MEDICAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL LEGISLATION. 
431 
the Juries Bill, the disposition manifested in the Medical Council as evidenced 
by the proposed new Bill, and above all the interest which has recently been 
excited among members of the drug trade who were previously passive, seems 
to indicate a concurrence of circumstances favourable to the attainment of 
objects which, if not sought after, have at least been desired by those who 
are well-wishers to the cause of pharmaceutical progression. 
A large body of chemists and druggists who have previously stood aloof 
and declined to act in concert with the Pharmaceutical Society, are now 
anxious to join in mailing a vigorous effort for the attainment of an Act that 
shall secure to all who are now engaged in business as chemists and druggists 
the rights and privileges they at present possess, while it shall render a pro¬ 
fessional examination necessary for those who enter the business in future. 
The members of the Pharmaceutical Society have at the recent numerously- 
attended meeting, held fertile special purpose of considering the subject, ex¬ 
pressed a decided opinion in favour of such a proceeding, and the outline of 
a Bill which it is proposed to introduce into Parliament will be found at page 
458 of the present number of this Journal. Almost the only difference of 
opinion that appeared to exist at the meeting was, with reference to the ex¬ 
tent to which it was desirable for the members then present to indicate to 
the Council the course that should be pursued. The meeting was in every 
respect a most satisfactory one, not only with regard to the numbers who 
attended and took part in the proceedings, but also with regard to the ge¬ 
neral purport of what was said, and the conclusions arrived at. There was 
no disposition to shackle the Council, in whom full confidence appeared to be 
reposed, nor were any over-sanguine anticipations expressed which would be 
likely to result in much disappointment. All concurred in desiring to see 
the object realized, if possible, which has often been foreshadowed, some¬ 
times looked upon as rather utopian, but which the majority seemed to think 
there was a better chance of realizing now than on any previous occasion 
when the subject has been mooted. 
It now remains to be seen what can be effected in other quarters. The 
Council will have to decide upon the details of a measure that will accom¬ 
plish what is desired, and at the same time is thought to be practicable. To 
carry such a measure it will be necessary to secure all the influence that can 
be commanded. If the chemists and druggists throughout the country act in 
unison, and if the Medical Council, and especially the profession they repre¬ 
sent, support the measure in accordance with the proposition which a Com¬ 
mittee of the Medical Council have already advanced, the Legislature may be 
induced to give a favourable consideration to the subject. But it must not be 
forgotten that the only legitimate object of legislation is the good of the public 
at large, and unless it can be shown, which, however, it certainly can, that the 
object we have in view is calculated to afford some real benefit to the public, 
we have no sufficient ground for an application to Parliament. When any 
measure is proposed which appears to affect principally some limited por¬ 
tion of the public, a suspicion very naturally arises that it is intended or cal¬ 
culated to promote the interests of a class to the detriment of the general 
public. In the present case it can be shown that the welfare and safety of the 
public require that those who are engaged in dispensing the medicines or¬ 
dered by medical men, should be fully qualified for the duties they under¬ 
take. The public have repeatedly asked for some protection against the ac¬ 
cidents which sometimes occur, from ignorance or other causes, in the sale 
and use of poisons, and what better security could be afforded, as far as the 
sale is concerned, than to restrict it to qualified men P Might not the sale of 
such dangerous substances as prussic acid, and the poisonous alkaloids, be 
restricted to registered pharmaceutists and chemis f s, as well as the dispensing 
of medicines ? 2 G 2 
