THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
SECOND SERIES. 
4 
VOL. XI.—No. IV.—OCTOBER, 1869. 
PHARMACEUTICAL CONFERENCES. 
The last two months have been signalized by the occurrence of Pharmaceu¬ 
tical Conferences—the national and the international—accounts of which occupy 
a considerable portion of this and the preceding number of our Journal. Last 
month we had occasion to congratulate our brethren in this country on the re¬ 
sults of their meeting at Exeter, and now we may equally congratulate our bre¬ 
thren abroad upon the very successful issue of the international gathering of 
pharmaceutists at Vienna. The Council of our Society having responded to 
the invitation that was sent to them in common with other pharmaceutical cor¬ 
porations, by appointing two delegates to represent them at the Congress, it 
has become our duty to describe somewhat in detail the proceedings at this the 
first International Congress at which the pharmaceutists of Great Britain have 
taken part. Although the questions that were principally discussed at the 
meetings are of more practical importance and interest to the pharmaceutical 
bodies abroad than in this country, there are points nevertheless in the discus¬ 
sions which will no doubt interest many of our members. It is highly satisfac¬ 
tory to find that the pharmaceutists of this country occupy a position such as 
the most favoured of our Continental brethren have yet, in some respects, failed 
to possess, and which they are now zealously trying to obtain. The chief source 
of complaint among pharmaceutists in Germany and Austria arises from the 
want of independence of a control which is exercised over them by the me¬ 
dical corporations. Educated side by side with the physician, and equally 
qualified in his particular department for the exercise of his professional duties, 
the pharmaceutist is nevertheless subject to an amount of medical control which 
he feels to be unnecessary, and sometimes unjust. How gladly, in this respect, 
would the German apothecary change places with the English pharmacist! But, 
whilst seeking to be freed from medical interference and allowed to manage 
his ow T n affairs, he is anxious, at the same time, to retain a privilege, if indeed 
it be such, which has probably been granted as a set-off to the surrender of a 
portion of his professional independence. 
In Germany and Austria the apothecary or pharmaceutist enjoys a monopoly 
which appears to be peculiar to his profession. The number of pharmacies is 
limited according to the number and nature of the population, and competition 
is thus greatly restricted. In no other profession or business, we believe, is this 
restriction granted, and it may even be doubted whether it is really a benefit to 
those who possess it. It adds greatly to the value of established businesses, and 
those in possession are naturally anxious to maintain this value ; but the original 
purchase of the concern may have entailed an expenditure to which the profits 
of the business are barely adequate. The number of pharmacies in relation to 
the population appears at first sight to be small, and it might be thought that 
the business done at each establishment must be very extensive. Thus in 
Vienna, with a population of more than 600,000, there are only fifty phar¬ 
macies, or one to every 12,000 of the population. But it must be borne in 
mind that these pharmacies are strictly dispensing establishments, and that 
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