DEBATES OK PHARMACY BILL. 
65 
be put to considerable inconvenience ; for instance, a man who wanted any of the s 
articles for cleaning his boot-tops, or a housemaid for cleaning domestic articles, would 
otherwise have to go, in country districts, a considerable distance before they could find 
a duly qualified chemist and druggist from whom they could obtain them. In that 
case a great hardship would be inflicted upon these persons. 
Loud Elcho : I hope the Committee will retain these words. I know and have ex¬ 
perienced the difficulty of finding duly qualified persons in out-of-the-way places, 
and in the Highlands, on one occasion, I was glad to avail myself of the drugs and 
the services of a man who sold fiddles, whipcord, hob-nail shoes, who, in fact, kept 
an American store, and who, on my applying to him, produced his gallipots from 
amongst a general and miscellaneous stock ; I can only say that I was greatly bene¬ 
fited by what he compounded for me. If such a bill as this (and without such a 
provision) had been the law of the land, I must have gone to a town some distance off 
to have had my prescription compounded. In regulating these matters we must not 
too much interfere with the trade of the country. Certain poisons, it appears, are 
used for the commonest purposes of life, and no doubt they may be used for very 
evil purposes, but at the same time I think we ought to be very careful how we 
interfere with this trade. Oxalic acid is used for cleaning fire-irons and grates, and 
if you prohibit general dealers from selling, housemaids will be prevented from ob¬ 
taining it in small towns ; it is used, again, for cleaning top-boots, and as about 150 
of these articles are used in the ordinary and common purposes of daily life, I do not 
think it is advisable to over -doctrinaire the country with provisions against the sale of 
poisons. It is sufficient for the present if we protect ourselves against their improper 
use in the compounding of medicines. The clause gives as much security as possible 
under the circumstances. 
Mr. Lowe : This clause says that we shall not interfere with the sale of certain 
poisons, yet by the schedule of the Act it is proposed to deal with them. In this 
manner it is proposed to regulate the sale of poisons, and, amongst others, that of 
arsenic and oxalic acid. It seems to me a strange mode of proceeding. 
Lord R. Montagu: No one desires to prevent housemaids from obtaining oxalic acid 
for cleaning fire-irons. What we want to do is t4 take care that it shall not be sold 
unless under certain precautions with reference to labelling and so forth. What is 
intended is, that the sale of these poisons shall be properly regulated. 
Mr. Thomas Cave : The object is not to place these poisons under the restrictions 
of this Act in every respect, but to make regulations in issuing them from the shop ; we 
all know perfectly well Madeline Smith’s case. 
The Committee divided, the numbers were :— 
For the retention of the words ... 30 
Against it.58 
Majority .28 
The words were then struck out. 
Lord R. Montagu : I beg to propose the following addition to the clause :—“ Pro¬ 
vided always that a registration under this Act shall not entitle any person so registered 
to practise medicine or surgery, or any branch of medicine or surgery.” 
This amendment was agreed to. 
This clause, as amended, was ordered to stand part of the Bill. 
On clause 17, 
Lord Elcho : I move that the clause be struck out. 
Mr. Lowe : The noble lord’s new clause will be a great improvement upon this, 
which it is proposed to omit from, the Bill, but there are still a great many objections to 
it. The new clause which the noble lord proposes to substitute for the one to be struck 
out of the Bill is, as follows :—“ It shall be unlawful to sell any poison of those which 
are marked with an asterisk in Schedule (A) to this Act, to any person unknown to the- 
seller; and on every sale of such article the seller shall, before delivery, make or cause 
to be made an entry in a book to be kept for that purpose, stating in the form set forth-; 
in the Schedule (F) to this Act, the date of the sale, the name and address of the pur¬ 
chaser, the name and quantity of the article sold, and the purpose for which it is stated 
by the purchaser to be required, to which entry the signature of the purchaser or his 
agent shall be affixed, and it shall be unlawful to sell any poison whatsoever to a person 
VOL. X. F 
