THE POISONED CHAIN BILL. 
3 
authority to the medical profession at large; and that therefore either a sup¬ 
plement or new edition of the Pharmacopoeia ought to he brought out every five 
years on an average ; and that for this purpose a charge should be given by the 
Council to one or more competent persons to keep up the necessary information 
for the Pharmacopoeia on a level with advancing knowledge from month to 
month, so that the requisite changes might be supplied to the Council within a 
very short period after demand.” 
To this end the Committee advise that— 
1. In each capital of the three divisions of the kingdom respectively, the 
Branch Council should appoint a person to undertake this duty, who is a medi¬ 
cal practitioner, acquainted with the natural history and chemistry of pharmacy. 
2. That it should be an instruction to these gentlemen to invite information 
as to improvements in the Pharmacopoeia from the medical, surgical, and phar¬ 
maceutical bodies of the several divisions of the country. 
3. That, under the sanction of the Executive Committee, the Treasurer be 
empowered to pay to each of these gentlemen a sum not exceeding £20 annually, 
for charges for scientific and practical inquiries. 
4. That they should intercommunicate their results half-yearly. 
5. That they should be ready every five years to give, at the request of the 
General Council, their conjoint opinion as to the changes they consider advisable 
for a new edition, or a supplement of the Pharmacopoeia. 
6. That the Executive Committee should have charge of editing and publish¬ 
ing such new edition or supplement, after approval by the General Council. 
THE POISONED GRAIN BILL. 
This Bill, which has been deferred from time to time, now stands for second 
reading on the 8th of July. Advantage has been taken of the delay to make it 
even more objectionable than the original Bill, against which the petition of our 
Society was presented to the House of Commons, and published in the Journal 
of last month. The professed object of the promoters was in the first instance 
to prevent the indiscriminate destruction of small birds, but so far as vendors 
are concerned this is virtually a “ Poison Bill ” and we hope our friends in the 
country will not relax in their efforts to defeat or amend it. Their agricultural 
neighbours will be their natural and willing allies in this work. The use of 
arsenic as a sheep-dressing even, would be difficult; and as an anti-smut pre¬ 
paration for seed corn, sulphate of copper alone is permitted, under this measure. 
It is true, that Mr. Pauli and Mr. Sclater Booth, who introduced the Bill, 
have received the remonstrances of the Committee with all courtesy, expressing 
their desire to make its provisions as little obnoxious as possible, and a full state¬ 
ment of objections has been placed in their hands; but lest their zeal for the spar¬ 
rows should outweigh their consideration for the farmer and his crops, as well.as 
the chemist and his customers, we would counsel every person interested in the 
matter to make a strong protest to his Representative in Parliament before the 
day fixed for the second reading. 
A BILL TO PROHIBIT THE SALE AND USE OF POISONED GRAIN OR 
SEED, OR POISONOUS PREPARATIONS, IN CERTAIN CASES, AND THE 
DESTRUCTION OF BIRDS NOT ALREADY PROTECTED BY LAW. 
Whereas it is expedient to prohibit the sale and use of poisoned grain or seed, or 
poisonous preparations, in certain cases [and the destruction of birds not already pro¬ 
tected by law] : Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present 
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: 
1. This Act may be cited for all purposes as “ The Poisoned Grain Prohibition Act, 
1863.” 
