CORRESPONDENCE. 
579 
Pills reads at once all these particulars. 
What better type have we of an efficient re¬ 
medy honestly offered to the public ? What 
better precedent on which to form a rule ? 
Let any one look into pamphlets so freely 
distributed, and especially to the youth of 
both sexes. He finds in them one theme, pru¬ 
rient, disgusting, and overwrought elabora¬ 
tions of a loathsome subject. Their aim is 
to alarm and decoy. These usually have no 
signature, and sometimes an assumed one. 
May not such a regulation quickly lessen 
this scandal on the healing art ? May we 
not hope that wo have taken the proper 
step to exterminate in due time so great a 
social evil ? 
I would condense the above remarks in 
the following resolutions:— 
1. That patent medicines, i. e. medicines 
liable to a stamp duty, be styled “ proprie¬ 
tary medicines.” 
2. That the Board of Inland Revenue be 
memorialized to consolidate and simplify all 
Acts now in force affecting patent medicines. 
3. That a uniform licence of £1 be paid by 
all vendors of proprietary medicines. 
4. That all existing rights, both of com¬ 
pounding and selling, be reserved to all 
compounders and sellers of patent medi¬ 
cines at the time of the passing of the Act, 
and that, for duly securing to them these 
rights, they be registered by a legally-ap¬ 
pointed public body. 
5. That after the passingfofj the Act no 
medicine liable to stamp duty be compounded 
for sale, or sold by any one not being a duly 
qualified medical practitioner or a regis¬ 
tered chemist and druggist, or registered, as 
per proposition 4. 
6. That on each package, bottle, bill, 
pamphlet, or advertisement containing or 
pertaining to any secret or proprietary me¬ 
dicine the name, description, and address of 
the proprietor, and compounder or maker, 
be printed in conspicuous type. 
I remain, truly yours, 
S. C. Betty. 
The Poison Question. 
Gentlemen,—I shall be glad if you will 
afford me a little space in the Pharmaceuti¬ 
cal Journal for a few remarks on the pro¬ 
posed regulations for keeping and dispen¬ 
sing of poisons. But, before considering the 
proposals of the Council, I may mention that, 
I think, they might, with advantage to the 
public and with little inconvenience to the 
vendor, have gone further in restricting the 
sale of tinct. cantharides, pure and simple. 
This preparation is frequently wanted for 
criminal purposes, and is undoubtedly some¬ 
times sold to such purchasers. Now the 
labelling it with the word “poison” will 
not materially interfere with its being used 
for criminal purposes. I own it would bo 
very inconvenient to have to comply with 
the regulations for poisons in the first part 
of the schedule, whenever it was required 
for a hair-wash, pomade, etc. The tincture, 
pure and simple, might be placed in the 
first part of the schedule, but in the second, 
or omitted altogether, when mixed with a 
certain quantity of essential or fixed oil or 
anything rendering it impossible to be ad¬ 
ministered secretly. The first proposition of 
the Council is, that each poison shall be kept 
in a bottle, box, vessel, or package distinctly 
labelled with the word “poison.” Might 
not the so labelling of every bottle contain¬ 
ing poison, cause unnecessary alarm to our 
customers when they see their medicines 
taken out of bottles labelled “ poison.” The 
plan I adopted a year ago was to label each 
bottle Part 1 or Part 2, according to the 
part of the schedule its contents were classed 
in.. This I have found to work well, as it re¬ 
minds the vendor that the article is poison, 
and, at the same time, he sees what regula¬ 
tions he must comply with in selling it. 
It is next proposed that in the keeping of 
poisons, one or more of the following sys¬ 
tems shall be used. That they shall be kept 
in a closet, drawer, or compartment by 
themselves, or, that by some peculiarity in 
the make of the bottle, it shall be distinguish¬ 
able to the touch, or that the stoppers shall 
be tied over or otherwise secured, so as to 
make them different to the ordinary bottles. 
It cannot be necessary that all poisons 
should be kept in a closet or compartment 
by themselves. If this part of the proposi¬ 
tion is to be adopted at all, it will surely be 
sufficient if it applies to the poisons enume¬ 
rated in the first part of the schedule. The 
last, relating to the dispensing and com¬ 
pounding of poisons, lotions, etc., will re¬ 
quire to be fully considered before adopting 
any particular form of bottle. Surely it 
can never be seriously contemplated that all 
poisons, lotions, and liniments shall be put 
into distinctive bottles. It would make con¬ 
fusion worse confounded. What is meant 
by a poison is defined for us by law, and the 
list contains medicines constantly being 
used for internal as well as external use. If 
this regulation was enforced, w r e should in 
many instances send out a comparatively 
harmless liniment or lotion for external ap¬ 
plication, and some strong drops for internal 
use, in similar distinctive bottles. There 
would be no safety in this, and if it is thought 
advisable to make any regulation on the sub¬ 
ject, rather than leave it to the judgment of 
the chemist, it will, I think, be more for the 
public safety if the line is drawn between 
medicines for external and internal use. It 
w r ould be objectionable to have more kinds 
of distinctive bot tles than one. The angular 
and fluted bottles are elegant safeguards, 
