352 
the pharmaceutical journal and transactions. 
[November 2, 1873. 
some degree of satisfaction arising from the fact of 
having attempted to do good, and help forward a better 
state of things; the general feeling of mutual esteem 
and respect which has been enkindled amongst us as a 
body, and also the number of our young men who have suc¬ 
cessfully passed the Preliminary, Minor, and Modified 
examinations aided by this association, are the silver 
linings to any discouraging clouds that may occasionally 
darken our horizon. 
Time passes on apace, and leaves its mark behind. 
Great will be the consolation to those who have during 
a long period freely contributed both time and money 
for.the.purpose of defending the trade from injurious 
legislation, and raising the educational and scientific 
status oi chemists and druggists, to find that as they 
have to retire from the more active duties of life, their 
places are taken up and more efficiently occupied by the 
younger members of the trade; it is to those who have 
passed the required examinations that we look for a 
vigorous maintenance of the good work which we have 
inaugurated. I hold that it is the duty and interest of 
all registered chemists in this town and neighbourhood 
to rally round the standard of this association, but more 
especially do I think it incumbent on the junior men to 
come forward and throw their energies and intellect into 
its operations. 
The greatly advanced prices of chemicals, and indeed 
of most articles in which we deal, together with the in¬ 
creased cost of all kinds of labour and merchandise, have, 
no doubt, produced in many of your minds a strong 
argument for raising in self-defence our scale of charges. 
Perhaps we are not yet sufficiently united throughout 
the town to. attempt a local price-list, such as ob¬ 
tains in the midland counties and some other parts of the 
.country; yet the necessity being so pressing, I hope it 
may not be too much to ask and expect that each of our 
members will .endeavour in every possible way to accom¬ 
plish this desirable object. Thus our mutual endeavours 
financially will tend to strengthen our feeling of union; 
and the small subscription we contribute will yield us 
far better interest than any other investment we can 
find. 
•^^ ow me to draw your attention for a moment to the 
Pharmaceutical Society and its Benevolent Fund. What¬ 
ever views any gentleman may entertain respecting one 
or more clauses of the Pharmacy Act, it must be re¬ 
garded and treated as a reality more or less affecting 
every one of us. It seems to me, therefore, very desir¬ 
able that country chemists in great numbers should obtain 
membership in that Society, in order to have a vote in the 
election of Council, and also a right to take part in the 
proceedings of its annual meeting. Politically, we find 
men regard it as a very important thing to have a vote 
for a member of Parliament or town councillor, and will 
frequently subscribe large sums of money to promote the 
opinions of a party in which their personal interests are 
very remote; but how much more important is it to the 
chemist that he should be able to exert a direct influence 
on questions continually cropping up which affect him 
personally to a very serious extent! The outlay is but 
small when we deduct from the annual subscription the 
price of the Journal, which all should possess, for it is a 
kind of microcosm, embracing in its pages a synopsis of 
the thousand-and-one things with which it is necessary 
«every man engaged in the business should be familiar. 
Besides, each member is entitled to a vote for annuitants 
on the Benevolent Fund. The objects of this fund are 
so good and its charities so beneficent that, amidst the 
differences of opinion on other matters, I have never 
heard a word of censure or disparagement of the opera¬ 
tions of this noble institution; its advantages are not 
confined to members of the Pharmaceutical Society (as 
we have in this town a proof), but its sympathies em¬ 
brace the whole trade; and wherever a case of destitu¬ 
tion and distress is found worthy of commiseration, it fls 
proposed as far as possible to administer succour and 
relief. The benefits of the fund are available also for the 
widow and orphan. 
I am happy to be able to congratulate you that we 
have had no reappearance of the obnoxious Poisons Bill, 
which last year gave us so much trouble; but in conse¬ 
quence of the numerous cases of criminal poisoning b^ 
vermin.killers which have taken place, and the continued 
complaints and threats of coroners from various parts of 
the kingdom, the subject has been brought before, an! 
fully discussed by, the Council of the Pharmaceutical 
Society, and it recommends that all vermin killers con¬ 
taining poison in No. 1 schedule shall be sold under th? 
same regulations as apply to the articles named in No. 1. 
This will entail considerable additional trouble on che¬ 
mists in registration, and probably do away with the 
sale of the smaller-sized packets; but it is "hoped this 
recommendation will be duly observed, lest those in au¬ 
thority should have a pretext to visit us with a more 
stringent law. 
^During the last Parliamentary session a new Juries 
Bill was brought forward, which, on the one hand, ex¬ 
cited the hopes of the chemist and druggist that he 
might be privileged with exemption from service ; and, 
on the other, the fears of the pharmaceutical chemist 
lest his freedom should be curtailed; in consequence of 
the press of other business the Bill was withdrawn, but 
in all probability it will reappear next session. Both 
parties will do well to keep an eye on this movement. 
The Adulteration Act is one of the measures of the 
last Parliamentary Session, and as drugs are included in 
its range, it may be regarded as of considerable import¬ 
ance to us. . Very much depends upon the mode and 
spirit in which it is administered ; if judiciously, we may 
hope for good results both to ourselves and the public ; 
if otherwise, it may be made the occasion of much vexa¬ 
tion, annoyance and expense. I have not a word to say 
on behalf of the man who willfully stoops to the adul¬ 
teration of medicines, on the proper action of which 
perchance a. human life may depend. The practice where 
it obtains is reprehensible in the highest degree, and 
merits not only our contempt, but any penalty the law 
may inflict; however, it is well known by those who 
have had an opportunity of forming a correct judgment, 
that for many years past there has been a steady im¬ 
provement in the quality of drugs, etc., sold by chemists, 
and. at no former period was there displayed amongst us 
a higher tone of sound moral principle in trading. An 
ambiguity in the wording of this Act in reference 
to one of the needful qualifications of the analyst, 
occasioned some uneasiness amongst chemists, but 
through the prompt action of the Pharmaceutical 
Council in obtaining the opinions of the Attorney- 
General, the Solicitor General and Mr. Langley, all 
doubt and uncertainty must be for ever set at rest. 
I would now call your attention to one clause of the 
Pharmacy Act (viz. the 16th), which has, I think, been 
misunderstood, and, I am told, been the occasion of much 
anxiety and pecuniary loss to certain widows whose 
husbands have died intestate. It has been supposed that 
in such, a case a widow cannot carry on the business, not 
even with .a legally qualified assistant, but is bound to 
dispose of it at any sacrifice. Now, what I wish to say is 
this, a widow may take out letters of administration to 
her late husband’s estate, and thus come within the pro¬ 
visions of the law, and who is there to say when her 
office ceases ? If so, who is there to prosecute ? I think 
I may speak confidently of the Council of the Pharma¬ 
ceutical Society, that not a man of it would take such 
a.step, and I doubt if any one else could do it. This 
view of the case has, I confess, been a relief to my own 
mind, and I offer the same to your notice. 
. In my intercourse with the members of this associa¬ 
tion, I have frequently heard murmurings that the 
Pharmaceutical Society had not taken active steps to en¬ 
force the Pharmacy Act, by more frequently prosecuting 
persons who, to such an injurious extent, are illegally 
