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THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[May 3i 1873. 
limited, but is accorded also to those who have been 
otherwise for three years practically engaged in the 
translation and dispensing of prescriptions. A wider 
or more marked difference can scarcely be imagined ; 
and Mr. Hampson’s confessed inability to comprehend 
it amply justifies the satisfaction he has expressed 
that his vocation is not that of expounding law. 
The importance of a clear understanding on these 
points must be our excuse for dealing with them at 
such length; and before concluding we must add that 
while we feel sure those who have taken part in the 
consideration of this subject have freely given credit 
to Mr. Hampson for the sense of duty which com¬ 
pelled him to fight the question he raised as to the 
legality of the Council’s proceeding, we cannot shut 
our eyes to the fact that, beyond the observance of 
courteous tolerance for opposite opinions, there has 
long since been no real occasion for continuing the 
discussion on the point. 
The question has been thoroughly fought out, hav¬ 
ing been thrice decided in Council, and subsequently 
at a Special General Meeting of the Society. Discreet 
submission is therefore now the only loyal relation 
possible for the minority to assume towards the ma¬ 
jority. It would indeed be an eminently unfortunate 
circumstance if the efforts of the Society towards im¬ 
provement of the trade were to be hindered by the 
action of an irrepressible minority. 
PHARMACY IN VICTORIA. 
Fop some time past the pharmacists of Melbourne 
have been endeavouring to secure the passage of a 
Bill regulating the practice of pharmacy in the colony 
of Victoria, but hitherto their efforts have been ren¬ 
dered fruitless by changes in the Government. A 
vigorous effort is now, however, being made to pass 
the Bill during the present session. A deputation 
representing the Council of the Pharmaceutical So¬ 
ciety of Victoria has waited upon the Chief Secretary 
to ask that the Government should take charge of a 
Bill prepared by that Society, and approved by the 
Medical Society of Victoria. Mr. W. Johnson, 
formerly, we believe, a student in the School at 
Bloomsbury Square, and now Government Analyst 
and President of the Victoria Pharmaceutical Society, 
explained the provisions of the Bill prepared by the 
Society, which is based upon the English Pharmacy 
Act, adapted as far as possible to meet the special 
requirements of the colony. The principal aim is to 
make it compulsory in future that all persons retail¬ 
ing poisons or dispensing prescriptions should possess 
a competent practical knowledge of their business. 
It provides that registered chemists and druggists 
only shall retail poisons, except in certain cases 
where, there being no registered chemist within four 
miles, a licence may be granted to a storekeeper. 
But all pharmacopoeia preparations are to be of the 
B. P. standard, and such storekeepers are only to sell 
these preparations when they have obtained them 
from a registered chemist and druggist, whose signa¬ 
ture the bottles or packages are to bear. ’The Bill 
also proposes to establish a board of pharmacy—con¬ 
sisting of five members of the Society (appointed by 
the Governor in Council) and the chief medical 
officer—to control all examinations and grant certi¬ 
ficates of competency. Mr. Francis, in reply, said 
that he had not had time to master the details of the 
Bill, but that it appeared to him to be of too sweeping 
a character. It might perhaps be advantageously 
applied to centres of population, such as cities, towns, 
or boroughs, but should not hastily be extended to 
the more thinly-populated districts. He promised, 
however, to give the subj ect careful consideration and 
communicate his decision to the Society. 
We are informed that almost all the pharmacists in 
business in Melbourne have been educated in Eng¬ 
land ; and it is hoped that the passing of such a law 
as that sketched out would give a great impetus to 
pharmaceutical education in the colony. The Phar¬ 
maceutical Society of Victoria has now been esta¬ 
blished fifteen years, and it numbers 71 members, 
13 associates, and 1 registered apprentice. 
MUSIC AND PHARMACY. 
We have been favoured with a programme of the 
a Annual Commencement ” of the Massachusetts Col¬ 
lege of Pharmacy, Seventh Session, 1873-74, which 
is of so remarkable a character that we cannot do 
less than commend it to the notice of the schools of 
pharmacy of Europe. 
The proceedings or as the programme terms 
them “ Exercises ,” commence with a musical over¬ 
ture, whereupon follows the Vice-President’s 
address, immediately succeeded by a “ Grand Pot¬ 
pourri from Robert le Viable .” A statement of the 
progress of the College is followed by a “ Concert 
Waltzf and the Conferring of Degrees by a u Polka 
Brilliante." The ceremony winds up with discourses 
on pepsine, liquorice, and mercurial ointment! 
But are we not the victims of a hoax ? The whole 
thing smacks of the last scene in the Malacle Ima- 
ginaire, and we can fancy we hear the successful 
candidate returning thanks in the words of Moliere,— 
“ Grandes doctores doctrinse 
De la rlmbarbe et du sene, 
Ce seroit sans douta a raoi chosa folia, 
Inepta et ridicula, 
Si j’alloibam m’engageare 
Vobis louangeas donare. 
Et entreprenoibam adjontare 
Des lumieras an soleillo, 
Et des etoilas an cielo, 
Des ondas a l’oceano, 
Et des rosas an printano. 
Agreate qn’ avec nno moto 
Pro toto remercimento 
Rendam gratiam corpori tain docto.” 
REGULATION OF THE SALE OF INTOXICATING 
DRUGS IN INDIA. 
The Calcutta correspondent of the Times, in a 
recent letter, says that the spread of habits of in- 
