtiired to be used were to](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22308775_0010.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
