LEEDS CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 
19 
ought to have good grounds for the refusal if it declined to follow such distinguished 
examples, and to offer every facility to country candidates for examination. Leeds was 
made a local centre for examination by the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London, 
Durham, the Department of Science and Art, and the Society of Arts, and he hoped 
soon to be able to add, by the Pharmaceutical Society. 
Mr. Ward, as teacher to the classes in Chemistry of the Mechanics’ Institution, 
wished distinctly to say that the facilities given for local examination proved an effi¬ 
cient stimulus to the demand for education, and increased both the number of pupils and 
their zeal for acquiring knowledge. 
Mr. Atkinson strongly approved of the proposal as one favourable to provincial 
members of the Society, who, he thought, should claim its adoption. 
Mr. Reynolds remarked that if the Pharmaceutical Society had not moved in the 
matter it was because they had not been asked to do so. This was purely a question 
for the country members; it rested with them to take the initiative, and when their 
views were clearly expressed they would be sure to receive every attention. The argu¬ 
ments based upon the present practice of the universities appeared to him unanswerable. 
As far as the mass of young men were concerned, they had been trying for years to in¬ 
duce the mountain to come to Mahomet, but now Mahomet must come to the mountain. 
There might be legal difficulties in the way, but that was only a reason to begin to re¬ 
move them. 
Mr. Reynolds then brought forward the question of “ Systematic Scientific Inquiry ” 
as treated in the ‘Pharmaceutical Journal’ for May, and gave several extracts from the Pro¬ 
ceedings of the American Pharmaceutical Association to show the results of the inves¬ 
tigations undertaken by its members. He glanced at some subjects which appeared 
fitting ones for reference to investigators. 
Mr. Thompson highly approved the suggestion, and said that, if carried out, an in¬ 
creased want of a good library of reference would be felt. It was essential to keep 
posted up with the latest results of inquiry. 
Mr. Yewdall also supported the idea, and suggested that the Committee be instructed 
to arrange a series of subjects for investigation, asking the corresponding members of the 
Society to co-operate. This proposal was_adopted, and the Society adjourned its meetings 
until October. 
A Special Meeting of the Leeds Chemists’ Association w r as held at its Library, 5, Cook- 
ridge Street, on Monday evening, June S ; the President in the chair. The object of the 
meeting was to consider two Bills now before the House of Commons, and to express 
the opinions of the members upon them. The following petition was offered for adop¬ 
tion :— 
“That a Bill now before your Honourable House, entitled ‘The Poisoned Grain 
Prohibition Act,’ will interfere with the trade of your petitioners, and be likely to expose 
them to vexatious prosecutions. That, in the belief of your petitioners, no sufficient 
grounds exist for the provisions of this Bill, which entirely prohibits, under heavy pecu¬ 
niary penalties, the use of arsenic for the preparation of seed-wheat, and of other poisons 
which experience has shown to be necessary for the protection of agriculture. That the 
clause in the Bill permitting the use of poisons to destroy vermin is so framed as to be 
still to a large extent prohibitive. 
“ That a Bill interfering with trade, and making illegal means heretofore deemed ne¬ 
cessary for agriculture and other useful objects, ought not to pass except on grounds of 
evident and urgent necessity, and as your petitioners believe no facts have been or can 
be stated to show this necessity, they beseech your Honourable House not to pass the 
said Bill into a law.” 
The petition was moved by Mr. Smeeton, seconded by Mr. Haigh, and adopted after a 
full discussion, in which Messrs. Stead, Horsfield, Yewdall, and liimmington (Bradford), 
took part, and in which the loosely-drawn nature of the Bill was severely commented upon,, 
since it neither defined the poisons which it prohibited nor the “ vermin ” against which, 
they were allowed to be used. The Association next considered the following draft of a 
petition :— 
“ That your petitioners pray that the Bill now before your Honourable House for de¬ 
cimalizing weights and measures may be passed into a law. 
“That further, should such Bill not be passed in its entirety, your petitioners pray 
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