614 
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
determined and clear upon these points, we may wander over the whole of the sciences and 
collateral subjects, ultimately to find that we have learned comparatively nothing, and 
have wasted valuable time. Now the examinations of the Pharmaceutical Society is 
the object which all pharmaceutical students should keep in view; but not, of course, 
to be looked upon as an ordeal which we are to get through the best way we can, but 
as the beacon to guide us on our course. What we have to study are the subjects 
stated in the synopsis of the examinations ; and in order to prepare ourselves to appear 
before the board of examiners in a creditable manner, we must be ever mindful in all 
we do to be, as Mr. Brady very appropriately says, “thorough.” If the foundation is 
well and thoroughly laid, the superstructure which is reared upon it will be substantial 
and enduring; therefore it should be the aim of every student to build a firm and 
solid foundation upon which to rear his temple of knowledge ; and the best way to do 
this is to thoroughly inculcate the mind with first principles, to be careful to master 
and comprehend each fact as it comes under notice, and to proceed on systematically. 
The progress may be slow, but better be slow and “thorough” than swift and super¬ 
ficial ; for a few facts well learnt, and a few principles well grounded in the mind, 
thoroughly repay all the time and labour spent in their acquirement. Thus if the 
student proceeds on step by step, overcoming each difficulty as it rises before him, he 
will ultimately be able to pass the examinations of the Pharmaceutical Society, and be 
worthy the name of Pharmaceutist.—I remain, yours obediently, Amygdalus. 
Sale of Poisons. —Sir,—I read with much interest your sensible article under the 
above head in last month’s Pharmaceutical Journal; it shows how thoroughly you have 
comprehended this subject, with all its difficulties. As one of the earliest, if not the 
earliest, public writer,—having advocated some restriction on the sale of poisons through 
the powerful journals with which I have been connected,—I wish to express my views 
on some portions of the new Pharmacy Bill, writing, as I do, from a portion of England 
seriously affected by the new law, and having very great experience in the drug trade. 
I will add, en passant , it is felt as a sore grievance that the clause in the Bill of 1865, 
which did not require the registration of those persons who had been carrying on busi¬ 
ness as druggists, should have been struck out. The country druggists are a well-defined 
class, and meet a demand in their respective localities; this Bill would have precluded 
the hucksters, and the old country druggists would have been allowed to quietly die off. 
This Bill was circulated through the country ; our county member, Sir John Trollope, 
knowing the interest I took in the subject, sent me a copy of the Bill for comment. I 
was satisfied with it. I confess that I was taken by surprise at the end of last year to 
find that the Amended Bill had taken a tremendous leap, disregarding the interests of a 
very numerous and respectable body of men, who have been taken by surprise. You 
rightly regard the restriction on the sale of opiates as an unfortunate addition; how- 
does this appear to us, living in a district where opiates are more than a necessary of 
life !—food and raiment being only secondary considerations with large portions of the 
people. Necessitas non habet legem : the people will have their opiates. I can travel 
from my parish for ten, twenty, or even thirty miles, covered with a thriving popula¬ 
tion of agriculturists, with hamlets, farmsteads, and villages, where opiates are required 
in immense quantities on emergencies for stock, and to satisfy the wants of those 
addicted to the use of the fascinating drug. Where a few weeks ago, there were lots of 
old drug-stores to accommodate the locality, the ordinary traffic is destroyed. Can 
we suppose for a moment that this vast tract of country has suddenly ceased to use 
opiates—as it must of necessity do, to a great extent, if the law were strictly obeyed ? 
Certainly not; the forbidden drug is clandestinely smuggled into the district in every 
conceivable form. No law can prevent this ; the old midwife, who first finds her 
account in getting a commission to gather up the empty laudanum bottles, and get 
them replenished at some far-off market-town, soon learns that by the outlay of a little 
capital there is a rare opening for a thriving trade, which may be carried on with perfect 
impunity. She knows her customers, and their urgent wants. The various ways in 
which the law is evaded are too numerous to detail; one will give opiates away, with 
some understanding of charging on other articles. The vendor who offers “ non-poisonous 
paregoric” is no fool; his advertisement is a just rebuke. “ The opiate mass,” with 
patent medicine stamp, is a clumsy evasion ; but how are we to get over “ Smith’s Se¬ 
dative,” if it is sheltered by the patent medicine stamp ? By the way, the sale of 
