40 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
[July 9,1870. 
Rome—to which, by the way, the word consilium more espe¬ 
cially applies. 
Mr. Ince puts forward three objections to publicity. First, 
that most of the proceedings are of a conversational nature. 
So, frequently, are those of the houses of Parliament when in 
Committee—-not to speak of vestries and such-like, which are 
reported without difficulty every day; nor is it to be supposed 
that verbatim reports are required. Secondly, he is afraid of 
not being recognized as the father of his own offspring, from 
the circumstance that he has sometimes made a mouthpiece 
of another member. I reply that he has the remedy in his 
own hands, and can by no possibility be worse off in that re¬ 
spect than he is now. His simile of the signpost is a good 
one, but he would hardly wish to destroy such signs because one 
had sent him in a wrong direction. His third reason is even 
more unsatisfactory. Why the debates which occasionally 
arise must of necessity be of a personal nature I do not know, 
though I am bound to accept his statement; but of this I 
am certain, that if any member can so far forget himself as to 
make use of personalities, or make statements the publication 
of which will “ sow an abundant harvest of ill-will, misun¬ 
derstanding, and estrangement,” it is highly desirable that 
he shall be known to the Society at large. Nor is a feeling of 
uncertainty as to who may next suffer under the tender mer¬ 
cies of the Council likely to make us less desirous of the safe¬ 
guard of publicity, of the necessity for which Mr. Ince has 
now himself supplied us with conclusive proof. 
Charles Eve. 
Hampstead, July 4<th, 1870. 
Sir,—May I be allowed space for a few remarks on the 
“Age of Progress ” ? 
In common with many others, I feel annoyed that every 
now and then the Journal of our Society should be made the 
medium for propagating strictures and remarks which are 
quite uncalled for, and reflect injuriously on large numbers 
of the Society’s friends. 
The members of the Society last month elected in the 
usual way a new Council. Immediately on this being done, 
there appeared in the Journal a somewhat extraordinary 
leader, commenting very freely on the matter, and hinting, 
in no indistinct manner, that the ^Society had done a very 
foolish thing in electing such a Council. The grammatical 
peculiarities of the leader sufficiently indicated its author, 
and Mr. Ince has since acknowledged it. Had it appeared 
at the end of the Journal among the “Correspondence,” it 
would probably have been regarded as representing the opi¬ 
nion of an individual member, and have called forth no com¬ 
ment; but, appearing with the editorial sanction, it was 
looked on, and naturally so, as representing the opinions and 
feelings of those who conducted the Journal. 
Now, Sir, comments of the kind contained in that leader 
could only have been excusable had they appeared at the 
end of the new Council’s year of office, and after, on its part, 
twelve months of gross mismanagement and neglect of the 
interests of the Society. Coming as they did, at a time when 
neither Mr. Ince nor any one else could have had the slight¬ 
est reason for judging it, or supposing that it would prove 
incompetent or indifferent, they must be considered to have 
been quite uncalled for, and to have had no ground, either in 
justice or good taste. 
The present Council has been chosen by the Society in the 
regular way, and to prejudge its action, to condemn it before 
trial, is a proceeding quite without parallel. Imagine the 
Geographical and Geological Society electing its Council, 
and then allowing its principal journal to speak of that elec¬ 
tion as Mr. Ince has spoken of ours. Should the Council 
prove incompetent, the Society will be able, at the proper 
time and in the proper way, to intimate its disapproval, and 
take proper action with regard to it. It is not wise to jump 
to the conclusion that, because its members are scattered 
over the country, they will be unable properly to attend to 
their duties, and that, therefore, the Society has done a very 
foolish thing in electing them. 
I am sure that others, as well as myself, have derived both 
instruction and pleasure from much that, Mr. Ince has written, 
and I regret that he should ever employ a pen—so capable 
of benefiting the Society, and adorning the pages of the 
Journal—in writing articles that causelessly rouse hostile 
feeling, and tend to produce that discord which already con¬ 
stitutes our principal weakness. 
York Town. A. H. Claypole. 
Sir,—I hail with satisfaction the first weekly issue of the 
‘ Pharmaceutical Journal,’ and gladly accept as an omen of 
impartiality the juxtaposition of Mr. Proctor’s and Mr. 
