618 HALIFAX AX'D DISTRICT CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 
definition of the term would have great effect on the practicability of Regulation No. 2. 
It would require a large cupboard to hold all the preparations, whilst some poisons 
equally dangerous would be at large. Fresh additions to the Schedule would be made, 
until it would involve an incalculable amount of trouble and expense. Then, no 
reference had been made to quantities. How were 1 cwt. of arsenic and large quan¬ 
tities of opium to be kept ? At least 100 preparations would be affected by these Re¬ 
gulations. Had the Council, as a trial, confined themselves to the poisonous alka¬ 
loids, prussic acid, etc., the project would have been more reasonable. The plan of 
eoating bottles with sand-paper, also that of capping the bottles, was then referred to, 
—the latter the speaker considered to be the more effectual. The endeavour to effect 
the safety of poisons in the hands of the public by sending out poisons in peculiar¬ 
shaped bottles he thought would fail, as the bottles would soon come to be used for 
ordinary medicines. Then, again, a large number of prescriptions for internal use con¬ 
tained one or other of these poisons ; should these mixtures be put into peculiar- 
shaped bottles f If so, what was to distinguish them from liniments, etc. ? The 
question to be considered was whether the precautions were needed, and, if so, would 
the Regulations of the Council meet the case ? In the opinion of the speaker, the out¬ 
cry was unreasonable. The mistakes made by the trade bore a small pioportion to 
the fatal list, as would be seen from the following statement, which had been published. 
Out of 301 cases of poisoning, 160 were accidental, 84 suicidal, 31 homicidal, and 
26 traceable to mistakes of the vendors of medicine. It would be interesting to 
analyse these 26 cases, in order to see how many could have been prevented by the 
proposed Regulations. In conclusion, Mr. Brook said he had freely expressed his. 
opinions, and trusted that the opinions of his audience would be equally fiee ; foi, it 
the Council carried their plan, the trade would have only themselves to blame in not 
having protested, against an intolerable project. 
The Chairman then invited the members to thoroughly discuss the subject; it was 
a matter in which none of them could afford to remain silent. . 
Mr. Shaw complimented the essayist on the able manner in which lie had handled 
the subject. He thoroughly agreed with the opinions expressed. In his opinion, the 
safety of the public could best be guaranteed by the pushing forward vigorously the 
education of the trade. The Council would have sufficient work on its hands to give 
this matter the consideration it deserved. He attributed the present agitation to the 
gradual leaning of the ruling powers of the Society towards the whims and desires of 
the faculty. The more active poisons in his establishment were very conspicuously 
marked with a red band, and every other precaution adopted to prevent mistakes. 
The technicalities which the trade had to contend with were already sufficiently 
annoying. 
Mr. Farr thought that tying the dangerous medicines over would be the best pre¬ 
ventive to mistakes; the time in untying the cover, and its peculiar difference to the 
other bottles, must at once attract the attention of even the most careless dispenser. 
He thought the cupboard a cumbersome and impracticable idea.. 
Mr. Jessop said the Council should pay attention to the register, and see that all 
who were on it were worthy to be so. The health of the public could not be safe, 
nor would the trade prosper, so long as they had to compete with those who had no 
genuine qualification. 
The discussion was continued by Messrs. Wright, Wood, Brearley, etc. etc., 
who agreed with the remarks of the preceding speakers, and thought that the object 
of the Council was a laudable one, but impracticable. . . 
The Secretary, Mr. Hebden, was somewhat disappointed with the discussion. He 
had hoped that, while the plans of the Council had received the condemnation they 
merited, some other plan, simple, practical, and inexpensive, might have been origi¬ 
nated amongst them. All, however, seemed only bent on censuring these methods 
for accomplishing a good end. The safety of both the trade and the public wou e 
secured if the agitation on this subject should result in a real improvement in the 
direction in which our governing powers wish. Whilst agreeing with the expiessions 
in opposition to the proposed Regulations, he could not forget that a vast proportion 
of the dispensing was done by the assistants or senior apprentices, and that lads les 
from school, in the first year of their apprenticeship, were daily able to plunge a 
