690 
TWENTY-EIGHTH ANNIVERSARY 
At the close of a very eventful year the Council have now to submit to their 
constituents the customary Report of the proceedings which have occupied 
them since the last annual meeting. In May, 1868, mingled with the hope of 
success in the matter of pharmaceutical legislation, there was much reason lo 
fear that the House of Commons then sitting would end its existence without 
performing the task recommended to it by the Committee of 1865. It is true 
the Government of the day were favourably disposed towards the Pharmaceu¬ 
tical Society, and fully acknowledged the necessity of protecting the public by 
placing restrictions on the sale and dispensing of poisons ; indeed, their very 
favour had been, in some respects, a difficulty, inasmuch as it remained a ques¬ 
tion, during the early part of the Session, whether the Bill framed by your 
Council should be introduced to Parliament by some member of the Govern¬ 
ment or otherwise, and when, owing to pressure of other business, the Home 
Secretary was compelled to decline taking charge of it, the comparative leisure 
of the sittings before Easter had passed away, and it required extraordinary 
activity and watchfulness on the part of your Council to urge it on. Fortu¬ 
nately, Earl Granville, whose assistance had been sought in a previous Session, 
now consented to introduce the Bill in the Upper House, and to him the Phar¬ 
maceutical Society, the Chemists and Druggists of Great Britain, and the 
public generally, are deeply indebted for the success which, on the 31st of July, 
crowned the labour commenced twenty seven years previously by Jacob Bell 
and the founders of this Corporation. It is not for your Council in this Report 
to speculate on the ultimate result of this success ; they have more particularly 
to deal with the proceedings of last year, and are able to point with much satis¬ 
faction to the effect already produced, and made manifest in the balance-sheet 
just read to you; by this it appears, that although no advantage was taken of the 
opportunity which seemed to offer of requiring even a small fee on registration, 
yet the increase in the ordinary receipts of the Society during 1868 was more than 
sufficient to meet the great expenses entailed in carrying out the provisions of 
the new Act, and that increase is evidence, not merely of financial prosperity, 
but more notably of educational advancement, which must ever be regarded as 
one of the prime objects of this Society. In every class the candidates for ex¬ 
amination have increased considerably, and a still greater augmentation will be 
seen in the number of students attending the Lectures and Laboratory. Of the 
sixty benches which the Laboratory contains, very few are now unoccupied ; and 
the number of entries during the present session more than doubles that of any 
previous one since the new Laboratories were built. Doubtless, this may to some 
extent arise from the impossibility of entering the business hereafter without 
first submitting to examination, but whether that, or a desire to obtain know¬ 
ledge, attract students to the Laboratory, the effect will be the same; and the 
Chemists and Druggists of the present time will be succeeded by men better 
qualified to uphold Pharmacy as a profession, as well as practise it as a trade. 
It is gratifying to see, by the amount of “ arrears ” paid up, that many seceders 
have put themselves again within the pale of the Society. 
On the debit side of the account there are no items particularly calling for 
attention. The labour thrown on the Secretary by the passing of the Act 
seemed, for a time, overwhelming ; and when it is stated that for the last three 
or four months of 1868 he received, on an average, a thousand letters a week, it 
will readily be conceived that more help was absolutely required in the office. 
It may, perhaps, be remarked, that nothing was added to the investments on 
the u General Fund” account in 1868, but it will be seen also that a large 
balance was left in the Treasurer’s hands, and since Christmas a considerable 
sum has been invested. 
It is the duty of this Council now to publish annually a Register as well of 
Chemists and Druggists as of Pharmaceutical Chemists. Under the new enact- 
