CORRESPONDENCE. 
503 
pel me to keep suck an article as tr. lyttac 
in an “ angular, fluted, corrugated, or sand¬ 
papered bottle,” and label it “poison,”—or, 
if I put a drachm of laudanum in a two¬ 
penny liniment, I must do the same thing,— 
under fearof certain pains and penalties, will, 
I think, be so far from giving satisfaction 
to the trade at large, that I shall bo “ greatly 
surprised” if there be anything like a “ ge¬ 
neral acquiescence” in the arrangement. 
I am glad to see our Edinburgh friends 
stirring in the matter, and trust their ex¬ 
ample will be followed by others, and raise 
such an opposition by next May as to cause 
the resolutions either to be withdrawn en¬ 
tirely or otherwise very considerably modi¬ 
fied. 
Yours truly, 
W . Wilkinson. 
Cheetham Hall, January 22nd, 1870. 
Gentlemen,—May I, through the medium 
of the Journal, be permitted to state a case 
which I cannot help regarding* as one of 
great injury, injustice, and annoyance, that 
it may be ventilated in your columns, if the 
conviction is at variance with the meaning 
of the Pharmacy Act of 1868 ? On the 12th 
of this month I was summoned by the police 
for selling a packet of “ Clift's Vermin 
Killer,” on the 19th of November last, with¬ 
out registering the same, and again for not 
labelling the packet with my name and ad¬ 
dress. I quoted, in my defence, several ex¬ 
tracts from the Journal, also from the 17th 
sect, of the Pharmacy Act, showing that at 
present the sale of vermin killers was not 
included in Schedule A. f also called the 
particular attention of the Bench to your 
remarks, page 314 of your December num¬ 
ber, and page 377 of your issue of the pre¬ 
sent month, also to the extract from the 
‘London Gazette,’ contained in the same 
number, which distinctly shows that at pre¬ 
sent “vermin killers” are not within the 
meaning of the Act, but will be so after the 
21st of this month. In defiance of all this 
plain reasoning, the justices of this borough 
have thought lit to inflict a fine of 2s. 6 d. 
and 9s. costs, and against which I have, 
strictly speaking, no appeal, according to 
the Pharmacy Act, 1852, except by way of 
a case to the Queen’s Bench, granted by the 
committing magistrates, which would be 
optional, and, as I understand, very expen¬ 
sive. 
Your obedient servant, 
Edward Davies, M.P.S. 
Market Place, Bishop's Castle, 
January 18, 1870. 
Co-operative Trading. 
Dear Sir,—I see by advertisements in tho 
daily papers that the “ Civil Service Supply 
Association” are about to relinquish furnish¬ 
ing others than the legitimate members of 
the service. Whether this has arisen from 
the invasion of a little conscientious feeling, 
or has been caused by the motive to set their 
house in order, I cannot say; but selfishness 
hitherto seems to have overruled all the 
better elements of a class, of whom, from po¬ 
sition and education, a different state of 
things might have been expected. Here we 
have thousands of officials in excess, well 
paid and pensioned, absolutely combined to 
greatly injure a class which contributes so 
largely to their salaries and pensions, by 
opening stores to secure the profits in addi¬ 
tion. Now, with regard to these pensions, 
they are but a relic of feudal times, but quite 
inconsistent with the spirit of the present 
age. Merchants’, bankers’, and other clerks 
enter their situations without stipulating for 
pensions ; and very often have to work— 
really work—from dawn to dark, while the 
Civil Service employes work, or trifle, but 
from ten to four; and many of them are 
exceedingly “extensive,” especially when 
adjusting matters of a public nature with 
those by whom they are paid. I hesitate 
not to say that if each of them were to work. 
in the same degree as their commercial 
compeers, one-half the number would suffice 
to carry on every department of the public 
service. Not only chemists, but tradesmen 
of every class, ought to unite and insist 
upon more work being done, the numbers 
being reduced, and pensions for the future 
abolished, leaving each individual to provide 
for his dependants or old age out of his 
salary, or by life insurance, like the rest of 
the community. 
I am quite satisfied that if every member 
of the Civil Service were to throw up his ap¬ 
pointment, thousands in excess would flock 
to fill the vacancies even with less pay and 
irrespective of pensions. Then why not 
adopt the principle established by these 
public servants, and get their positions sup¬ 
plied on the lowest possible terms ? 
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
London. Live and Let Live. 
Pharmacy in Erance. 
Sir,—Permit me to correct a slight error 
in “ Pharmacien’s” reply to “ Valetudina¬ 
rian,” in your Journal for January. Tho 
two pharmacies at Mentone (French, Men¬ 
ton) in which English business is carried on 
are owned by M. Gras and M. Albertotti 
respectively. M. Gras formerly owned one 
in which French and Italian business alone 
is conducted, which he ceded to his assistant, 
the present owner. 
One of the pharmaciens at Cannes is also 
named Gras, but there is no connection be¬ 
tween the houses. 
A pharmacien is allowed to conduct only 
one business with his own diploma. 
