July 16, 1870.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
51 
SATURDAY, JULY 16, 1870. 
NAVAL DISPENSERS. 
We congratulate the Pharmacists of Great Britain 
that a step has been taken towards the recognition 
of the claims of pharmacy by the national Govern¬ 
ment, as implied by the communication from the 
Admiralty to the Secretary of the Pharmaceutical 
Society given in another part of this Journal. 
The Admiralty now requires that its dispensers 
shall know their business, and that department has 
become alive to the fact that theirs is a business re¬ 
quiring to be learned. Now the dispensers and 
assistant-dispensers in charge of the Government 
stores must be educated men ; not, as formerly, pen¬ 
sioners with a turn for dispensing, or persons needing 
to be provided for in some way, but having no land 
of natural aptitude for anything. 
Quoting from the official communication just re¬ 
ferred to, “ No person can be admitted as an assist- 
ant-dispenser unless he possesses the Minor quali¬ 
fications of the Pharmaceutical Society; but dis¬ 
pensers or assistant-dispensers in charge of stores 
must possess the Major qualifications of the Phar¬ 
maceutical Society.” 
When we reflect that the Admiralty is slow to 
change, and how discipline and necessary subordina¬ 
tion (as a land of makeweight to their acknowledged 
advantages) entail reticence, and a casting into the 
shade of such mishaps as the administration of a 
poison in place of medicine, we shall be prepared to 
realize the full significance of this last order, trans¬ 
mitted by the Admiralty to the Secretary of our 
Society. 
THE “AGE OF PROGRESS.” 
to bear their victory with becoming dignity and for¬ 
bearance, but also to sustain and justify their claim 
to a representation in the Council proportionate to 
their numbers. 
On these grounds alone we think it would be ad¬ 
visable to let this matter rest, and we trust this view 
will be so far appreciated by our correspondents that 
they will regard it as a sufficient reason for the non¬ 
publication of their letters. 
ANONYMOUS WRITING. 
A number of letters have been received in which 
the propriety of anonymous correspondence is dis¬ 
puted and maintained. As the provision of a medium 
of communication is an important function of this 
Journal, this question deserves serious consideration, 
and there is much to be said on both sides. Wherever 
the subject-matter of a letter has a personal bearing, 
it is desirable that the name of the writer should ap¬ 
pear, and in many cases the statement of facts, or 
even opinions, will gain weight by the signature of a 
name. At the same time there are cases in which 
expression of opinion, argument, and criticism, would 
be restricted by the necessity of publishing a wri¬ 
ter’s name, and the best safeguard of propriety is to 
be looked for in that exercise of judgment and regard 
for principle which are admitted to be characteristic 
of the English press. 
On the Continent, as many of our readers doubt¬ 
less know, it is customary for every leading article 
to bear the signature of the writer, and in this coun¬ 
try the same practice has been adopted by the 
‘ Fortnightly Review,’ to some extent by ‘ Nature,’ 
and by other publications. It is, however, at least 
doubtful whether we should or not follow these 
examples, and conform to Continental usage. 
THE NEW LIBRARIAN OF THE LONDON 
INSTITUTION. 
In the belief that the calm which proverbially 
succeeds a storm has now become established, we 
refrain from inserting a number of letters that have 
reached us on this subject. The views of all parties 
have, we think, been adequately expressed, and fur¬ 
ther correspondence would probably have the effect 
of supplementing mere difference of opinion with the 
acrimony arising from controversial disputes. 
If the recent Council election be the index of a 
“ period of transition ” rather than of an “ age of 
progress,” as suggested by one of our correspondents, 
it would seem to follow that its advantages or disad¬ 
vantages would be better dealt with as matters of 
history than as subject for prophecy. 
The desire of provincial members to be more largely 
represented in the governing body of the Society has 
been attained, and it now remains for them, not only 
The office of Librarian of the London Institution 
was once filled by the celebrated Greek scholar, 
Porson; afterwards it was held by Mr. Thompson, 
and then by the late Mr. Brayley, who died a short 
time ago. The choice of the managers of the Insti¬ 
tution has now fallen on Mr. J. C. Brough, who has 
just been elected to the librariansliip. Mr. Brough 
is well known to our readers from his connection 
with the ‘ Chemist and Druggist,’ of which he was 
editor until quite recently. The short-lived and 
much regretted ‘ Laboratory was, as many of our 
readers will also recollect, edited by the same gentle¬ 
man. Great satisfaction has been expressed with 
Mr. Brough’s election: the managers of the Insti¬ 
tution could hardly have hit upon a better man foi 
the office. 
