18 
THE CHEMIST AND DRUGGIST OF AUSTRALASIA 
Jan. 1, 1887 
THE BIRTH AND PROGRESS OP PHARMACY. 
By Chas. S. Hill. 
(Read before the Pharmaceutical Society of South Australia. 
I have chosen this subject for this evening’s paper, thinking 
it to be about the most suitable for the opening paper of a 
young society like ours. It is well for us to know what has 
been done in other and older communities, and to mark their 
dilficulties and successes, and perhaps failures. In the early 
part of the eighteenth century, pharmacy in England, as a 
distinct branch of medicine, was unknown. The physicians j 
and ajpothecaries, men of a certain professional standing, held 
matters in their own hands. These men were a strange mix- ! 
ture of earnestness and ignorance compared with the know- | 
ledge of the present day, and were filled with amusing con- . 
ceits as to the virtues of various unearthly compounds which 
they advanced and maintained with great rigor. Their 
principal ability seems to have been shown in their power of 
persuading their patients to x>our almost unlimited quantities 
of physic, not sugar-coated either, down their throats and after- 
wards pay their bills, which were not trifling. But evil 
times were coming upon them, their assistants began to open ] 
shops as dispensers and purveyors of medicines, &c., and ' 
found favour with the public, who had such lively recollec- ^ 
'.tions of the apothecaries and their doses and bills. So was 
ifounded the present order of Chemists and Druggists. In self 
' defence the apothecaries also opened shops or dispensaries, 
and a rivalry sprang up betw^een the two classes. The 
chemists eked out a trade in miscellaneous and sometimes in- 
■ congruous articles, thereby earning the scorn of their old 
masters. In 1748 the Corporation of the Society of Apothe- 
caries obtained a charter empowering it to licence apothecaries 
and to search shops, it being alleged that many of the chemists 
sold drugs of no value. They carried out this j^ortion of their 
duties with singular conscientiousness, for we are told that j 
they entered into shops of persons who were found to be 1 
obnoxious, say for their growing trade, and although in some | 
instances their own ignorance and their victim’s integrity was j 
• clearly proved, burnt their drugs in the street before their ; 
shops. But their efforts were futile and the druggists throve. [ 
So in 1794 a general meeting of apothecaries was held, at 
which it was resolved “That this unjust and innovating 
usurpation of the druggists, together with the intrusion of 
uneducated and unskilful persons into professional practice 
called loudly for some speedy and effective act which should j 
at once destroy the obtrusions complained of, and restore 
credit and respectability to the profession.” The ai^othecaries ! 
were in a peculiar predicament, they were only able to charge 
for medicines supplied, and not for professional attendance, 
so that they felt the ground being cut from under their feet, 
and no doubt ignorance and presumption were rampant. To 
carry out the conclusions of this meeting it was proposed to 
form a general association of educated practitioners, and to 
appeal to parliament for protection and power to act. But 
the difficulties and jealousies were too strong, and it fell 
through and the association was broken up, and the druggist j 
was more firmly established. It was subsequently observed 
that the increased attention that the apothecaries were giving ! 
to medical and surgical science was greatly unfitting them to I 
act as traders in selling medicines and dispensing prescrip- 1 
tions, so that the comparative neglect of this part of their i 
profession materially strengthened the position of the drug- i 
gist who bent all his best energies to it. Unwilling to part 
with what they still considered to be their prerogative, in 1812 
they introduced a bill “To constitute a fourth medical body 
which should be empowered to examine apothecaries, 
accoucheurs, dispensing chemists and their assistants, and to 
prohibit the practice of medicine, surgery or pharmacy by 
uneducated persons, and to vest in the new body the pre- 
rogative of granting licences to such persons as they should 
find on examination to be competent.” The druggists, | 
against whom this measure was levelled, took alarm, a general 
meeting was called in London and a committee appointed to 
take the necessary steps to oppose it. They acted in a most 
energetic manner, and the apothecaries, not receiving the help 
of the College of Physicians, who treated the affair with great 
indifference, were obliged to consent to a compromise, and a 
clause in the bill was inserted to the effect that it should in no 
way affect the business of a chemist and druggist, whose rights 
were now beginning to be recognised and respected. The 
result of this attempt at legislation was disastrous to its pro- 
moters, for it hampered them and gave the druggist a footing 
for his claim to prescribe or practice medicine, which has 
been such a sore point to all concerned, as it has always 
been claimed as one of the rights appertaining to druggists 
keeping open shop ever since. In 1^2 a society was formed 
called the General Association of Chemists and Druggists for 
the purpose of obtaining a judicial construction of the Medical 
Stamp and Licence Act which was found to be vague and 
indefinite. In 1830 another attempt was made to regulate 
pharmacy, this time by the druggists themselves. This was 
started by Mr. Savory who, with others, desired to elevate the 
trade socially and educationally by legislative enactment. Mr. 
