444 
PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY. 
percolation as Dr. Redwood should have concluded the discussion for that 
evening, and have left the influence of his observations unanswered by those 
who took a different view of the .subject. He then drew the attention of 
the meeting to a new form of percolator introduced by Mr. Gilbertson, of 
Ludgate Hill. 
SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING OE THE PHARMACEUTICAL 
SOCIETY. 
On Thursday, the 17th March, a Special General Meeting of the members 
of the Society was held, Mr. G. W. Sandford, President, in the chair, pur¬ 
suant to the following requisition and resolution, which were read by the Se¬ 
cretary. 
“ To the President , Vice-President, and Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of 
Great Britain. 
“ Gentlemen,—We, the undersigned, believing that it is highly desirable for the pro¬ 
tection of the public that all future Chemists and Druggists should undergo a due pro¬ 
fessional examination before commencing business, hereby request you to convene a 
General Meeting of the Members of our Society, for the purpose of considering the 
expediency of an immediate application to Parliament for an amended Pharmacy Act, by 
which (following the precedent of the Apothecaries’ Act) the legitimate interests of 
those already in business should be protected, and proper provisions made for rendering 
the examinations of future chemists by your Board a compulsory instead of an optional 
proceeding,” 
In compliance with the above requisition, it was resolved at a special meeting of 
Council, held February 26,— 
“ That a Special General Meeting of the Members of the Society be held on Thurs¬ 
day, the 17th March, at twelve o’clock precisely, and that the notice convening the said 
Meeting, with the names of the requisitionists, be announced in the ensuing number 
of the Journal.” 
The President said,—We are called together this morning in compliance 
with the requisition you have just heard read by the Secretary, and which has 
been addressed to the Council from upwards of 300 members of our Society. 
Among the requisitionists, the names of men who entered the Society by the 
early method of enrolment under certificates of fitness, and of others who 
have taken their honourable position after the ordeal of examination, stand 
side by side, testifying strongly to the interest which seems to pervade the 
whole body in the question we are about to consider ; and, indeed, that ques¬ 
tion is a most important one. It is proposed to ask the Legislature to grant 
that protection to the public now which was refused twelve years ago. The 
question will naturally divide itself into two parts:—First, Is it desirable to 
do this ? If this be answered in the affirmative, the second point will at once 
occur to us. By what provisions can zee best attain the desired object ? Now, 
on the first point, I may assume that the mere fact of membership with a So¬ 
ciety which was originally established to promote education and qualification 
among chemists and druggists, and has spent upwards of twenty years in the 
earnest endeavour to attain that end, is an evidence of your opinion as to the 
desirability ; and I then ask, w hether the time is ripe for the action you have 
urged the Council to take P We must all of us have observed the agitation 
which has been going on of late on this subject, and we cannot shut our eyes 
to the fact that the proposition of a Committee of the Medical Council to 
bring pharmacy within the scope, and pharmaceutists under the control, of 
that Council, has tended greatly to bring matters to a climax. I look up to 
the Medical Council with all honour and respect, as the power destined here¬ 
after to take cognizance of all matters connected with the medical profession, 
