January 21,1871.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
5S7 
Some years ago I found great advantage from subject¬ 
ing tissues to the action of a very small quantity of this 
solution in glycerine, and keeping the whole at the tem¬ 
perature of 100° for some hours. By this process the 
elements of the tissue were softened, and could be dis¬ 
sected from one another readily for examination under 
:the highest magnifying powers. 
No doubt there is much to be learnt concerning the 
nature of the action of such substances upon tissues by the 
use of glycerine solutions. For microscopical work gly¬ 
cerine is of more use than any other medium. Not only 
may various substances be removed from tissues, but 
others maybe introduced, and the tissue subjected to the 
notion of various reagents without destroying it. In 
fact, the action may be regulated with the greatest 
nicety. Nearly all the tests required in microscopical 
examination may be dissolved in glycerine ( £ How to 
Work with the Microscope,’ p. 297, 1867) and tissues of 
th* most delicate character may be preserved in it, and 
will retain their microscopic characters for years, if care 
be taken to obtain the best and strongest glycerine .— Nature. 
THE SALE OF POISONS BY DRUGGISTS. 
THE LAW IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 
BY FRANCIS TILLOU, ESQ., COUNSELLOR-AT-LAW. 
The sale of poison by druggists is regulated in the 
'State of New York by statute. 
By the Revised Statutes, vol. ii. p. 649, sec. 23, it is 
'enacted that “ Every apothecary, druggist, or other per¬ 
son who shall sell and deliver any arsenic, corrosive sub¬ 
limate, prussic acid, or any other substance or liquid 
usually denominated poisonous, without having the word 
‘poison’ written or printed upon a label attached to the 
phial, box, or parcel in which the same is sold, or who 
shall sell and deliver any tartar emetic without having 
the true name thereof written or printed upon a label 
attached to the phial, box, or parcel containing the same, 
shall upon conviction be adjudged guilty of a misde¬ 
meanour, and shall be punished by a line not exceeding 
one hundred dollars.” 
By an Act to regulate the sale of poisons, chapter 442 
of the laws of 1860, passed April 16, 1860, it was enacted 
"by the first section of said Act, “ that no person should 
-sell or give any poison or poisonous substance, without 
recording, in a book to be kept for that purpose, the name 
of the person receiving said poison, his or her residence 
(together with the name and residence of some person as 
witness to such sale), excepting upon the written order 
or prescription of some regularly authorized practising 
physician, whose name must be attached to such order. 
-Such book to be kept open for inspection.” 
But by an Act passed 1862, chapter 273 of the ses¬ 
sion laws of 1862, the above first section of the Act of 
1860 was amended by leaving out the requisition for the 
name of a witness to the sale. 
By the second section of the Act of I860 it is further 
enacted that no person shall sell, give or dispose of any 
poison or poisonous substance, except upon the order or 
proscription of a regularly authorized practising phy¬ 
sician, without attaching to the phial, box, or parcel con¬ 
taining such poisonous substance, a label with the name 
and residence of such person, and the word “poison” all 
printed upon it with red ink, together with the name of 
such poison, written or printed thereon in plain and 
legible characters. 
By the third section of the Act of 1860, it was further 
•enacted, “ That the above provisions should apply to the 
following poisonous substances, excepting when sold in 
wholesale quantities of one pound or over, viz. arsenic and 
its various preparations, oxalic acid, corrosive sublimate, 
•chloroform, sugar of lead, tartar emetic, opium and its 
preparations, oil of bitter almonds, cyanurets of potas¬ 
sium, mercury, silver, and zinc, deadly nightshade, hen¬ 
bane, poison hemlock, prussic acid, aconite and its various 
preparations, atropia and its salts, cantharides, croton 
oil, datura and its salts, delphinia and its salts, digitalis 
and its various preparations, nux vomica and its prepara¬ 
tions, elaterium, ergot and its preparations, veratria and 
its salts, cannabis and its preparations.” 
By the Amendatory Act of 1862 this third section of 
the Act of 1860 was repealed. 
By the fourth section of said Act of 1860, it is enacted 
that any person infringing any of the provisions of said 
Act shall, upon conviction, be deemed guilty of a misde¬ 
meanour, and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding 
fifty dollars. 
By the fifth section of said Act of 1860, it is further 
enacted that said Act shall only apply to incorporated 
cities and villages having a population of one thousand 
inhabitants and upwards in this State. 
By chapter 478 of the laws of 1869, an Act regulating 
the preparation of medical prescriptions was passed May 
1, 1869. 
By the first section of this Act of 1869, it is enacted 
that no person employed or in attendance at any drug 
store or apothecary shop shall prepare a medical prescrip¬ 
tion, unless he has served two years’ apprenticeship in a 
drug store, or is a graduate of a medical college or a col¬ 
lege of pharmacy, except under the direct supervision of 
some person possessing some one of the before-mentioned 
qualifications; nor shall any one having permanent 
charge as proprietor or otherwise of any store at which 
drugs are sold by retail, or at which medical prescriptions 
are put up for sale or use, permit the putting up or pre¬ 
paration thereof therein by any person, unless such per¬ 
son has served two years as apprentice in a retail drug 
store, or is a graduate of a medical college or a college of 
pharmacy. 
And by the second section of the same Act, it is pro¬ 
vided that any person violating the provisions of said 
Act shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and shall be 
punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or 
by imprisonment not to exceed six months in the county 
jail; and in case of death ensuing from such violation, 
the person offending shall be deemed guilty of felony, 
and be punished by a fine not less than one thousand 
dollars, nor more than five thousand dollars, or by im¬ 
prisonment in State prison for a term of not less than 
two years, nor more than four years, or by both fine and 
imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. 
By statute every man who by his culpable negligence 
causes the death of another, although without any intent 
to kill, is guilty of manslaughter. (2 R. S. 662, sec. 19.) 
The foregoing seem to be all the existing statutory 
provisions on the subject. 
A druggist who negligently sells a poison, labelled as 
a harmless drug, and thereby causes the death of a per¬ 
son to whom it is administered, is guilty of manslaughter. 
So highly does the law value human life that it admits 
of no justification wherever life has been lost, and the 
carelessness or negligence of one person has contributed 
to the death of another. 
And this rule applies not only when the death of one 
is occasioned by the negligent act of another, but where 
it is caused by the negligent omission of a duty to that 
other. 
Besides the penalties imposed by statute, there is also 
a common law liability of the druggist for damages sus¬ 
tained by his negligence. 
All persons who deal with deadly poisons are held to 
a strict accountability for their use. 
The highest degree of care known amongst practical 
men must be used to prevent injury from the use of such 
poisons. 
And one who sells poison labelled as an innocent drug 
is liable in damages to any person injured thereby, no 
matter through how many hands it may have passed. 
A druggist is undoubtedly held to a special degree of 
responsibility for the erroneous use of poisons correspond¬ 
ing with his superior knowledge of the business. 