Ince’s letters. It will astonish most of your readers to learn 
the authorship of “ An Age of Progress,” and the unsatisfac¬ 
tory explanation will but increase the surprise. Rightly or 
wrongly, I have been wont to attribute to Mr. Ince a remark 
I read some years since in recommending the study of 
French (in which I fully concur), that devotion would suffer 
little by an occasional attendance at a French service. But 
if “ An Age of Progress ” is an example of the effect of 
studying French, I imagine the advantage is more than 
doubtful: style will not be much improved, while moral tone 
will be certainly lowered. Possibly the recollection of the 
common French adage, “ Qui s’excuse, s’accuse,” would have 
prevented Mr. Ince’s letter in your last; but, in recollection 
of many interesting and valuable contributions from the 
same pen, we shall be glad to forget this last infirmity. 
I trust, Sir, that you will not insist, as one of your corre¬ 
spondents suggests, upon the name and address of every 
writer. Great names are wont to carry more influence than 
they merit at all times; while anonymous communications 
are more likely to be estimated at their intrinsic worth. 
“ We want measures, not men.” There are some subjects, 
too, to which it would be highly undesirable to subscribe 
one’s name. Such a subject is the appointment of local 
secretaries. I have an ardent desire to see the secretaryship 
of my own neighbourhood more worthily filled; but I should 
be extremely sorry to offend a neighbour, who is very worthy 
in many respects, by indicating my name or residence, neither 
would I thus put myself forward as a candidate. We want 
men as local secretaries who are not merely the “ fathers of 
the trade” in age, but who are comprehensive enough t» 
study the interests of the trade at large, whether in or out of 
the Society,—men, who not only collect members’ subscrip¬ 
tions, and make an annual appeal on behalf of the Benevolent 
Fund, but who are in harmony with the spirit of the times, 
and have at least some sympathy with the measures and ob¬ 
jects of the Pharmaceutical Society. I regret the apathy of 
chemists in this matter. I thank “ Quintus ” for his sugges¬ 
tions, which I, for one, should be glad to see carried out, as 
well as many others that might be made. 
I enclose my card, and am, Sir, 
Yours truly, 
Henricus. 
July 5 th, 1870. 
A. W. (Lowestoft).— TJnguentum Sulphuris Uypochlo - 
ridi Compositum. The formula will be found in Yol. X., 
page 66; but, for the convenience of those who may not have 
the early volumes, we repeat it here. 
R. Sulphuris Hypochloridi 5ij 
Potassae Subcarbonatis gr. x 
Adipis purificati *i 
01. Amygd. Essent. ir lx. M. ft. unguentum. 
B. N. (Northampton).—We are not acquainted with Star- 
tin’s ‘ Treatise on Diseases of the Skin.’ A course of lectures 
on { Chronic Diseases of the Skin,’ by Mr. Startin, were pub¬ 
lished in the ‘ Medical Times and Gazette,’ vols. xiii. and xiv. 
W. L. W. (Torquay).—We believe there is no such law. 
U. S. —There is no such name registered in or near Lon¬ 
don. 
I. T., H. S., and A Lover of Fair Flay have sent us com¬ 
munications on the “cutting” system adopted by some che¬ 
mists, with lists of prices charged, from which we may quote 
the following:—Seidlitz powders, Id. each; children’s powders. 
Id. each; castor oil, 2 d. per ounce; blue pill and black draught, 
4 d., etc. 
Aspirant should apply to the Secretary of the Apothecaries’ 
Company. 
W. F. Parry (Hammersmith) thinks that chemists ought 
to meet and consider what steps should be taken to coun¬ 
teract the injurious effects produced by co-operative stores. 
A. P. S. —An Associate who has passed the Modified Ex¬ 
amination is not entitled to call himself “ Pharmacist.” 
Instructions from 3fembers and Associates respecting the 
transmission of the Journal should be sent to Elias Brem- 
ridg-e, Secretary, 17, Bloomsbury Square, W.C. 
Advertisements to Messrs. Churchill, New Burlington 
Street, London, W. 
