PHARMACY ACT FOR IRELAND. 
229 
concerned. For the student in pharmacy it is really “ cnit disce, ant discede ,” 
and I do not, therefore, anticipate any had effect, on the average, from the 
neglect of chemistry, etc., by other members of the classes. I cannot but 
think that where a local school of medicine exists, it should be the resource 
for the student of pharmacy who, on the one hand, distrusts his own unas¬ 
sisted efforts, and, on the other, does not see his way to Bloomsbury Square. 
Lastly, to the provincial teacher who perhaps for years has been as one cry¬ 
ing in the wilderness, there will be much refreshment in the introduction of 
students attending, and attending to, his lectures. 
I am, Sir, yours truly, 
A. Freire-Marreco, 
Reader in Chemistry in Durham University. 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, September 21st, 1869. 
PHARMACY ACT FOR IRELAND. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
Dear Sir,—With much pleasure I have seen a communication this month 
to the effect, that it is the intention of Mr. Abraham to propose, at the Octo¬ 
ber meeting of the Council, that steps be taken to assimilate the laws regu¬ 
lating pharmacy in Ireland and Great Britain respectively. 
Pharmacy, in the strict sense of the word, is indeed at a low' ebb in Ireland, 
and, to a great extent, this is owing to its embracing a medical qualification 
also, which, in most cases, is the main point with the Irish apothecary, the 
compounding of medicines being only an adjunct to his general practice,—• 
thereby greatly annoying and interfering with his brethren possessing the 
highest possible qualifications, and charging their consultation fees. 
A good deal of antagonism has consequently sprung up against the com¬ 
pounders of medicine being also medical practitioners, and the Apothecaries’ 
Hall of Ireland, ever anxious for the good of the profession and the public 
at large, are now desirous of supporting a Bill, having for its object the ad¬ 
vancement of pharmacy as a science, and chemistry as a profession, distinct 
from the medical qualification. 
With this end in view', I believe it is wished that there should be an exten¬ 
sion of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain to the sister isle. 
But there are one or two points of some interest, wdiicli have recently been 
discussed a good deal in the ‘ Irish Times,’ namely, the position of certain 
gentlemen in Ireland calling themselves “ druggists, oil and colourmen, etc.,” 
their business depending on the mere sale of drugs, oils, colours, varnishes, 
wines, and numerous other sundries ; but they covet the compounding of 
medicines in addition, and protest that it is part and parcel of their rights, 
which rights are tyrannically withheld from them by the monopoly of Apo¬ 
thecaries’ Hall. 
In the year 1745 the Hall obtained an Act of Parliament prohibiting all 
persons from dispensing medicines, unless they had first complied with the 
provisions therein made law, namely, tested practical examination in the 
various branches requiring previously a prescribed course of study. 
From time to time these studies u T ere increased until the present examina¬ 
tion was founded, which is an acknowledged medical qualification. All are 
equally eligible to contest, having first gone through the prescribed course ; 
and, provided the candidates acquit themselves creditably, they are received 
with open arms into the fellowship of the Apothecaries’ Company. 
What tyranny, then, can there be in asking all aspirants to honour to com¬ 
pete for the prize F for it would never do to entrust the responsibility of dis- 
