612 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[February 1, 1873. 
position of chemists and druggists in regard to it, 
and from numerous letters lately received it seems 
that while there is a general disposition to comply 
with the law there are many who, to use the words 
•ofone correspondent, ‘‘are ignorant of the present 
list of poisons which require registering.” 
The subject, however, has been so frequently re¬ 
ferred to in this Journal that it is not easy to under¬ 
stand why that should be, especially since it was 
last August brought forward as matter for discussion 
at the Council, and the proceedings then and on 
-several subsequent occasions were fully reported. 
“MAJOR ASSOCIATES.” 
One of the existing bye-laws of the Society, made 
immediately after the passing of the Pharmacy Act, 
sec. xi., clause 4, provides that “the names of per¬ 
sons registered as Associates or Assistants shall, 
upon their registration as Pharmaceutical Chemists, 
be removed from the Register of Associates or the 
Register of Assistants, as the case may be.” The 
effect ot this is that when an Associate of the So¬ 
ciety passes the Major examination, and thus be¬ 
comes eligible as a Member of the Society, he 
ceases to be an Associate; in fact, his connection 
with the Society is thereby terminated unless he 
presents himself for election as a Member. 
By some unaccountable oversight, however, the 
bye-law has hitherto been disregarded, and by rea¬ 
son of this oversight some of those who passed the 
Major examination have been from time to time re¬ 
gistered as Associates forming the class of Major 
Associates. Of course, when the true state of the 
case became apparent it also became imperative for 
the Registrar to discontinue the illegal practice that 
had crept in. According to the Act his duty is clear 
mnd cannot be avoided, and, consequently, he has 
given notice to those already registered as Major 
Associates that by reason of the bye-law above re¬ 
ferred to their names must be removed from the 
Register of xkssociates, and that 'they must either 
take up the Membership for which they are eligible 
or cease to be connected with the Society. 
To tliis course there was indeed no alternative, for 
there is really no.such grade as that of Major Asso¬ 
ciate, and it is not even in the power of the Council 
effectively to alter the bye-law. Consequently some 
149 persons have been removed from the Society’s 
Register. We are glad to learn, however, that nearly 
one-lialf of the number have already sent in appli¬ 
cations tor Membership, but there seems to be on the 
part of some an idea that an injustice has been in¬ 
flicted on them; and in our correspondence columns 
will be found two letters on this subject, to which, 
as tliejr are mainly interrogative, it is desirable to 
refer here in order to point out the erroneous im¬ 
pressions under which the writers labour. 
In addition to what has already been said as to 
the imperative necessity of the step that has been 
taken, it must be noted that so far from there being 
any hardship as regards those affected, the fact is, 
that for such time as they have been improperly re¬ 
gistered they have enjoyed the advantages of con¬ 
nection with the Society for only half the amount of 
subscription that should have been paid. They have 
been, in this respect, actual gainers by the oversight 
of the bye-law in question. It is, therefore, unjus¬ 
tifiable that they should entertain any feeling of 
being “ doneand as regards the suggestion that 
they should have received fair warning, it must be 
remembered that they have still less ground for dis¬ 
satisfaction, and are really in as good a position 
as if they had been warned five years ago. 
It is equally unreasonable to speak of the Society 
having any motive for the course taken; and the 
view that it was prompted by the idea of a probable 
increase in the annual revenue is, at least, incon¬ 
sistent with the history and policy of the Society as 
an educational bodv. 
t/ 
As regards the possible effect of the recent action 
we cannot share our correspondents’ anticipation of 
consequences disadvantageous to the Society or to 
the higher qualification of those entering the busi¬ 
ness. In the first place the large proportion of ap¬ 
plications to be placed in the grade of Members is 
sufficient to prove that connection with the Society 
is estimated more highly than to be prevented by a 
necessity for the payment of an additional half-guinea 
a year, and we venture to believe that this view will 
yet prevail with the majority, if not with all those 
who have been perhaps somewhat startled at receiv¬ 
ing the Registrar’s notice as to their position. 
Again, there is no ground for supposing that the 
operation of the bye-law will in any degree depre¬ 
ciate or interfere with the desire to obtain the 
“Major” qualification, for this eminently desirable 
step does not by any means involve “ an extra 
half-guinea yearly,” and does not even require con¬ 
nection with the Society as an indispensable thing 
tliis being entirely optional. 
It may here be remarked incidentally with regard 
to the Major qualification,conferring aright to the title 
of Pharmaceutical Chemist, that although it may not, 
at the present time be valued so highly as it should, 
yet we do not hesitate to say that it has even now a 
very appreciable value to those seeking engage¬ 
ments, especially in the position of managers, and 
there is every reason to believe that this will aug¬ 
ment. It has always been the aim of the Society to 
promote the idea that the Major qualification was 
the proper standard of competence, and it is only by 
the support of those who acquire that qualification, 
whether they become Members or not, that we can 
hope for the attainment of the Society’s original 
purpose of raising the status and condition of the 
trade. 
We would suggest, therefore, that immediate ad- 
