CORRESPONDENCE. 
735 
Wallingford, Payne, Sidney .... 
Walton-on-Thames, Power, Edward 
'Wandsworth, Nind, George .... 
„ New, Crosby, James . . 
Watford, Chater, Jonathan and Son . 
Wellingborough, Thorne, John . . . 
Welwyn, Lawranee, Edmund . . . . 
Weymouth, Groves, Thomas Bennett . 
Winchester, Powell, Edward . . 
Windsor, Boyce, J ohn Pierce . . . 
,, Collins, H. G. 
,, Crook, E. 
£ s. d. 
1 1 0 
0 10 6 
0 10 6 
0 10 6 
1 11 6 
o io 6 ; 
0 11 0 j 
0 10 6 
1 1 0 
o io 6 ; 
0 5 0 J 
0 10 6 I 
Windsor, Grisbrook, E. ... 
,, Leigh, John .... 
,, Russell, Charles J. L. . 
„ Weller, George . . . 
,, Wetherhead, E. . . . 
Withington, Terry, Thomas . . 
Woodhridge, Betts, John . . . 
Woolwich, Parkes, John C. . . 
,, Rastrick, John A. . . 
Worcester, Witherington, Thomas 
Wyke, Drake, William .... 
Yarm, Reed, George .... 
£ s. d. 
0 10 6 
0 10 6 
0 10 6 
0 10 6 
0 10 6 
0 5 0 
0 10 6 
0 10 6 
0 10 6 
1 1 0 
0 2 6 
0 10 6 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
Communications for this Journal, and books for review, should he addressed 
to the Editor, 17, Bloomsbury Square, as early in the month as possible, and 
in no case later than the 20 th of the month, if intended for publication in the 
next number. 
Sale of Homoeopathic Medicines. 
Sir,—In the correspondence of this month, 
a letter appears from Mr. Giles upon the 
reprehensible and demoralizing system ot 
combining the sale of homoeopathic medi¬ 
cines with the practice of pharmacy, and I 
may say that I read it with much interest, 
from its being the production of such an 
able pharmacist, for I have always looked 
upon that gentleman as one of the lights 
and guiding stars of our Society. 
In the preface, Mr. Giles admits that 
<c pharmacy can never be other than a trade 
or business;” from which I infer that it is 
not inconsistent to combine w'ith it the sale 
of such articles as are compatible with the 
character of the business, and which the 
necessities of the district require the che¬ 
mist to supply. In the great majority of 
provincial towns a reliable phaimacy is ab¬ 
solutely necessary, yet the proceeds arising 
from it would afford but the barest pittance 
unless combined with the sale of other 
articles; and, as chemists form no exception 
to the rule of those hastening to get rich, 
many are induced, sometimes to their dis¬ 
appointment, in their “ over-eagerness to 
make money,” as Mr. Giles terms it, to com¬ 
bine with their business the manufacture of 
various substances, suck as aerated waters,^ 
artificial manures, charcoal, etc. As one ot 
the articles of sale in a chemist’s shop, 
homoeopathic medicines are amongst the 
least objectionable, for they are sent out by 
the wholesale manufacturers in a very con¬ 
venient form, requiring no trouble from the 
vendor, except folding them up and hand¬ 
ing them to the customer; and they are in 
such small bottles, that a chest two feet 
square is capable of holding a considerable 
stock; the manufacturer supplies the chest, 
which, if the chemist be inclined^ to exhibit, 
is rather ornamental than objectionable. 
As an illustration of my case I will not 
select an ideal personage, but a bond fide 
one,—myself,—as I think that I shall. be 
found no exception to the class ot chemists 
who indulge in the “ handy-dandy pranks 
of which Mr. Giles complains. I am lo¬ 
cated in a town of twenty-live thousand in¬ 
habitants, amongst whom is a considerable 
number of wealthy manufacturers, and a 
goodly number of country gentry have their 
seats in the surrounding district. We have 
no resident phj r sician, and the medical men 
supply their own medicines. There are halt- 
a-dozen chemists in the town, and the pre¬ 
scriptions presented them to dispense are 
only such as have been obtained in other 
towns, and, of course, the number is very 
limited, and the gain derived from dispens¬ 
ing them very small. I make bold to say 
that I conduct that part of my business 
with as rigid an observance of pharmaceu¬ 
tical morality as is practised at the Clifton 
establishment, and I am favoured with a 
fair proportion of patronage for my pains; 
but if dependent upon that alone, I should 
barely be enabled to keep my head above 
water, so I combine with it the sale of such 
articles as are compatible with my business. 
There is a growing demand for homoeopa¬ 
thic medicines, and some of my neighbours 
have long kept a stock equal to the demand. 
For some years I took a very exalted view 
of the matter, and declined to keep them, 
although I was obliged during the whole 
time to keep an account with a London 
homoeopathic firm, in order to supply those 
of my patrons who gave me to understand 
that they preferred having their globules, 
etc., from me rather than procure them else¬ 
where. I don’t know what Mr. Giles would 
