CORRESPONDENCE. 
309 
Uniformity. 
Now that pharmacy is bent upon saving 
itself from absolute beggary, and the work 
of regeneration about to occupy the atten¬ 
tion of our leading men, it behoves us, one 
and all, to assist, as far as lies in individual 
power, in removing such obstacles to pro¬ 
gress as may present themselves. 
That there is much to be done cannot be 
denied, and it must be equally allowed that 
shoulders to the wheel, now, as in iEsop’s 
time, will prove more efficacious than utter¬ 
ing lamentations dire and deep: however, 
the latter seems to afford a temporary relief 
to some, and when we consider the appalling 
fall from the ideal to the real experienced by 
those commencing business, even the least 
charitable among us would allow such vic¬ 
tims to consume their disappointment after 
their own fashion. 
But to the subject; with Mr. E. Smith I 
sincerely lament the absence of a mutual 
understanding and good feeling amongst us 
as a community, with the existence of mis¬ 
trust and selfishness, which entirely prevent 
that much-to-be-desired uniformity, not only 
in prices but in the article supplied. 
Take for example, chloric ether. A short 
time since I was induced to make inquiries 
respecting its orthodox strength, and for in¬ 
formation, turned to the mighty Babylon of 
modern times, where in three of the first 
dispensing establishments, I learned the fol¬ 
lowing :— 
No. 1 considered chloric ether a solution 
of chloroform in rectified spirit, and pre¬ 
pared it of the strength one in eight by 
measure. 
No. 2 agreed in mode of preparation, but 
used a solution of one in ten by measure. 
No. 3 also prepared it direct but in the 
proportion of one in seven by weight, or one 
in twelve, nearly, by measure. 
Somewhat confused, I turned to a worthy 
brother in the provinces, who, like a modern 
German school on a different subject, cited 
his belief in one spirit, and that the officinal 
one; this, as we are well aware, contains 
but one in twenty by measure. Probably 
Messrs. Duncan and Flockhart would tell 
me chloric ether is no mere mixture of chlo¬ 
roform or sp. rect., but a product obtained 
by the distillation of chlorinated lime with 
rectified spirit; certainly many establish¬ 
ments use such a preparation. 
Now if unity be divine, to what a state of 
spirituous degradation we have drifted by 
entertaining such a Babel of opinions, uses, 
etc., which X heartily trust does not extend 
to many preparations of such every-day use. 
But I must not finish without suggesting 
some remedy for this particular abuse. On 
re-examination we find a majority in favour 
of the direct preparation; now, once allowed 
that chloric ether is essentially a spirit of 
chloroform, where is the objection to the 
adoption of the views held by No. 4, to the 
use of the officinal spirit ? The only one 
likely to be advanced is its weakness, which, 
in my opinion, is its best feature; and 
again, should the physician require a stronger 
preparation, there is the compound tincture 
of chloroform, containing one in ten by 
measure. The advantages which would foi- 
low the use of the Pharmacopoeia spirit for 
chloric ether are too evident to require enu¬ 
meration, and I earnestly solicit abler hands 
to assist in its adoption. 
Biondino da Firenze. 
Local Secretaries—their Duty. 
Dear Sir,—I must beg leave of you to 
allow me to correct Mr. Edward Smith’s 
statement in reference to the appointment 
and duties of the local secretaries of the 
Pharmaceutical Society. I observe in his 
paper read at the meeting of the British 
Pharmaceutical Conference “ held this year 
at Exeter,” on “ Pharmaceutical Respon- 
sibility and Remuneration,” and published 
by you in last month’s Journal, he insinu¬ 
ates the “Pharmaceutical Society” are not 
sufficiently careful in appointing their local 
secretaries. 
Now if Mr. Edward Smith will consider 
for one moment, he will see he has fallen 
into an error. The Society have nothing to 
do with appointing local secretaries, the ap¬ 
pointment is in the hands of the Pharma¬ 
ceutical chemists of every town containing 
not less than three members of the Pharma¬ 
ceutical Society, and every year the secre¬ 
taries have to be re-elected by ballot; voting 
papers are sent to every member of the 
Society, and by them delivered to the regis¬ 
trar at Bloomsbury Square within a given 
date. Mr. Smith also states the local secre¬ 
taries should consider it a part of their duty 
to institute occasional meetings to discuss 
and chat over in a friendly way little busi¬ 
ness matters that are occasionally cropping 
up, and it is astonishing how much we may 
influence each other almost without knowing 
it, smoothing down those angular peculi¬ 
arities we all possess. 
With all due respect to Mr. Edward 
Smith, I beg to disagree with him in his 
opinion, and I think if he will refresh his 
memory respecting a few meetings at which 
he was present some short time ago, he will 
change his mind, for instead of smoothing 
down those angular peculiarities, very 
many rugged ones were discoverable, the 
smoothing down of which would be a work 
of time. Why the local secretaries should 
be the persons selected to hear all complaints 
