VoL. ii., No. 1. 
THE CHEMIST AND DRUGGIST OF AUSTRALASIA. 
19 
advancement of pharmacy and scientific correspondence. In 
1842 the council petitioned for a Royal Charter of Incorpor- 1 
ation which was granted on February 18, 1843, and which | 
constituted the society the representative of pharmacy, and by ! 
virtue of which they were empowered to regulate the admission 
and education of its members; the defined objects of the 
society being education, protection and relief of distressed 
members. For some time the society proceeded to develop 
the attainments of its members, and its records show much 
honest painstaking work for their mutual advancement in 
pharmaceutical and scientific knowledge, men like Bell, i 
Morson, Fownes, and Dr. Thompson taking the lead. The j 
passing of Mr. Hawes’ bill was, by the powerful effort made 
against it, made possible only by a clause being inserted pro- 
tecting chemists and druggists then in business, but it was 
actually counted out of the House. The passing of the Sale 
of Arsenic Act in 1851 showed the necessity of a Pharmacy 
Act, as there was no legal definition of a chemist and druggist 
or a pharmaceutical chemist, it being felt that had such existed 
the Act would have been made more perfect. 
This I may say in passing shows a similar state of things to 
what we now have in this colony, w'e have an imperfect Poison 
Act, and the last recognises no one to whom the sales of 
poisons can be restricted. The Pharmaceutical Journal of 
this date said “the grand 2 >i’inciple is now generally recog- 
nised that the business of a chemist and druggist is something 
more than a mere trade, and that protection, respectability 
and success are directly connected with professional qualifica- 
tions.” It was therefore felt to be a good time to make fur- 
ther efforts, and Mr. Bell who had been returned to Parliament 
as member for St. Albans, moved for leave to introduce a bill 
into the House of Commons to regulate the qualifications of 
pharmaceutical chemists, and for other purposes. This was 
printed and discussed, and left to stand over till next session, 
the chief objection to it being that it was an interference with 
free trade principles, as it aimed at establishing a monopoly. 
However with some amendments it was passed on June 1852. 
These amendments were the striking out of all clauses giving j 
a monopoly to examined men, and although not as complete 
as wished for, it confirmed and established the powers of the | 
Pharmaceutical Society. In order to meet a desire that i 
sprang up amongst the most liberal of the members, that the 
Society should embrace the whole trade, it was resolved in 
Council “ That in order to bring the Pharmacy Act into more 
extensive and immediate operation, it is desirable that the 
Pharmaceutical Society should include amongst its members all 
duly qualified dispensing chemists in the United Kingdom. And 
that the Society be recommended to adoj)t a liberal spirit in 
regard to the admission into the Society of chemists and 
druggists who were in business on their own account before 
the passing of the Act. It was therefore resolved that any 
such might on the certificate of two members shewing that he 
was a desirable person to be admitted, be enrolled as a mem- 
ber of the Society with full rights, without examination. 
This Avas opposed by a party headed by a Mr. Dickinson, who 
carried a test case into the laAV courts, but without success ; 
the liberal spirit of the Society being upheld. On the 14th 
June^ 1859, the Society suffered the loss, by death, of Mr. 
Jacob Bell, who had been one of its earliest and most useful 
members. As a permanent expression of gratitude and.esteem, 
the Society founded the Jacob Bell scholarships, two in num- 
ber, of the value of £30 each, tenable for one year, open to all 
students in the Society’s schools. Notwithstanding all that 
had been done to facilitate membership, a great many of the 
chemists stood aloof from the Society, and in 1861 another 
society was formed, called the United Society of Chemists and 
Druggists, a purely trade association, not educational, for co- 
operation and mutual help in matters of general interest. 
They also endeavoured to procure for themselves exemption i 
from jury service, a boon that had been conferred upon the 
Pharmaceutical Society. The secretary of this new body was 
Mr. Cyrus Buott, a name well-known to all readers of The 
Chemist and Druggist, which was stated as the organ of the 
Society, as at that time and for a few years later it used to 
appear prominently in that journal.’*' In 1863 a 
* Mr. Hill will allow us to jpoint out that The Chemist and 
Druggist was established in 1859, and it was not till a twelve- 
month had elapsed that the prelimininary prospectus of the 
United Society appeared in its columns. The Society received 
advocacy and help from our journal, but could not be called 
in any sense its olicial organ. 
