THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
SECOND SERIES. 
VOL. XL—No. VIII.—FEBRUAHY, 1870. 
THE SALE AND DISPENSING OE POISONS. 
There could be no better illustration of the great liability there is to the 
violation of the law, from other causes than design, even among those 
who might be supposed to be most correct in this respect, than cases occur¬ 
ring in connection with the sale of poisons afford. To those who have well 
studied the subject, there appears to be nothing very difficult or intricate in 
it, yet we find judges, magistrates, journalists, chemists, and the public, com¬ 
mitting remarkable blunders in their attempts to interpret the law. In 
another article, under the head of “Justices’ justice” we have alluded to 
cases, as reported, in which judicial opinions have been pronounced which do 
not at all agree with what we conceive to be the right interpretation of the 
Act of Parliament. The Pharmaceutical Society is the body to whom has 
been committed the duty of carrying the law into effect, and the Council of 
this Society are endeavouring, in the interests of the public, to compel a 
strict compliance with the requirements of the Act, and also, in the interests 
of their members and all who are authorized to sell poisons, to explain, as 
clearly as possible, the conditions under which alone they can be legally sold 
or dispensed. Among the duties imposed on the Council is that of adding 
to the list of poisons, from time to time, with the sanction of the Privy 
Council, such articles as in the opinion of the Council ought to be included in 
“ Schedule A,” and, in common with the articles originally named there, made 
subject to the provisions of the Act. When such addition is made notice of 
it has to be inserted in the * London Gazette,’ and in one month after the 
publication of the notice the articles referred to become legally “poisons.” 
In our last number we gave an extract from the 4 London Gazette’ of Decem¬ 
ber 21st, in which notice is given of the addition of several articles to the list 
of poisons, and this has now become law. Some of the articles thus added 
belong to part 1, and some to part 2 of the list. This necessarily makes the 
carrying out of the law a little more complicated, and as misconceptions have 
been formed in several instances with reference to the regulations to be ob¬ 
served, the Council have endeavoured to make the requirements of the law as 
clear and explicit as possible by arranging them in a condensed form, so as 
to facilitate reference, and promote an easy comprehension of the subject. 
This arrangement of the regulations, which is appended to this article, com¬ 
prehends such only as relate to the sale by retail, and the dispensing, of 
poisons. 
VOL. xr. 2 G 
