510 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [December 24, 1870. 
at all times, a supply of such bottles, but notwith¬ 
standing this omission, we hope a custom so salu¬ 
tary and now so widely practised among druggists 
will not be discontinued. 
THE POOR-LAW APOTHECARY-GENERAL FOR 
IRELAND. 
In reply to several inquiries that have been made 
in connection with the above subject, we give, for the 
benefit of our readers, all the essential points con¬ 
tained in the general order of the Poor-Law Com¬ 
missioners for Ireland; any further information would 
be supplied by the Commissioners on application 
by an intended candidate for the office, addressed to 
the Chief Clerk, Dublin. 
The salary will be 1-500 per annum, with suitable 
apartments. Although this officer will be elected by 
the Guardians of the Unions, the Commissioners will 
have the power to discharge liim. 
The Poor-Law Apothecary will have to give se¬ 
curity for the “ due and faithful performance of his 
duties,” in an amount not exceeding L5000. 
The qualifications are— 
“ 1. He shall be thirty years of age at least. 
“2. He shall be a Licentiate of the Apothecaries’ 
Hall of Ireland. 
“ 3. He shall not, while holding the office of Poor- 
Law Unions Apothecary, be engaged or interested, 
either directly or indirectly, in any wholesale or re¬ 
tail trade of drugs, medicines, or medical or surgical 
appliances, or in any other trade or profession what¬ 
soever.” 
The following is the copy of the mode of appoint¬ 
ment :— 
“ On or before the 1st of January, in the year 1871, all 
candidates for the office of Poor-Law Unions Apothe¬ 
cary shall send their application and testimonials to iis 
the said Commissioners, to be laid before the Guardians 
of each of the said Unions, who shall proceed at the 
second meeting after the receipt thereof to select the 
candidate of their choice in accordance with the rules 
prescribed for the appointment of officers after advertise¬ 
ment in the General Regulation Order, bearing date the 
19th January, 1852, and shall report the result of such 
selection to us the said Commissioners, and the candidate 
selected by a majority of the Unions in the said schedule 
shall he deemed to be appointed the Poor-Law Unions 
Apothecary, and if no candidate shall have been selected 
by a majority of the whole number of Unions, so many 
ot the candidates selected by the greatest number of 
Unions as shall together have been selected by a majority 
thereof, shall he again submitted to each Union, and the 
same process shall bo repeated until one candidate shall 
have been selected by a majority of all the Unions named 
in the schedule.” 
There are about ICO Unions in Ireland, and they 
generally have weekly meetings of the Boards. We 
believe that the above contains all the necessary in¬ 
formation that would be required by intended can¬ 
didates. There are other officers to be appointed, 
but the Commissioners do not intend to open this 
question until after the election of the Apothecary, 
which is not likely to be finished until February, 
1871. 
THE BRITISH PHARMACOPCEIA. IN CANADA. 
In the November number of the Canadian 
Pharmaceutical Journal there is a curious commen¬ 
tary upon the statement made by Mr. Howden 
in his address at the last Evening Meeting, that 
wherever he went in the United States, the fact that 
he was a member of the Pharmaceutical Society of 
Great Britain secured for him the greatest kindness 
and the fullest information from every pharmacist 
with whom he came in contact. The Editor of that 
journal says that a letter had been received from a 
correspondent asking for information concerning the 
price of a work which lie understood had been “ re¬ 
cently published, and which, under the general title 
of The British Pharmacopoeia, at once did away 
with the annoyance so often realized from the use 
of the different authorities representing the national 
colleges.” The writer of the letter stated that he 
“went in strongly for progress,” and that as he con¬ 
sidered the publication of such a work to be a step 
in the right direction, he meant to obtain a copy of 
the Pharmacopoeia at once, so as to be fully up to 
the times. 
Of course it would not be fair to take such phar¬ 
maceutical Pip Van Winkleism as representing the 
general state of knowledge in the colony concerning 
our national Pharmacopoeia, six years after its pub¬ 
lication ; neither, on the other hand, must it be 
taken for granted that the writer of the letter was far 
behind his neighbours, for it appears that he is a 
druggist doing a good business in a flourishing bor¬ 
der town. Doubtless one of the causes of such a 
state of things is to be found in the absence, at 
present, of any authoritative direction that the Bri¬ 
tish Pharmacopoeia is the standard to be used; this 
evil it is proposed shall be remedied in the projected 
Canadian Pharmacy Bill; but another cause lies 
in the want of sufficient opportunities for obtaining 
sound pharmaceutical education. Besides these, 
there is undoubtedly another cause, viz. the strong 
influence which the United States Pharmacy exer¬ 
cises upon the Canadians. It is stated that if a 
prescription requiring tinct. arnicas were to be sent 
to each druggist in Ontario, in nearly every case the 
United States’ preparation would be used. There is 
also a tendency to favour the fluid extracts or con¬ 
centrated remedies of that country, and to make use 
of the ingenious preparations which come under the 
category of “ Elegant Pharmacy.” 
Whether the British Pharmacopoeia be best suited 
to the wants of Canadian pharmacy, or whether 
Canada would be better off with a Pharmacopoeia ot 
her own, are points we are not at present prepared 
