592 
TWENTY-FIFTII ANNIVERSARY 
me into communication with men whom I may describe (adopting the language 
of some who do not belong to us) as “ the elite of the trade,”—men whose 
acquaintance, but for this circumstance of fellow-membership, I should probably 
never have enjoyed. If I might venture to add to this assertion an evidence in 
proof that I have valued and ever endeavoured to uphold the Society, I should 
point to the mark of honour and confidence which it has pleased your Council 
on no less than three occasions to confer on me. But I do feel, however de¬ 
lightful it may be to have a select association, that the Pharmaceutical Society 
was established only as a means to an end; and the wider the grasp of the 
Society, the nearer it will be to the attainment of that end. I therefore urge 
you, Gentlemen, to act liberally towards those who have not thought it necessary 
as yet to join us, in the event of obtaining such an extension of the Phar¬ 
macy Act as we require, under whatever name that extension may be called; 
always remembering, however, that the title of “Pharmaceutical Chemist” is 
a vested interest given under the Act of 1852; it is the one title legalized, 
and the one vested interest to be protected, for the original members of the 
Society as a foundation, and, beyond them, for those only who pass the Major 
Examination. 
I ask you to give nothing without an equivalent; but a power to enforce the 
examination of all future chemists would be an equivalent. I have had various 
occasions to regret that chemists are not all registered, and I particularly re¬ 
member one which occurred two years ago. Feeling, as every man in our busi¬ 
ness must, the difficulties which beset us in the matter of spirit of wine, for 
which all persons seem naturally to resort to their chemists, I made application 
to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, asking that we might be allowed for a 
small licence fee to retail it under certain regulations. I had several letters 
from the right honourable gentleman on the subject; he took the trouble to 
consult the Board of Inland Revenue, and indeed seemed to incline to the opinion 
that such an arrangement would in itself be good ; but his difficulty lay in the * 
fact that chemists and druggists w T ere an unregistered body, and therefore other 
men, falsely assuming the name, might make an improper use of the privilege. 
You too saw the value of registration when by it we were enabled to gain ex¬ 
emption from serving on juries. 
In quitting this chair, it may be that I shall feel, as I have already stated, 
some disappointment at the work not being completed, for which we have 
striven so hard; but I am cheered by the confident hope that it will be in the 
time of my successor, and the conviction that the efforts we made to attain our 
end have been productive of great good to the society, exciting interest for its 
advancement within , and a respect for its achievements without. 
Other circumstances too have occurred during my period of office to which I 
shall ever recur with lively satisfaction, and not least among them I think the 
progress of the Benevolent Fund. It has been my privilege to preside over the 
first election of annuitants, and to announce success to an old member who, by 
adverse circumstances, had been brought to such strait that but for it he must pro¬ 
bably have sought a home in the workhouse for the remainder of his days; and it 
is a greater satisfaction still to see that fund increasing at such a rate as to justify 
the announcement, which you will find in the next number of our Journal, that 
the Council will be ready in October next to grant two further annuities, of 
similar value to the two granted last year. The annuities, and an outlay suffi¬ 
cient to secure a home and education for the child of a deceased member, beyond 
the ordinary casual relief afforded to other applicants, must surely be pleasing to 
all. It was rightly predicted by some members of our Council that disbursements 
from the Benevolent would tend to increase it. The Secretary’s report will give 
you exact particulars up to the end of 1865; but I may be permitted so far to 
anticipate our next year’s statement as to say that up to the present time the 
