352 
EDINBURGH MEETING. 
and I entirely agree with him. It is more than provoking to have a customer present a 
receipt which can only be dispensed by those who have a private understanding with 
the physician, thus leading to a want of confidence in those who have not made this 
previous arrangement. The grievance of having our oldest customers forcibly sent past 
us to a favourite establishment of the doctor’s most of us have felt acutely. Why not 
let the patients go where they please? providing always there is nothing against the 
character of the establishment they patronize. On the other hand, it is our duty to dis¬ 
pense with promptitude and accuracy every prescription entrusted to our care, and to 
carry out to the fullest extent the instructions of the practitioner. These remarks are 
peculiarly suited to Scotland, as I am well aware the surgeons in England dispense 
their own medicines, thus leaving the chemists there a very inferior kind of trade, and 
depriving them of the necessity of cultivating the scientific part of their profession. If 
the surgeons in England allowed their prescriptions to be dispensed by the chemist, we 
should have fewer complaints of that counter-practice which encroaches so much on the 
domain of the physician, and which our Society has endeavoured by every means in its 
power to counteract. I cannot close without urging upon our young men the increased 
necessity for study and close application, now that examination is imperative, and more 
liberal acquirements expected. I am glad to find the use of the library is increased, and 
trust that the demand for books will go on increasing, as several important works have 
been added from time to time. Your time will not permit me to revert to the success¬ 
ful Conference at Norwich, the pleasing report of which you must have seen in the 
Journal. To conclude, I trust that each of our meetings will be as well attended as 
this, and that there will be numerous competitors for the prize it is my privilege as Pre¬ 
sident to bestow. I beg to direct your attention to specimens of the Beberu-nut pre¬ 
sented by Messrs. J. F. Macfarlane and Co. of this city, and to the new books lying on 
the table. 
Mr. John Mackay, F.C.S., read a paper, entitled, “Some Remarks on ‘An Act to 
Regulate the Sale of Poisons, and to Amend the Pharmacy Act of 1852,’ ” which he 
introduced in the following manner:—There is no perfection to be found in anything 
under the sun, and thus it is, I presume, that, notwithstanding months and years of 
labour and anxiety, spent in connection with pharmaceutical legislation, the recent 
Act of Parliament, now so soon to come into operation, has not given universal satis¬ 
faction. The reasons to be assigned for this are chiefly two. The first may be con¬ 
sidered as arising from a difficulty in understanding aright some of the clauses and 
provisions of the Bill; while the other may be named as arising from some of the 
details not being altogether palatable to a few of those who are interested in the 
future operation of the new Act. To allay in some measure the fears of many, and 
to make, if possible, some of the rough places smooth, it has been suggested that I 
might offer to this Society a few remarks on the present position and future working 
of what will, in time to come, be recognized as “The Sale of Poisons Bill and Phar¬ 
macy Act of 1868.” I must, therefore, crave your indulgence while I proceed in 
my remarks, premising that in the event of my having overlooked any important 
feature of the Bill, an opportunity will be afforded at the close to ask for any additional 
information. I may also state that throughout several weeks past I have received a 
very considerable number of inquiries from parties both in town and country, and 
these have served to show me how numerous and wide the differences are in regard to 
the interpretation of some of the clauses in the Bill about to be considered. Thus, one 
assistant writes in great fear, and expresses himself with considerable force, as smarting 
under what he conceives to be a gross injustice, because, having served a regular appren¬ 
ticeship, and thereafter entered upon an assistant’s situation, this very obnoxious law 
will prevent his continuing to dispense medicines, simply because he will not reach his 
twenty-first birthday for a few months to come. It is true, he adds, that he believes he 
may, after he reaches twenty-one, make application to undergo an examination, but 
then he fears his ability to pass even the Minor one, and therefore he sees nothing for 
it but to throw “physic to the dogs,” leave the business he was educated in, and look 
for employment elsewhere. I need scarcely say that such fears are entirely groundless, 
and that our young friend has raised a shadow which can very soon be set aside. The 
Act itself does not contemplate such a state of matters, and no expression in it can warrant 
such a conclusion. No reasonable individual can, however, wonder or object (though 
Government will not disturb any one while he continues to labour as an assistant) that 
