1032 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS; 
[June 24,1872, 
to the Right Hon. T. E. Headlam, with a request 
that he will present it and support its prayer, and 
that this meeting at the same time expresses its 
grateful acknowledgment to the Right Hon. T. E. 
Headlam for his services in promoting useful Phar¬ 
maceutical legislation. 
Moved by Mr. H. B. Brady, seconded by Mr. Owen, 
and resolved— 
That the Chairman (Mr. Swan) and the Secretary 
(Mr. B. S. Proctor) be requested to join the depu¬ 
tations from Leeds and other places in representing 
to Mr. Forster and such Members of Parliament as 
it may seem desirable to communicate with personally 
the views of the chemists of this district respecting 
the measure. 
MEETING AT NOTTINGHAM. 
At a large Meeting of chemists, held on Tuesday, June 
20th, at the rooms of the Nottingham and Nottingham¬ 
shire Chemists’ Association, the following resolutions 
were proposed and unanimously carried:—• 
That this meeting entirely disapproves of the Bill 
now before Parliament, entitled, “ An Act to Amend 
the Pharmacy Act, 1S6S,” and resolves that a peti¬ 
tion bo forwarded to the local representatives to be 
presented to Parliament, and would respectfully 
urge them to support the prayer thereof. 
That this meeting, recognizing the necessity, at the 
present crisis, of united action in opposing the Phar¬ 
macy Bill, 1871, now before Parliament, would re¬ 
spectfully urge the Council of the Pharmaceutical 
Society to ask for delay, in order that its provisions 
may be fully considered. 
That three delegates—Mr. Atherton, Mr. Rayner and 
Mr. YV. Smith—from this meeting be appointed to 
attend the deputation to the Right Hon. W. E. 
Forster, at the House of Commons, on Thursday 
next. 
MEETING OF THE HALIFAX CHEMISTS’ 
ASSOCIATION. * 
Mr. Stott, President, in the chair. 
The meeting was called to consider the amended 
Pharmacy Bill of the Government. The Secretary stated 
that immediately on receipt of the xYct he had entered 
into correspondence with the Manchester Defence Asso¬ 
ciation and also with the borough members. Replies 
were read from both, stating that ample time would be 
allowed for chemists to become acquainted with the 
Bill. 
The President stated that during the Annual Meeting 
he learned a good deal on the poison question, and found 
that the medical officer of the Privy Council was a most 
indefatigable servant, and had fully determined that 
something should be done ; still he did not see what we 
could do otherwise than offer a strenuous opposition to 
the Bill. He doubted if the Council, being so divided, 
would pass any compulsory regulations, and then the 
sole power would be vested in Dr. Simon. 
Messrs. Dyer, Farr, Jcssop, Hebden, all spoke against 
the measure; and on the motion of Mr. Brook, seconded 
by Mr. Dyer, a petition against the Bill as read was 
adopted by the meeting, and ordered to be sent to the 
Right Hon. James Stansfeld for presentation to the 
House of Commons, and that Col. Akroyd be requested 
to support its prayer. 
It was thought highly important that each individual 
chemist should correspond with the borough and county 
members, asking them to oppose the Bill, and that a 
deputation should join the Manchester one, to confer 
with Mr. Forster, the Yice-President of the Council. 
* The report of this meeting was received without any date 
.affixed. 
DEPUTATION TO THE PRIVY COUNCIL. 
A Deputation of Pharmaceutical Chemists and Che¬ 
mists and; Druggists from various parts of the kingdom 
had an interview with the Right Hon. YV. E. Forster, 
Y ice-President of the Council, at his official residence in 
Downing Street, on Thursday last. The Medical Officer 
of the Privy Council was present. Mr. Jacob Bright in¬ 
troduced the deputation. The following members of Par¬ 
liament were present on behalf of the deputation :—Mr. 
Jacob Bright, the Right Hon. T. E. Headlam, Mr. Ed¬ 
ward Baines, Mr. James Clay, Mr. S. A. Beaumont, Mr. 
Christopher Sykes, Mr. T. YV. Mellor, Mr. Graham, Mr. 
A. 0. Ewing, Mr. Pease and Mr. YY r . St. J. YVheclhouse. 
There were also present six members of the Council of 
the Pharmaceutical Society, the Secretary and the So¬ 
licitor to the Society. 
Mr. Schacht, of Bristol, stated the object of the depu¬ 
tation, and the objections of the chemists and druggists 
throughout the kingdom to the proposed amendment of 
the Pharmacy Act were urged by Mr. Kinninmont, of 
Glasgow, Mr. Vizer, of London, and Mr. Brown, of 
Manchester, who spoke at considerable length. 
Mr. Flux (Solicitor) then read a resolution which 
had been passed by the Council of the Pharmaceutical 
Society.* 
Mr. Forster, in reference to the remarks of Mr. 
Schacht, pointed out that the figures produced showed 
that, exclusive of medical practitioners, only one-fourth- 
of the persons keeping open shop as chemists and drug¬ 
gists were members of the Pharmaceutical Society, and 
it might be presumed that the remaining three-fourths 
comprised many who did not possess the educational 
qualifications which had been relied upon by the speaker- 
as being all that were required for the protection of the 
public. Also that the remarks of a member of the Go¬ 
vernment quoted in favour of leaving railway companies- 
and others free of restraint—while, perhaps, well founded 
as general rules for conduct—were subject to exceptions, 
and that the restraints imposed on railway companies re¬ 
specting the carriage of gunpowder and other especially 
dangerous articles were a precedent for restraints on 
dealings in especially dangerous poisons. 
In reference to the remarks of Mr. Vizer and Mr. 
Brown respecting the feeling of the trade and the absence- 
of public opinion on the subject of compulsory regula¬ 
tions, ho said that Parliament had already considered the 
matter and passed the existing Act, which, according to- 
his reading of it, required that regulations should be 
framed and. become compulsory; that the course pursued 
by the Society had been brought under his notice, and 
ho thought it a duty, as a member of the Government, 
to seo that, so long as the Act remained unrepealod, it 
should be carried out; that the Government had not 
been hasty either in framing the Bill now before the 
House of Commons or in passing it through the 
House of Lords,—that, in fact, the course of the 
Bill in the upper house was usual; and with regard 
to the future, he was quite prepared to afford every op¬ 
portunity for discussion, and should be happy to give 
his most careful consideration to any suggestions which 
may be made for improvement of the Bill, but that he 
could not encourage the idea that the Bill would be 
withdrawn or postponed until next session; and then, 
with especial reference to remarks by Mr. Kinninmont, 
said that he individually thought that a primal facie case 
existed for placing all persons keeping open shop for the 
retailing of poisons on an equal footing with respect to 
formalities, and he should be glad to consider any clause 
which might be framed with that object. 
The deputation then thanked the Right Honourable 
gentleman for his courteous reception, and -withdrew. 
* See p. 1035. 