Savory carried the memorial which had been prepared round 
to the druggists in London for signature, but with little 
success. A notion appeared to prevail that as the trade had 
been so often attacked it was only courting danger to introduce 
so delicate a subject, most considering it 
Better to bear the ills we have 
Than fly to others that we know not of. 
So the matter fell through, most of tho druggists being un- 
willing to depart from the strictly defensive policy hitherto 
pursued. 
In 1839 a committee of the House of Commons sat to revise 
all laws relating to the medical profession and the right of 
druggists to prescribe or practice medicine was discussed but 
not altered. But in 1841 a Mr. Hawes endeavoured to reform 
the profession by introducing a bill defining the words 
“ practicing medicine ” which had been such a hone of con- 
tention, to mean “the recommending, prescribing, or ordering, 
either directly or indirectly, any medicine, remedy, or appli- 
cation whatsoever for the relief or cure of any disorder, ail- 
ment, or illness of the body or mind. And providing that no 
male person whatsoever, on and after the 1st February, 1842, 
be permitted to practice medicine for remuneration or gain 
unless he shall have obtained a certificate to practice the same 
according to the provision of this Act. And further, that no 
person shall be permitted to carry on the trade or business of 
a chemist and druggist unless he shall obtain a licence accord- 
ing to the provision of this Act.” The trade was alarmed, 
meetings were called, and a committee appointed, who recom- 
mended “That in order the better to protect themselves 
against these constant attacks upon their trade, a permanent 
society should be formed,” and as it was evident that ijharmacy 
must be x>laced upon a more scientific footing, that some 
measures must speedily be adopted for introducing a system 
of education that should be equal to its requirements, they 
advised that it was the best policy to anticqjate what was 
about to take place and give a practical answer to all objections 
by establishing a system of government for themselves which 
could admit of no reproach. It was therefore resolved: — first: 
That the permanent interests of the chemists and druggists 
require that they shall immediately form themselves into a 
society. Secondly: That the society be termed the Phar- 
maceutical Society of Great Britain. Thirdly : That the 
society shall consist in the first place of such established 
chemists and druggists as shall voluntarily come forward in 
aid of its objects and interests. Fourthly : That the object of 
the society he to benefit the public and elevate the profession 
of pharmacy by furnishing the means of proper instruction, 
and to protect the privileges of its members, and to provide 
for the relief of distressed members. And on the loth April, 
1841, the Pharmaceutical Society was formed with nearly one 
hundred members, amongst whom the names of Pigeon, 
Allen, Bell, Dinneford, Lucas and many others well known to 
fame as upright and able chemists, and many not unknown 
in the scientific world are found. It would be well to notice 
that one of the first objects of the Pharmaceutical Society was 
distinctly educational, its members did not seem to be 
actuated by any design to shut out opposition. They seem to 
have acted with a single eye to the advancement of pharmacy. 
In order to keep up the interest in the society and to pro- 
I mote goodfellowship amongst its members, papers were read 
and discussed. At one of the meetings it was reported with 
much satisfaction that a communication had been received 
from Paris, from some of the leading pharmacists of that city, 
desiring to establish scientific correspondence with the 
soeiety; similar overtures were also received from America 
and elsewhere, and the committee congratulated the soeiety 
in that, although the chemists and druggists of Great Britain 
had united in the first instance in self defence, that union 
had resulted in the creation of a national institution for the 
