THE CHEMIST AND DRUGGIST OF AUSTRALASIA. 
Jan. 1, 1887. 
behoves us to do our best to maintain an equal footing. A ' 
hi"h standard of efficiency is already hxed and will not be i 
relaxed, but indeed is almost annually raised in stringency. ; 
This may or may not be an advantage. Personally, I hold ; 
that a business man is not altogether improved by too scien- '■ 
tific a training. The tact and fine-'^se necessary for profitably ; 
conducting a business may be trained out of him, a positive | 
distaste for its petty, perhaps, but still necessary, duties, de- : 
veloped instead. Have we not all known instances of culti- , 
vated educated men, who in the race of life have found the ^ 
very habits and prejudices that their culture has begotten in | 
them to be the greatest impediments to their success in busi- I 
ness? As private and personal friends they may be inestim- ; 
able, but as business men not worth their salt. I think that | 
there is both a science and an art in pharmacy, and most of . 
us are more interested in the art. A chemist should be ex- ; 
pected to possess a knowledge of the drugs he handles, their j 
doses and uses, &c., poisons and their antidotes; but that he i 
should be required to be an adept in the highest branches pf i 
chemistry, a proficient botanist, a skilled microscopist, in ^ 
order to obtain a license to carry on a business in which, at > 
any rate as it stands at present, such knowledge will almost be ^ 
a superfluity, and considerably less valuable than the art of ; 
pleasing a customer, seems to me to show that either the I 
business is not what it should be or that the requirements of j 
the examiners are too stiff. In The Chemist and Druggist of j 
October IG, 1868, I read from the address of the President of , 
the Newcastle Pharmaceutical Association, who, in alluding j 
to the Pharmacy Act and its examinations, says:— “The i 
result was such that while in their ranks there were a few who | 
had obtained distinction in the scientific world, the examma- j 
tions had not obtained for them as a body either the rewards i 
or the respect which their fellow-citizens were generous | 
enough in bestowing upon those who were educated to a , 
professional standard, and who practised their avocation in a ; 
professional spirit. The present condition of the chemist and i 
drun-gist of this country was unsatisfactory, and the out-look j 
of the immediate future, for the majority of them, was gloomy ] 
beyond description, because they were alienating, slowly it j 
might be, but nevertheless the more surely, their birthright | 
of education and its attendant privileges, and accepting m 
their places all the ills of unscrupulous commercial compe- 
tition. At the present time they were doubtless passing 
through a crisis, but if every chemist and druggist would do 
his best to carry out not only the letter, but the spirit of the 
Pharmacy Act, there need be little fear for the future.” He , 
here lays their troubles on their own shoulders, but I fear : 
that if it is left to the present race of chemists and drug- ! 
gists to fix their social status, the energies of the many i 
will outweigh the aspirations of the few. But as all thys j 
may appear, without the restrictions imposed by the Act, it 
would be much worse and the trade would be cut up beyond 
recognition. This is one point we must consider. We cannot | 
afiordto stand still whilst others are moving on, and if the re- j 
quirements are too severe fewer men will pass, and those who j 
do, perhaps, will benefit and a better feeling obtained amongst 
them ; although I cannot say that this is borne out by ex- 
perience. Therefore for our own sakes in order to secure 
recognition in other places and protection here and ^ for our 
successors in order that their training may be in keeping with 
their requirements, I strongly advocate * Pharmacy Act and its 
attendant means of instruction. We have not ventured to sug- 
gest any particular lines upon which an Act should be drafted, 
as the absence of schools causes a difficulty, and in fairness 
to the candidates we must not throw insurmountable obstacles 
in their way. The Victorian Act is a very good one and has 
worked well, but we must remember that they Ihave several 
good schools in which chemistry, materia mediea, &c. are 
taught, and therefore, they can with justice demand a higher 
standard than we can at present. The possibility of our being 
able to restrict the sale of ordinary drugs and patents to 
chemists alone I think is very doubtful, it may be done by 
degrees, but I am afraid if tacked on to a Pharmacy Act 
would cause its rejection. Whoever takes the matter in hand 
must be careful not to ask for too much. The Tasmanian Act 
allows unbroken packages with the name of maker on to be 
• sold. Such an Act as they now have in Tasmania would 
stand no chance of passing in any of the Australian ^ Colonies 
now, unless the storekeepers were fools and the public asleep. 
One well written letter in a good newspaper would destroy its 
chance. The chemists there can well afford to let well alone, | 
one would think t to be the wisest course. A clause in their i 
Act, which dates from 1842 a relict solely of old military ; 
governors, imposes a fine of £50 on any unlicensed vendor of | 
drugs selling any medicine or drug, and to obtain his licence an " 
examination has to be passed. 
Through the kindness of the editor of The Chemist and 1 
Brnggist of Australasia I have just received a copy of the 
Canadian (Quebec) Pharmacy Act. After a careful reading I , 
must confess that it seems to me to be about all that is re- 
quired. The phraseology is rather American and the typo- . 
graphy nothing to boast about. It certainly cannot be com- 
pared with the model Act of Victoria which is so well drafted 
as a work of art. But the Canadians seem very well satisfied 
with it, and in some respects notably clauses 21 and 22 dealing 
with assistants and apprentices, they are in advance of others. 
It will be seen tlaat I am not much in sympathy with the 
prevailing idea of many, especially in Victoria, that such high 
class qualifications are necessary for an entrance into the 
drug trade, I cannot see that any injustice is done even if the 
examinations in Edinburgh are less severe than those in 
London, unless it can be shown that the Scotch licentiates 
are not fitted for their business, which I expect would be 
difficult. I take it that Pharmacy Acts are to secure fair 
competency in druggists and not to be twisted into stumbling 
blocks. I prefer being myself, and seeing my fellows compet- 
ent business men, satisfactorily carrying on a respectable 
avocation rather than a kind of hybrid profession, compelled 
by circumstances to do those things which his soul abhors. 
I feel that I can sell a customer a patent without any loss of 
my self-respect, and if the profit is fair with considerable 
satisfaction. My object in standing behind my counter is to 
secure as comfortable a living as possible. With this view I 
take my shutters down in the morning and put them up again 
in the evening with the lightest heart when the pocket is the 
heaviest. No doubt the advanced pharmacist of the day 
would treat such mercenary views with scorn, but I have yet to 
live to see the man who stands behind his counter for the love 
of it unless his business is specially remunerative. To the chemist 
of to-day and for many years to come I think the commercial 
side of pharmacy will be found to be far more important than 
the scientific, though of course some men with means and 
leisure may continue both, but the majority of us, I fear, will 
find our energies sufficiently taxed in endeavouring to accom- 
plish one. We live by buying and selling, as do our neigh- 
bours, and in these days of half-yearly sales and “alarming 
sacrifices ” the public are learning to look for the man who 
gives them the most for their money. 
EUPHOEBIA DEUMMONDIL 
Above we give an engraving of the plant Euphorbia 
Drummondii, less commonly known as spurge weed. I his 
is the first illustration of the plant that has been published 
and is about half natural size. The interest attaching to the 
species for pharmacists is that it is the source of the newly 
discovered active principle Drumine, which has been found to 
possess such remarkable properties by its discoverer Dr. John 
Reid The plant is only too well-known to sheepowners. it 
has the reputation of being one of plants most deadly to the 
travelling sheep, though as will be seen later on it is not abso- 
lutely certain that this character is well deserved. 
The plant is a low insignificant _ weed ; the flowei^ and 
fruit are inconspicuous ; hut it is easily distinguished by its 
milky juice from the two or three plants with with it might 
be confused. 
