TIIE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
SECOND SERIES. 
VOL. IX.—No. IX.—MARCH, 1868 . 
PHARMACEUTICAL LEGISLATION. 
With the re-assembling of Parliament for the usual business of the session 
the question of an extension of the Pharmacy Act of 1852 again comes promi¬ 
nently forward. We say an extension, but we might almost call it the comple¬ 
tion of the Pharmacy Act, seeing that the objects now sought are those which 
animated the Founders of the Pharmaceutical Society in the beginning, and are 
mainly part of the provisions proposed by, but denied to, Jacob Bell in the 
House of Commons in 1852; mainly, too, those submitted to Parliament by 
Sir Fitzroy Kelly in 1865. If carried, they will hereafter ensure the proper 
qualification of every person calling himself a Chemist and Druggist, and 
induce by moral suasion the union of all in one body corporate, beneficial 
alike to themselves and the public whom they serve. That this entire union 
was always deemed desirable there is ample evidence at hand to prove, if need¬ 
ful ; and that it would greatly contribute to the higher object of education may 
be assumed most confidently now, when the improvement effected by only the 
partial union of the last twenty-five years is before us. 
There is no doubt these things have weighed deeply with the Council in making 
such concessions to the outsiders as are now proposed ; it is true the concessions 
are no greater than in the original terms proposed in 1852, and certainly no more 
than will be required by Parliament, which always looks carefully after vested 
interests. But our readers cannot have forgotten the amount of correspondence 
which was carried on in this Journal on the subject, and though some have ad¬ 
vocated liberality throughout, others have deemed the position of the Pharma¬ 
ceutical Society sufficiently assured to maintain a spirit of exclusiveness, and 
have rebelled against what they termed beginning again de novo , forgetting 
that by present concessions a vast advance towards the ultimate elevation of 
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutists would be secured. Throughout this controversy 
many of the brightest ornaments of the Society, men who have obtained its 
highest honours, have been foremost on the liberal side, and, believing that 
they have seen most clearly the true policy to be pursued, we rejoice that their 
counsel have been successful in promoting that union on which Mr. Hardy con¬ 
gratulated the deputation which waited on him at the Home Office. A fair 
and reasonable understanding now exists. The highest title granted under the 
original Pharmacy Act is to be enjoyed only by its present possessors and those 
who may hereafter pass the Major Examination, whilst Chemists and Druggists 
already in business, hitherto unconnected with the Society, are to be admitted 
to the privilege of membership. Certain modifications, however, have been 
VOL. IX. 2 D 
