PHARMACEUTICAL LEGISLATION. 
39 
Pharmaceutical Society a sounding, but an empty name. And when it is re¬ 
membered that we dare thus to die, not certainly for a good man, but for the 
benefit of those who have abused us, and bullied us, and, as far as they could, 
injured us, we may confidently defy history to produce another example of 
such generous devotion. Phoenix-like, the Society may in after-years arise 
from its ashes more beautiful and stronger than before ; but, after all, this 
is only a poetical theory, and no one has yet attempted to show r that the end 
aimed at by the Pharmaceutical Council might not be attained as quickly, 
and far more certainly, by steadily advancing in the estimation of the medical 
profession and the public generally, as we have done for many years past. 
Twenty names, some of them the very foremost in our ranks, were published 
in your May number, subscribing to a manifesto, urging on the Council this 
policy of self-immolation. .Noble twenty ! All must admire, though all 
may not care to emulate, such conduct as this. Let them receive all the 
honour they deserve, for showing themselves so willing and anxious to sacri¬ 
fice, not only themselves, but, unfortunately, all the rest of us too, who have 
not perhaps advanced quite so far in this branch of Pharmaceutical ethics as 
they have done. Many of us—I, for one, at least—spent years of study, 
not much for the love of it, certainly not for the benefit of those who 
have been too idle to fit themselves in the same way, but that we might drag 
ourselves out of the whirlpool of mediocrity, and place ourselves upon what 
we supposed was the firm rock of the Pharmaceutical Society. And here 
let me express what I believe to be the sentiment of all the examined mem¬ 
bers of the Societ} 7 , by saying how thankful we have been to the founders 
for providing us with such an excellent association- Put now we are bidden 
to cast ourselves off this rock into the vortex again; and though Mr. Ince and 
such strong swimmers as himself are sure to rise above the surface, they 
forget that there are many others of less strength who will thus lose the re¬ 
ward which they laboured so hard in their younger days to obtain. Allow 
me to conclude by applying to this subject an anecdote which Mr. Charles 
Dickens lately related or invented. There was, he said, a young lady of ex¬ 
treme beauty who was most ardently admired, and earnestly sought for, by 
ten jmung gentlemen, all more or less beautiful. She liked them all about 
equally, and, therefore, in order to select one from these ten, she took the 
opportunity, when they were all by, to throw herself into the sea. Nine of 
her lovers plunged in after her, and fortunately all were saved, when the 
young lady showed her wisdom by choosing the one who had, very sensibly, 
kept himself dry; and, adds Mr. Dickens, they were married, and lived 
happily ever afterwards. Now, the United Society is the young lady (a very 
poor imitation, by the bye), floundering about in a sea of discontent. Nine- 
tenths of our number have plunged into that sea to rescue her- Now is the 
time, then, for the Council to show their wisdom by standing by the one- 
tenth who have so sensibly kept themselves dry. 
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
A. C. Wooton, Pli. Chemist. 
Luton, June 6, 1867. 
TO THE EDITORS OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
Gentlemen,—In reference to the 19th Clause of the Pharmacy Act, the 
feeling of the majority of the Pharmaceutists of this town is decidedly against 
the admission of the present chemists and druggists in business, with the 
title of Members of the Pharmaceutical Society, unless a more distinctive title 
than Pharmaceutical Chemist is given to the b ounders and Examined Mem- 
