3S0 
PORTRAIT OF THE LATE JACOB BELL. 
the public, with reference to their liability to the payment of duty for the use 
of armorial bearings. Some alteration was made in the law relating to this 
duty in the last session of Parliament. By the Customs Act of 1869, there is 
imposed a duty of £2. 2s. 0 d. a year for armorial bearings if they be affixed to 
any carriage, and £1. Is. 0 cl. a year if they be otherwise worn or used ; and the 
Act states that the expression “armorial bearings” “means and includes any 
armorial bearing, crest, or ensign, by whatever name the same shall be called, 
and whether such armorial bearing, crest, or ensign shall be registered in the 
College of Arms or not.” The notice alluded to above contains a statement 
implying that the use of any crest or coat of arms,—the Royal arms, for in¬ 
stance,—in any way, such as printing or stamping them on papers used in 
business, renders the persons so using them liable to the duty. Chemists fre¬ 
quently have something of the sort on their labels, bills, or prescription wrap¬ 
pers, by which they would probably be rendered liable. An application has 
been made to the Board of Inland Revenue for further information as to the 
cases iu which it is proposed to apply the law, and we hope, in a subsequent 
number, to be able more fully to explain the subject. 
CO-OPERATIVE TRADING. 
The remarks we made two months ago on the subject of co-operative trading 
were intended to induce an inquiry among our pharmaceutical brethren with 
reference to the intrinsic character of the transactions involved in this method 
of conducting business, and the effects that might be anticipated from an exten¬ 
sion of the system. We are satisfied that a full and candid investigation of the 
subject in all its bearings will show that the objects contemplated cannot be 
attained as a permanent and general result, and that to the extent to which 
they are accomplished in special cases, the success of such undertakings is more 
apparent than real, while the efforts made for their establishment and support 
are calculated to disturb the commercial relations existing between different 
parts of the community, and thus to do much mischief. In commenting on the 
way in which it has been proposed and attempted to extend the application of 
the system by the appointment of co-operative agents, we wished and studiously 
endeavoured to avoid saying anything that should appear to be an undue inter¬ 
ference with that free exercise of individual judgment which members of the 
trading community claim, and, within certain limits, should be allowed, and 
even encouraged, to exercise. It is gratifying to find that the remarks made 
have been received in the same friendly spirit in which they were offered, and 
above all, that they have not been unproductive of effect. Mr. Starkie’s com¬ 
munication, inserted at page 438, will be read with great satisfaction, and the 
candid acknowledgment it contains will no doubt produce an important in¬ 
fluence on many of those who, like the writer, have been deluded by the repre¬ 
sentations made to them of the objects and probable effects of the co-operative 
system. 
PORTRAIT OF THE LATE JACOB BELL. 
Many of our readers are aware that shortly before the death of Jacob Bell, a 
remarkable likeness of him was painted by his friend Sir Edwin Landseer, and 
that this came afterwards into the possession of Mr. Bell’s successor, Mr. T. II. 
Hills. At the request of members of the Society who have frequently expressed 
a desire to have a copy of this portrait, Mr. Hills undertook the responsibility 
of getting it engraved, with the view of supplying copies at a fixed moderate 
