CORRESPONDENCE. 
823 
ledges. If it is any satisfaction to Mr. 
Marshall, I also confess to selling what some 
'people call “ homoeopathic ” solution of cam¬ 
phor, which is fully four times the strength 
of the officinal preparation, and I further 
acknowledge that I believe it to be one of 
the best allopathic prophylactics against, or 
remedies for colds. 
Mr. Marshall challenges me to predict 
the duration of homoeopathy, and I willingly 
accept his call; stipulating, however, that 
he and the other pharmaceutists shall give 
it a clear field and no favour. According to 
my observation, homoeopathy, as a form of 
medical practice, is already extinct; it lingers 
in the credulity of the public, and the in¬ 
terestedness of the shops who supply them ; 
but if left alone, I sincerely believe that the 
present generation will outlive it. The ob¬ 
servation upon which this apparently san¬ 
guine expectation is founded, is first, that 
homoeopathy is arrant folly, opposed to 
scientific investigation and to common sense, 
which perhaps may not go for much; but 
secondly, that, so far as I can ascertain, 
homoeopathic practitioners do not now trust 
to homoeopathic doses, in which alone their 
real divergence from rational practice con¬ 
sists. They do not themselves use those 
absurd globules which contain no trace of 
the ingredients inscribed upon their imagi¬ 
native labels, but rely upon saturated tinc¬ 
tures of aconite, belladonna, nux vomica, 
and other deadly agents, which timid phar¬ 
macists isolate in poison-closets, and hedge 
about with ponderous precautions. We 
know how easily homoeopathic doses may be 
simulated in the eyes of the uninitiated, 
while potential quantities of these energetic 
poisons are actually administered. Say, for 
example, one drop of liquor belladonnas. 
It is true, that homoeopathic patients are 
encouraged to treat their minor or imagina¬ 
tive maladies, which need no medicine, with 
globules at discretion. Herein is homoeo¬ 
pathy triumphant. “ Similia similibus,” no¬ 
thing is cured by nought! And probably 
no better scheme could be devised for amus¬ 
ing what they call their minds, while the 
“vis medicatrix naturae” effects the cure. 
Such a delusion as this cannot endure, and 
the time must soon come when the farce of 
homoeopathy, already played out, will be 
stripped of its mark, and stand confessed 
in undisguised imposture. Its quondam 
votaries will smile at their past credulity, 
and own that, like the Athenians of old, 
they have been “ too much given to super¬ 
stition.” 
It will be a sorry reflection for us if the 
disloyalty of pharmacy to scientific truth 
contributes to postpone that coming dawn. 
Your obedient servant, 
Richaed W. Giles. 
Clifton, May, 1870. 
Sir,—Have not your correspondents missed 
a most important consideration in discussing 
the propriety of supplying these medicines, 
namely, that the public demand them, and 
properly qualified medical men recommend 
them? Are chemists to be censors of medi¬ 
cal treatment, and deny this, or supply that 
medicinal agent, according to their personal 
faith in its action? A physician, for reasons 
best known to himself, may prescribe six 
grains of sand. Is it not the duty of the 
dispenser to supply it ? His veto is surely 
in no case valid, unless to prevent injury. 
If chemists desire to show their title to a 
professional status, such a purpose will not 
be hindered by a gentlemanly tolerance of 
diverse opinion. 
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
‘- T. M. 
Dispensing by Medical Men. 
Dear Sir,—In the present improving and 
promising age of pharmacy, when not only 
masters, assistants, and apprentices, but even 
the Government itself, see the advantage of 
a well-educated and duly qualified class to 
dispense the prescriptions of our medical 
men, allow me to call your attention to 
the fact, that about 90 per cent, of our 
doctors prepare their own medicines; and to 
what purpose do we read and study to pass 
our examinations, devoting time, trouble, 
and expense, to qualify ourselves for the 
duties of a dispenser, if, on attaining our 
position as chemists, we have no prescrip¬ 
tions to prepare, but depend upon our means 
of subsistence from the sale of grocery and 
fancy articles, for how very few of the 
country chemists could obtain a mere exist¬ 
ence by dispensing ? I speak of the smaller 
fry, not the chemists at fashionable water¬ 
ing places. I quote, as an example, the 
chemists (of whom there were two) in a small 
town in which I occupied a situation; the 
population was between three and four 
thousand; there were four medical men, all 
dispensing their own medicines. What was 
the consequence ? The chemists became 
grocers, seed-merchants, oil and paint dealers; 
and then that you receive letters complaining 
of grocers selling drugs can’t be wondered at. 
Is it not the pot calling the kettle black, for 
chemists who sell tea and biscuits to cornph ir 
of grocers who sell epsom salts and cream t f 
tartar? In my present situation, in a town 
of the same size in France, there are four 
doctors and two chemists; we have between 
forty and fifty prescriptions a week, and 
double that number in the season; are con¬ 
sequently satisfied, and do not dabble in 
teas, biscuits, seeds, paints, oils, and the 
thousand-and-one articles you find in a 
country chemist’s shop, if the French 
doctors are not permitted, and can live 
without dispensing their own medicines, 
why should not the English chemist possess 
