468 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [December 10,187a 
discovery. There was one link which he thought, 
injustice to Sir William Lawrence, he should sup¬ 
ply, as he could do it authoritatively. Sir William 
Lawrence, in the summer of 1847—the same year in 
the November of which Sir James Simpson made his 
great discovery—did repeatedly employ a solution of 
chloroform in rectified spirit as an anaesthetic in his 
surgical practice, and ascertained that it was a supe¬ 
rior agent to sulphuric ether. Had Sir William 
possessed that knowledge of chemistry which Sir 
James Simpson very properly held that every medi¬ 
cal man should possess, he thought there was a 
strong probability that he would have anticipated 
Sir James in his great discovery. But the article 
had come to him recommended by the very absurd 
name of chloric ether. He (Dr. Christison) rather 
believed there was no such thing as chloric ether 
known; nevertheless there was an article which had 
been so called. It was recommended to Sir W. 
Lawrence under that name; it was tried under that 
name; and he was informed that both Sir William 
and his assistant saw that something more concen¬ 
trated was wanted, and that they were busy con¬ 
sidering how they might concentrate it when sud¬ 
denly the discovery of Sir James Simpson came forth 
and put an end to their inquiries. Had they been 
aware that the substance in their hands was nothing 
else than a solution of chloroform in rectified spirit, 
the solution of their problem would have been very 
simple indeed. 
SUPPLY OF DRUGS TO UNIONS. 
The announcement by the Irish Poor Law Board 
of their intention to appoint an officer to be called a 
Poor Law Unions’ Apothecary, who is to have the 
entire management of the purchase, preparation and 
supply of drugs to all the Irish dispensaries, seems 
to have given general satisfaction. The system of 
obtaining supplies of drugs by contract, in the ab¬ 
sence of a skilled officer whose special duty it should 
be to test their quality, and to see that the contracts 
are fulfilled, is one so pernicious from its tendency 
to promote a false economy in the acceptance of low 
tenders, and by the encouragement it must offer to 
adulteration as well as all kinds of jobbery, that it 
hardly causes surprise when we are told that for years 
past complaints have been made by medical officers in 
respect to the quality of the drugs supplied under 
non tract; that adulteration has frequently prevented 
successful treatment of patients, whilst guardians 
have been often imposed upon with regard to cost. 
The salary of <£*500 a year, together with a residence 
at the depot in Dublin, will doubtless secure a goodly 
number of candidates to select from, and already it 
is stated that an ex-Lord Mayor of Dublin is in the 
field. 
But surely if such an appointment is likely to be 
beneficial in Ireland, a similar one would not be 
without advantage in England. We can hardly 
assume that in this country drugs are less liable to 
sophistication, or that contractors are more honour¬ 
able and guardians more intelligent than in Ireland. 
Therefore, since the serious evils flowing from the 
contract system have been thought sufficient by the 
Irish authorities to justify their present step, we 
heartily agree with our contemporary, the Lancet, in 
asking Mr. Goschen to turn his attention to the 
matter. 
If, it is argued, the cost of drugs in Ireland be 
£32,000, then it would amount to something like 
three times as much in England; and from this 
point of view alone it is worth while to make sure 
that the money is well laid out. 
OBSCURE PRESCRIPTIONS. 
In referring to Mr. Watson Bradshaw’s state¬ 
ment that his patients are invariably reminded they 
can only have their medicines compounded by the 
especial druggists to whom he hands them over, and 
that he considers he has the right to indite his pre¬ 
scriptions in any mode he may deem expedient, the 
British Medical Journal remarks :— 
“ The mode in which a medical man frames his pre¬ 
scriptions is not precisely ‘ his own private affair ” ; and 
the particular mode of secret formulae which Mr. Brad¬ 
shaw avows himself to employ has been emphatically 
condemned by the whole profession.” 
The Medical Times and Gazette is of opinion 
that— 
“ If a medical practitioner chooses to write prescrip¬ 
tions that cannot be understood and properly dispensed 
by a qualified druggist, he is to a certain extent answer- 
able for any results that may arise therefrom. When a 
medical practitioner under such circumstances objects to 
any comments that a respectable journal, in the interests 
of the public, may think it right to make upon his con¬ 
duct, he shows his ignorance of the law. The press is 
for the protection and safety of the public, and. would 
fail in its duty if it did not fairly comment upon trans¬ 
actions which, to say the least of them, are ‘ irregular.’ ” 
We are glad to find these opinions expressed by 
the representatives of the medical profession, and 
that the practice of writing prescriptions in secret 
terms is condemned from a medical point of view as 
much as we feel it is to be condemned from the 
pharmacist’s point of view. In tills respect we are 
sure that the objects with which that practice is 
adopted cannot promote the real interests of phar¬ 
macy ; indeed it is hard to say whether the pharma¬ 
cist who lends himself to such a practice, and in fact 
makes it possible, is not even more to blame than the 
medical practitioner who suggests it. 
The Secretaries of the Chemical Society have (by 
direction of the President and Council) issued a cir¬ 
cular stating that their attention has been directed 
to the absence of any provision on the part of the 
