AN ASSISTANT’S PLEA. 
175 
physicians,—or, as some of them most unwarrantably dub themselves, doctors. 
One of them some time ago informed me there was no water of any kind in 
proof spirit. It was rectified spirit, save that it had a sp. gr. of 1000. He ridi¬ 
culed the idea of water being in it. When shown the Pharmacopoeia he hummed, 
hawed, and changed the conversation instanter. Another laughed at the name 
■“ cerebro-spinal fluid,” until shown it in a work on surgery. Another speci¬ 
men of this species of humanity, who cut down apothecaries behind their 
backs, and are as silent as mutes on all professional matters before them, 
ordered me to get some of the tinct. ferri perchloridi from the druggist, as 
he had a decided objection to use tinct. ferri mur. Supposing, as Mr. Mona¬ 
ghan does, that a L.A.H. and an M.D. were the only medical men in a small 
town, the gentleman holding the qualification M.D. might legally dispense his 
own prescriptions, provided his name was on the ‘ Medical Register.’ On the 
same conditions any other medical man might do the same. A pharmaceu¬ 
tical chemist is emphatically not more generally competent to dispense than 
an apothecary of the Irish Hall. Mr. Monaghan made the allegation without 
proof of any kind. Quantity is not quality; and because there are fewer 
dispensers in Ireland (the population of which is about five millions) and 
fewer needed than in England, whose population is four times as great, it 
does not follow that pharmacy is a whit more backward here than in England. 
Mr. Monaghan has described a state of things existing solely in his imagi¬ 
nation, and we may all rest assured that as long as there are such vigilant 
aspirants in medicine as Mr. T. J. Monaghan, the ridiculous idea of apothe¬ 
caries usurping a monopoly of prescribing will never be a fait accompli. I 
think pharmaceutical chemists should have, and I hope soon to see them en¬ 
joying, the same privileges in England, Ireland, and Scotland. Let them 
stand on their own merits, and they will overcome all obstacles. Let truth 
and equity, not misrepresentation and prejudice, be the basis of all their 
arguments and actions in every question which may affect their interests, and 
they will assuredly triumph. 
I remain, Gentlemen, yours respectfully, 
M. D. Ceofton. 
[We have omitted the postscript and certain passages which have no bear¬ 
ing on the point in dispute.— Ed. Ph. J.] 
AN ASSISTANT’S PLEA. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
Dear Sir,—Would you allow me, through the medium of your valuable 
Journal, to place before your readers the present condition of the assistant 
chemist and druggist in this part of the kingdom, that it may be seen how 
impossible it is for him to qualify himself for the examinations rendered com¬ 
pulsory by the passing of the new Pharmacy Act P 
He has been apprenticed at the age of fourteen or fifteen to a chemist and 
druggist for a period of five years, and his ordinary working hours are from 
7.30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and this may include Sunday likewise in some cases; 
however, he may have every alternate Sunday to himself. 
All this time he is kept hard at the mere mechanical part of his profession, 
without the least encouragement, in most instances, to attain any theoretical 
knowledge of it. Now, where is the time to be found to enable him to gain 
that knowledge necessary for the examination under the Pharmacy Act? 
Lately an Association of Assistants and Apprentices was formed in Aberdeen, 