neAV and important cause of excitement arose 
amongst the chemists and druggists. A committee of 
the medical council had been considering the j)rovisions of the 
Medical Act with a view to its amendment, and it was pro- 
loosed to include pharmacy amongst the departments under its 
control. This was after further consideration shown to be 
undesirable, but the view was expressed that the then state of 
pharmacy was a disgrace to the country, and the following re- 
solution was passed : — “ That the attention of the Secretary 
of State for the Home Department be draAvn to the present 
defective state of the law regarding the practice of pharmacy, 
under which any person, however ignorant, might undertake 
it, and expressing the opinion of the medical council that 
some legislative enactment was urgently called for to ensure 
competency in persons keeping open shops for dispensing 
medicines and compounding physic and surgery prescriptions.” 
This being done, the subject was left to Bloomsbury Square. 
It was admitted on all sides to be necessary ; education Avith- 
out legislation had been effective up to a certain point only, 
viz., individual inclination, but the majority of the trade were 
contented Avith very medium attainments. But how was it to 
be accomplished ? The tAvo societies joined issue on the ex- 
amination test. The Pharmaceutical Society protected by its 
charter felt safe under any circumstances, and the United 
Society Avas too strong to be ignored. The right of the 
medical council to interfere Avas disputed, and the tAvo societies 
fought it out. The gage of battle throAvn doAAm AA^as, will the 
Pharmaceutical Society co-operate Avith the United Society in 
seconding a bill for the incorporation of the trade on the lines 
that no compulsory examination be required of those noAV 
carrying on business as chemist and druggists, and that after 
a fixed date no other persons shall be alloAved to sell certain 
dangerous drugs Avithout examination and registration ? After 
a long, Avordy Avar the usual compromise Avas arrived at, and 
the Pharmacy Act of 1868 introduced and passed: It recog- 
nised chemists and druggists and pharmaceutical chemists, 
the higher title Avith its prerogatives belonging to the mem- 
bers of the Pharmaceutical Society and those Avho earned it. 
Their equivalents are noAv the minor and major of the Phar- 
maceutical Society. The bill was passed on July 31, 1868, 
and Avas to come into force on Dec. 31 of the same year, after 
AA'hich date no person not hitherto in business could engage 
on his oAvn account Avithout passing through the mill. Under 
this bill the* trade is now regulated, for good or for ill, I use 
these terms for it would be idle to say that unlimited satisfac- 
tion has been given, whether the fault is in the Act or its 
administration I cannot say. Perhaps having become a large 
concern, the Pharmaceutical Society, by Avhom it is admin- 
istered, will not take cognisance of the small matters of 
every day life. But the Act is certainly a good one, andmight 
safely be adopted as a basis on which this Society could Avork. 
Here I may add that the committee appointed by this Society 
to consider the advisability of endeavoring to secure a Phar- 
macy Act for this colony must report that it is desirable ; the 
tendency all over the world is to place some restriction on the 
sale of drugs, and to demand that those to whom this is en- 
trusted shall be competent to handle them. It is very e\'ident 
that the coming generation of chemists Avill be, in other places 
at any rate, very superior to the past, and even the present, in 
scientific knoAA'ledge, as the opportunities for learning are so 
great. We cannot put a Chinese wall round South Australia, 
nor will the Avorld stand still for our benefit ; and we or our 
successors must look to it that avc are not left behind in the 
race. Whether or not the educated pharmacist of the future 
will content himself with the position of retailer of patents, 
&c,, I cannot say: I think not. EveryAvhere Ave read that 
men are feeling that their positions are not equal to their 
abilities, and increased knoAvledge Avill surely give rise to 
higher Avork, which will not be in the direction of selling 
cigars, scents, and postage stamps on Sundays, a trade Avhich 
seems to be so highly cultivated in this city. Taking the 
loAvest ground, that of self-interest, our position in this 
colony is this. We must have a certain educational standard, 
or AA^e shall be isolated from the other colonies ; they, with 
their Pharmacy Acts, aauII compel efficiency, and their certi- 
ficates Avill be interchangeable, and we are left out in the cold. 
On the other hand, Ave shall need protection against being 
sAvamped by those aaBo are unable to fulfil the requirements 
of other iffaces, but may still find open ground here, v The 
Conference that has just sat in Melbourne shoAVS that others 
are alh’e to their interests, and intend to furtlnr them. They 
will Avillingiy give us a helping hand if we require it, and it 
