800 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[April 5, 1873. 
*** No notice can be taken of anonymous communica¬ 
tions. Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenti¬ 
cated by the name and address of the writer; not necessarily 
for 'publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. 
The Benevolent Fund. 
Sir,—It is with great pleasure that I note the Benevolent 
Fund is at last exciting some attention. In common with 
some other chemists of this locality, I have long since 
resolved to withhold my mite, until the whole amount 
subscribed annually is at once devoted to charitable pur¬ 
poses. Whilst so many noble societies are calling out 
loudly for help, and are bravely casting their bread upon 
the waters, the Pharmaceutical Society, deaf to the voices 
around, is hoarding up money for the relief of the poor in 
some age that may never appear. 
Pharmacists of past days doubted the generosity of the 
men of to-day, and we, forsooth, must needs copy them, 
fearful lest charity should be dead after the departure of 
her present patrons. 
In conclusion, I would ask in the name of all that is 
right and charitable, that members in each town should 
unite their subscriptions, taken away from the Benevolent 
Fund, to relieve the destitute of their own neighbourhood ; 
or that a different policy be pursued by our Council, when 
I doubt not that subscriptions would quickly be almost as 
numerous as members of the Society. 
Walter B. Clark. 
Leicester, March 29th, 1873. 
Pharmacy Act, 1868. 
Sir,—I quite agree with Mr. Beale in last week’s Journal, 
that the. Pharmacy Act has not proved to be of much benefit 
to chemists, inasmuch as the outside trade goes on much 
as usual, notwithstanding the prohibitory clauses. It is 
plain that if the public are not strictly protected against 
themselves by further legislation, the Act will be a positive 
injury to many of us ; because, so long as the public can 
obtain drugs under certain names to which they have been 
accustomed, the quality will not be inquired into, the price 
being a more material question. 
Tincture of rhubarb, made with English rhubarb and 
turmeric, is commonly vended in this locality, as well as 
the other things spoken of by Mr. Beale : and the result of 
the whole is, that though I have been established some 
thirty years here, and have two places of business amongst 
a population of 14,000, the profits afford but a moderate 
living. If a person can manage to get half a dozen red 
herrings, a few bits of pipeclay, and a bath brick, into the 
window, there is sure to be some wholesale (?) druggist to 
the fore, to provide everything that he can persuade the 
enterprising party to deal in. And I have about fifty or 
sixty of these to contend with, who treat the Poisons Act 
as a nullity, besides a considerable assortment of old 
women, who vend breast ointment, lotions, infallible em¬ 
brocations, life pills, etc. Apart from the mere honour of 
the thing, there is nothing in the present regulations, so 
far as I can see, to prevent thoroughly incompetent persons 
from reaping, in such localities as mine, the principal 
benefit by a little ingenuity. I have a competitor who calls 
himself an “ oilman,” with a shop fitted up like a druggist’s 
shop, who sells what he likes, and prepares prescriptions as 
if properly qualified. He has a better excuse than many, 
because he has been with a druggist; but there are num¬ 
bers who take our legitimate trade, who can barely write 
their own names, and certainly cannot spell a sentence 
with a fair approach to correctness. Such persons as these 
are supplied with the veriest trash for sale, and unless 
I choose to compete with them, which I will not descend to 
do, I am undersold. 
As regards prescriptions, this is not a neighbourhood for 
many, the local medical gentlemen being in the habit of mak¬ 
ing up their own, as well as making their blisters, lending 
clyster-pipes, etc. The consequence is that I am thrown 
back on prescribing for more than mere simple matters; 
whereas, if a proper Pharmacy Act protected me, I should 
find plenty to do in carrying out the ordinary branches 
that pertain to our business. I trust that now that the 
Council has gone so far as they have done, they will go a 
little further, and thoroughly detach us from the suckers 
who make it impossible for a great many of us to succeed, 
and who are standing examples of the superiority of impu¬ 
dence and cunning manoeuvres to skill and education in 
obtaining a share of this world’s goods. 
Pudsey, near Leeds. Joseph Walker. 
Early Closing. 
Sir,—I am glad to notice that one at least of the Sunder¬ 
land chemists (viz. John Aslin and Co.) has joined the 
early closing movement in that town, by adonting the prac¬ 
tice of closing precisely at seven o’clock. This is a good 
example, and it might be advantageously followed. 
A Registered Chemist and Druggist. 
Sunderland.I, March 22nd, 1873. 
Pharmaceutical TI omen. — J\£r. H. J. Lutwyche writes 
that he would strongly advise those women who have an 
idea that they can become chemists to stay at home and 
learn to cook, for that not one out of twenty knows how to 
cook, and not one out of double that number knows how to 
boil a potato properly. His experience is that there are 
many occurrences which take place in a chemist and drug¬ 
gist’s shop that render it an unfit place for a woman. He 
also states that out of eighty-three chemists and druggists 
who have been called upon by a friend of his, eighty-two 
have signed a “ paper for women to be rejected,” and most 
of them “ expressed their regret that the Pharmaceutical 
Council did not reject female students long ago, which 
would have ended the matter at once.” Whether or not it 
be desirable to exclude women from the practice of phar¬ 
macy, we do not think they are to be disposed of so readily 
as our correspondent seems to believe, and we think the 
better course would be to give them full opportunity to 
enter into any competition they please. 
Mr. F. M. JBcssant says that nearly all the correspondence 
on this topic has revolved itself round such questions as “the 
fitness of women for the work,” “ the fairness ” as regards 
salary, competition, the advisability of exposing women to 
the chance of moral contamination, etc., and though he 
most heartily concurs with what “ H. L.” says on the sub¬ 
ject, and only thinks he has put the matter far too lightly 
in this respect, it seems to him that, until Mr. Saunders’ 
letter appeared, no one had properly realized the full 
depth and importance of the question. The real question 
he considers to be—Was woman made for herself or for 
man? and that its bearing with regard to pharmacy is 
only one peculiar phase of it. He thinks that a branch of 
“ trade,” which is now endeavouring to show “the world” 
what a high place in “ intellectual rank ” it is entitled to, 
should not be one of the very first to give way to one 
of the most degrading innovations of these modern times. 
With reference to the fact mentioned in the Journal some 
little time back, as to female students being admitted into 
some French medical or chemical society, he is of opinion 
that we have not made such miserable progress in civiliza¬ 
tion in the last few years, that the French have now passed 
us, and stand as a pattern and example to us in anything. 
“ Ignoratio.” —The two quantities are mentioned to show 
the range of the doses. It is wrong to assume that it 
would be advisable or even safe to give an adult the higher 
dose in all cases. 
J. Stather. —Your letter has been handed to the Secre¬ 
tary. 
“ Yerus.” —We are unable to aid you; the two are com¬ 
pletely incompatible. 
J. F. Brown.- —We believe this oil is to be met with in 
the London market. Try your wholesale druggist. 
“Look Out.” —Your letter, which should have been ac¬ 
companied by your address, has been handed to the Secre¬ 
tary, with whom you had better communicate on the 
subject. 
“ Nemo .”—We believe such a collection as you require is 
supplied by Mr. Siebold, of Manchester. 
Communications, Letters, etc., have been received from 
Mr. Pocklington, Mr. Bennett, Mr. J. Abraham, Mr. Hal- 
lawell, Mr. J. F. Brown, Dr. Fraser, Mr. Mackay, Mr. An¬ 
derson, Mr. Walker, Mr. Symes, Mr. Bladon, “ Registered 
Student,” “ Jurisprudents.” W. A. C. 
