'June 17,1371.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
1011 
Cjie |o«ntaI. 
-0-- 
SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 1S71. 
Communications for this Journal, and boohs for review,etc., 
•should be addressed to the Editor, 17, Bloomsbury Square. 
Instructions from Members and Associates respecting the 
transmission of the Journal should be sent to Elias Brem- 
kidge, Secretary, 17, Bloomsbury Square, W.C. 
Advertisements to Messrs. Churchill, New Burlington 
Street, London, IF. Envelopes indorsed u Fharm. Journ 
PHARMACEUTICAL LEGISLATION. 
The official report of tlie proceedings of the 
Council* and our Parliamentary report,! will, this 
week, be found to contain matter of especial interest 
and importance. At the Council meeting hold on 
the 7tli instant, it was resolved, in furtherance of 
the decision arrived at by the Society at its Annual 
Meeting, that the regulations for the keeping, dis¬ 
pensing and selling of poisons, which we have already 
published,;]; should be forwarded to every Pharma¬ 
ceutical Chemist and Chemist and Druggist on the 
register, with the urgent request of the Council for 
their universal adoption. At the same time a letter 
of inquiry from Mr. Simon was answered, informing 
him that this was to be done at once. 
But it has since then become apparent that a Bill 
to amend the Pharmacy Act of 1868 had already 
been introduced into the House of Lords, by the 
Lord President of the Council, acting on behalf of 
ihe Privy Council. The purport of this Bill, which 
will be found printed at p. 1015, is to transfer the 
power of action in the matter of poison regulations 
from the Society to the Council, and also to give the 
Privy Council the power of acting under certain con¬ 
ditions. This Bill was ordered to be printed on the 
6th instant. On Monday it was read a second time. 
On Tuesday it passed through Committee. On 
Thursday it was read a third time, and passed. 
Consequent upon this action of the Privy Council, 
a special meeting of the Council of the Pharma¬ 
ceutical Society was summoned on Wednesday, re¬ 
sulting in a resolution—That a Committee be ap¬ 
pointed to watch the progress in Parliament of the 
.Bill, and prevent the passing of obnoxious clauses. 
It now remains to be seen what ground there may 
be for the opinion which has been pretty freely ex¬ 
pressed to the effect that the pharmacists of this 
country have not as a class either the power or the 
influence to command representation in Parliament. 
It is not now necessary to consider the grounds on 
which this opinion is based, but there is no question 
•as to the present occasion being an opportunity for 
shoving whether there can be any efficient opposition 
* See p. 1013. f See p. 1015. J Seep.949. 
brought to bear, or whether there may not be good 
reason for the taunt that the agitation against poison 
regulations is merely “tall talk” about a “senti¬ 
mental grievance.” 
In reference to our article last week, in which we 
expressed a hope that the action taken by the 
Society would have been deemed sufficient by the 
Privy Council, at least for the present, we may 
just mention that one of the obscurer medical 
journals endeavours to ridicule our remarks on the 
subject; but while betraying ignorance of the fact 
that the Council had acted for the Society, and had 
acted as its representative, it merely exposes the 
deficiency of its information, and illustrates the 
maxim, “ ex nihilo nil fit." 
RECENT EVENTS AND THE iC OUTSIDE” ORGAN. 
The Chemist and Druggist for June, while natu¬ 
rally devoting to the “ pecuniary principle ” the first 
place, furnishes its readers with a somewhat out of 
date resume of the election for fourteen members of 
the Pharmaceutical Council, in the shape of a column 
of propositions, which are generally so far truisms 
as to be above criticism. In another place our con¬ 
temporary deals largely in retrospective potenti¬ 
alities concerning those who “stayed away” from 
the Annual Meeting; but at the same time shrewdly 
assumes an air of warning as to the possible con¬ 
sequences of staying away on such an occasion. In 
a spirit of fairness we abstain from any comment on 
the prophecy as to the action of Parliament in the 
matter of Poison Regulations, for it is evident the 
article was written before any knowledge of the 
Pharmacy Bill of 1871 had been obtained, and the 
validity of the prediction hazarded yet remains 
uncertain. 
But the most interesting portion of the Chemist 
and Druggist this month is the Supplement con¬ 
taining an account of the Pharmacy Bill now in the 
House of Lords, and there the Chemist and Drug¬ 
gist, so far does justice to the remarks we have else¬ 
where made, as to express belief in the passage of 
the Bill through Parliament, and in the need for 
active measures if it is to be opposed successfully. 
We quite agree with tills view, and feel equally sme 
that as the matter now stands, something will be 
needed much more efficient than editorial buttering 
of Mr. Gladstone. 
MULTIPLE VISION. 
In the columns of a scientific contemporary there 
recently appeared a discussion as to how many dif¬ 
ferent objects it is possible to include in an instan¬ 
taneous glance of the eye. The performance of any 
considerable number of experiments to decide this 
question would possibly result in a certain amount 
of bewilderment and inability for the time to dis¬ 
criminate between a larger and a smaller quantity. 
