ANNUAL MEETING. 
783 
graph to tell the young men to be particular to put the cap on again; for he would 
venture to say that in nine cases out of a dozen the cap would be found kicking about 
the shop, when business happened to be pressing, and he did not see how this diffi¬ 
culty was to be got over. Then, lastly, they went on to say, “ In dispensing and 
selling poisons, all liniments, embrocations, and lotions, containing them shall be sent 
out or supplied in distinctive bottles, or bottles made distinctive; and with labels 
containing some words of caution, showing that the contents are not intended to be 
taken.” With regard to dispensing, lie would venture to say that every man who 
dispensed poison took measures to indicate on the bottles what it was ; but his ex¬ 
perience as to red, blue, yellow, and white labels was this, that the public would only 
fancy the chemist wanted to advertise himself, and be different to his neighbours,—it 
would never strike them that the yellow label meant a liniment, and the blue label a 
lotion ; they would require to be educated up to that point, and until this was done, 
it was all nonsense to talk about distinctive labels. It was only adding to the trouble 
of the dispenser, which, considering the remuneration he got for it, was quite sufficient 
already. He made these remarks, not with a view of throwing ridicule on the Council, 
but because he felt that a protest ought to be made against trammelling themselves 
with unnecessary regulations, if it could be avoided. 
Mr. TJbwick said he agreed with almost every word that had fallen from Mr. 
Dickinson, and, to show that he thought there was an evil in educating the public too 
much as to bottles and labels and so on, he "would just relate a case which had oc¬ 
curred to himself within a short time. A lady consulted one of the leading physi¬ 
cians, and, as a matter of course, she was sent to have the prescription dispensed at 
one of the large houses. She went home with a lotion, and an ordinary prescription 
for a mixture was sent to him to dispense. The mixture was sent in to be taken im¬ 
mediately, but the servant, by mistake, gave her mistress the lotion because there 
was no coloured label on it, and it was not put in a lotion bottle. Of course they 
immediately came rushing over to him, when the mistake was discovered ; but lie said 
he had not dispensed the lotion, and a doctor had to be sent for. This showed the 
evil of putting too much upon chemists, and leading the public to trust wholly to 
what chemists were supposed to do. lie therefore thought they could not take too 
•strong a stand against this matter being legislated upon. Every chemist who u^ed 
skill in his business had adopted one of the courses here suggested in carrying on Ins 
business, but he did object to having it said to him, You must do this or that. It 
might be practicable as far as London was concerned, but in the case of country 
houses it would be impossible to carryout these rules, where parties bought their 
arsenic by the hundredweight or ton, and other poisons in similar quantities. It 
would come practically to this, that they must have different legislation for London 
and the country. At first it was said tliat they must educate men, so as to enable 
them to read labels and prescriptions ; but now it must come to this, that they must 
be educated in touch. What would be the uex.t thing he could not say, but pemaps 
it would be something to enable blind men to dispense. r lhe next thing would be that 
an inspector would be appointed to go to all the chemists’ shops, and see that all the 
bottles were properly tied over and in their right cupboards. He thought that if men 
were taught to always read the labels carefully, they would be much less likely to go 
astray than by depending upon bottles being put in a particular place or cupboard. 
Mr. Brady said he felt some considerable embarrassment in speaking on a subject 
in which a resolution of the Council was brought forward as a basis of action, for lie 
felt as if he might be accused of doing something uncourteous to his colleagues, or dis¬ 
loyal to the general body, in making any protest against a resolution which had been 
passed b V a majority ; and had thq report of the meeting of the Council at which 
these poison resolutions were discussed been a little less vague than it was lie should 
have been bound to hold his peace, having protested against them on the Council. 
The report, however, although it did not say so, would lead any one to believe that 
no division had taken place, and that it had passed harmoniously and almost unani¬ 
mously. That was not the fact, for a division was taken twice on this question, it 
happened that the clauses were taken seriatim; and, though the report ot the Council 
meetin" was onlv given en masse, Mr. Deane, Mr. Squire, and one or two others had 
objected strongly to the mode of this second clause in the third paragraph; and he 
