740 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
to me to be made up very quickly; accord¬ 
ingly it was attended to at once, which 
being done, I was thoroughly astonished 
when, on naming my price, I was told that 
Mr.- charged much less. Being chal¬ 
lenged so unreservedly, I thought there 
would be no impropriety in asking how 
much Mr. - charged. An answer was 
at once vouched, which quite took me by 
surprise. The prescription I will give here. 
K. Sodae Carb. sij 
Infus. Gent. Oss 
Tinct. Khei Co. 5 v j 
Sp. Ammon. Arom. 5ii,l 
§i bis die. 
It. Pil. Hydrarg. gr. iij. 
h. s. cap. 
A. Ch. 
My price was Is. 6d., which I consider 
not at all too much; but the patient did, as 
she could get it compounded by one of the 
oldest firms in the town for Is. 2d., which I 
think must have been thoroughly dissected 
into the following rates :— 
Soda $d., gentian 3d., rhubarb 3d., sal 
volatile 2d., bottle and labels l^d., pill Id., 
knowledge required for the same 3d .; grand 
total, Is. 2d. 
Hoping you will insert this in your next 
issue, and pardon me for trespassing so 
much on your space, 
I remain, dear Sir, yours trulv, 
“ Spes.” 
The Benevolent Penh. 
Sir,—I send you a copy of an appeal made 
to the Hull chemists on behalf of the Bene¬ 
volent Fund of the Pharmaceutical Society, 
and also a list of subscribers (see page 733) 
to show the result. I shall be glad if you 
can find room in your Journal for it, in 
hopes that others, who have not already 
done so, may be induced to give, and also 
to stimulate chemists in other towns to do 
likewise. 
I may mention that there are a few more 
names of chemists in Hull not down on this 
list who give freely to the Fund. 
I am, Sir, yours respectfully, 
Francis Earle. 
Hull, April, 1870. 
The following is the appeal referred to 
by Mr. Earle:— 
“Dear Sir,—I have the pleasure of sending 
you a few remarks made by Mr. Bell, at the 
Annual Dinner of the Hull Chemists’ Associa¬ 
tion, advocating the more general contribution 
to the Benevolent Fund of the Pharmaceutical 
Society, and trust it will meet with your hearty 
support. 
“I purpose calling, or sending some one to 
call, upon every chemist in the town ; but those 
outside will kindly oblige by sending their sub¬ 
scriptions to me as early as convenient.—Yours 
faithfully, F. Earle. 
“ Hull, January 15 th, 1870.” 
“ Hull Chemists’ Association. —The An¬ 
nual Dinner of the Association was held at the 
Cross Keys Hotel, on Thursday, the 25th of No¬ 
vember, 1869 ; Mr. Anthony Smith in the chair 
(in the unavoidable absence of the President, 
Mr. Baynes), when a room full of chemists met 
and spent a very pleasant evening. After the 
usual loyal and other toasts, the Honorary Se¬ 
cretary, Mr. Bell, and others, pleaded for the 
better and more general support of the Benevo¬ 
lent Fund of the Pharmaceutical Society, ob¬ 
serving that as the Fund was accessible to every 
member of the trade, and that any chemists, 
who through ill health or other unforeseen cir¬ 
cumstances, might become the recipient of it, it 
was the duty of every chemist when in health 
and prosperity to remember, in a substantial 
manner, that all were not equally fortunate, and 
subscribe something every year, be it ever so 
little, to make this Fund a source of pride to 
those whose hearts are large enough to support 
it, and a comfort to those who needed its assist¬ 
ance.” 
Sale or Poisons. 
Sir,—I wish to make a suggestion to my 
fellow-members with respect to the sale of 
poisons for destroying the larger animals, 
such as cats, dogs, foxes, etc. 
I would recommend that, for the purposes 
above mentioned, always to refuse the sale 
of dangerous poisons, as there need be no 
difficulty in destroying the lives of such 
creatures whilst we have powder and shot 
at hand, or a person can be found who will, 
for a trifling consideration, dispatch the 
offender; and the practice, if adopted, might 
prevent many of those secret assassinations, 
which many persons have felt keenly in the 
loss of favourite animals. 
But the unfortunate case which has re¬ 
cently occurred near this town, where a 
lady, probably under the influence of de¬ 
lirium tremens, got up in the night and 
swallowed a dose of poison intended for a 
dog, to my mind forcibly illustrated the 
danger of the practice (of selling the public 
deadly doses of poison) j and also the wisdom 
of my suggestion. 
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
Joseph Lucas. 
4, Colmore How, Birmingham, 
April 9, 1870. 
Local Societies. 
Sir,—I was in Brighton four days last 
week, searching for a chemist’s business for 
a cash client of mine who wants one by the 
sea. 
There are seventy chemists’ shops in 
Brighton, several equal to the best in Lon¬ 
don, and all seem to be doing well. It was 
told to me with regret that there was no 
“Chemists’ Local Association” at the pre¬ 
sent moment in such a large and important 
town as this “ queen of watering-places,” 
and that there was locked up the nucleus 
of a pharmaceutical library, etc., of no use 
