932 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[May 24, 1873. 
do not propose to go at all into the general question of 
the Report and its adoption, hut to refer to the fact which 
has been alluded to by the gentleman who has just sat 
down—namely, the prosecutions against offenders under 
the Pharmacy Act. One of the duties of the Council was 
to promote, and watch over legislation affecting the in¬ 
terests of members of this Society, and also to enforce the 
law made for our protection. I take it that so far as 
watching over legislation, the members have no fault to 
find with the Council, but I do not think we can speak 
with quite the same satisfaction of the way in which they 
have enforced the law in existence for the protection of 
members of the Society. Because, as I understand, if you 
submit a case to the Council with absolute evidence as to 
the violation of, so to speak, the title clauses of the Phar¬ 
macy Act, and can do that conclusively, they have no 
hesitation in ordering a prosecution. But (and this is the 
special point to which I wish to call the attention of the 
meeting) if, while the spirit and intention of the Pharmacy 
Act are distinctly violated, through the ingenuity of the 
persons carrying on the business, or through the defect of 
the Pharmacy Act itself, they are able to avoid any in¬ 
fraction of the title clauses, although openly violating the 
poison clauses of the Act, the Council decline to prosecute, 
and say that that is a question for the police. Now, gen¬ 
tlemen, what is the result of this caution, or rather want 
of caution 1 Why, simply this. The Council decline to 
interfere, because they say they consider it is no part of 
their duty to enforce these clauses, but it is the duty of 
the police; and the police do not trouble themselves about 
the matter. In fact, they perfectly ignore this point alto¬ 
gether; and thus the Pharmacy Act becomes simply a 
dead letter. It appears to me it is the duty of the Council 
to protect the members of the Society by enforcing the 
Pharmacy Act. If, while the title clauses are not in¬ 
fringed, still the spirit of the Act is openly violated, it is 
the duty of the Council to protect their members by pro-, 
secution. The case on which my observations are based 
is this. A person goes into the country and opens a busi¬ 
ness He does not adopt any of the titles allowed by the 
Pharmacy Act, but he puts up his name, A. B., we will 
say, and underneath he puts in very conspicuous letters, 
“ Registered.” To all intents and purposes he is carrying 
on the business of a chemist and druggist. He can dis¬ 
pense any prescription you like to take to him. Therefore 
I say he is to all intents and purposes carrying on the 
business of a chemist and druggist, although he does not 
call himself a pharmaceutical chemist, but simply “regis¬ 
tered.” He violates the poison clauses of the Act, but 
yet the Council refuse to prosecute,—at all events they 
have hitherto refused,—and a gentleman who came down 
to inquire into a case, said the person to whom I allude 
was sailing so close to the wind that the general clauses 
of the Act had not been infringed, but only the poison 
clauses, and it was a case for the police. If I am wrong 
I am open to correction. As this is the only opportunity 
we have of introducing these matters, I thought it right 
to submit this particular case to you. Certainly the rea¬ 
son the Council do not act in this matter cannot be on the 
ground of poverty, because the financial account is an ex¬ 
tremely satisfactory one. They have invested £2000 in the 
Three perCents, and still have a balance in hand of £850. 
But if that money were used occasionally to prosecute in a 
case such as I have mentioned, it would be for the benefit of 
the members at large. No doubt any one living in the 
locality, can, upon proper evidence, go before a magistrate 
with evidence as to the violation of these poison clauses, 
and obtain a conviction. But I say it is an extremely in¬ 
vidious thing for a member in the country to place himself 
in such a position, because it would be thought that pro¬ 
ceedings were taken from some personal spite or ill feeling 
against the accused, and not simply to carry out a law 
which was passed for the protection of the chemists and 
druggists. Therefore, I say if the Council leave the pro¬ 
secutions to the police, they will very likely have in a 
large number of small country places mere grocers and 
hucksters, and all kinds of persons, vending poisons. 
When a man opens a chemist’s shop for the express pur¬ 
pose of carrying on business as a chemist and druggist, 
and violates the Act, I think it is a case in which the 
Council ought to interfere. 
Mr. Bostock (Ashton-under-Lyne) : One remark was 
made by Mr. Pickering to which I should like to refer. 
It appears that the fees from students amount to about 
£149, while the amount paid to the lecturers is £600, so 
that there is a loss of between £400 and £500. The im¬ 
portant question to consider is how we can avoid that loss; 
and I think something ought to be done to remove that 
state of things. In the country we take young men for 
four or five years ; they come to live in our families as 
our sons, and there springs up a kind of fatherly regard 
for them. Then in course of time comes a desire to go 
to London. I think a young man has not completed his 
education until he has been to the metropolis and seen a 
little life in London. But many of them obtain situations 
where they can. They cannot all be at the dispensing 
houses. Some take a position in wholesale houses, which 
close at six or seven o’clock. The question is what be¬ 
comes of young men for the two or three hours afterwards. 
In Manchester we have excellent evening classes for the 
young men, which have been well sustained, and have 
paid their expenses. But I find in London this parent 
Society has no evening classes, which I think is a great 
misfortune. Some of the young men from my own esta¬ 
blishment are in London, and they have nowhere to go. 
Some have joined the Good Templars, and I am very glad 
they have done so. What we want is, that they should 
be qualified for future life. We shall not live to carry on 
our businesses for ever ; and unless these young men are 
qualified there will be no one to carry them on unless we 
educate them for it, and that can only be done by their 
pursuing a course of study. I think it desirable, if pos¬ 
sible, to attract young men to this institution b} r having¬ 
evening classes. Young men having obtained a taste for 
this business and shown some desire to fit themselves for 
future life, if you can encourage them to evening classes, 
keeping them out of the theatres of your city, you will 
assist in creating a better tone, and qualify them to take 
positions in the country. A great many members will 
leave the Society unless you do something like this. If 
you can devise any plan of giving evening classes I think 
you will make the Society more paying, and confer a great 
benefit both on the masters and the young men them¬ 
selves. 
Mr. Wilkinson (Manchester) said, anyone who read the 
fourth paragraph would suppose that there was not much 
alteration intended, but on looking at the Calendar it 
would be seen that there was much more than many would 
anticipate, and instead of its being slightly more stringent 
than before, it appeared to him that the new Minor ex¬ 
amination was more severe than the old Major ; but if a 
practical knowledge of dispensing were required before 
the Minor examination, it would not be necessary to re¬ 
examine on that subject for the Major. 
Mr. W. S. Brown suggested that Mr. Wilkinson’s 
remarks would come in better when discussing the amended 
bye-laws. 
Mr. Wilkinson said he was quite willing to adopt that 
suggestion. 
Mr. Hump age (London), having read the Report with a 
great deal of satisfaction, said, many of the remarks 
already made had been, in his judgment, so thoroughly 
brought before the Council, and canvassed and answered 
in the Journal, that it was almost needless to bring them 
forward again. It was quite manifest at two or three meet¬ 
ings that an impression was abroad that if upon the Council 
there were placed some gentlemen who understood the nature 
of the country business better than their London friends 
did, a different state of things would arise, and that many of 
the difficulties which were felt would be solved to every¬ 
one’s satisfaction. Thereupon, a body of gentlemen were 
returned from the country, and he was sure they had 
