August 12,1871.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
127 
Hlje ^jjannamttital journal. 
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SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 1871. 
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- 
ridge, Secretary, 17, Bloomsbury Square, TV.C. 
Advertisements to Messrs. Churchill, New Burlington 
Street, London, TV. Envelopes indorsed “ Bharm. Jo urn.” 
CHEMISTS AND THE USE OF STILLS. 
Our correspondent “Aqua Destillata ” lias drawn 
attention to the “Act to Prevent the Use of Stills 
by Unlicensed Persons,” hut the conclusions at 
which he has arrived can scarcely he home out hy 
facts, or by the simple meaning of the words of the 
Act in question. 
He states that the Commissioners of Inland Re¬ 
venue are in this case acting in direct opposition to 
the Legislature, hut he should bear in mind that 
in the framing of revenue laws the Commissioners 
and the Legislature are practically identical. 
In the case of old duties a Bill is not prepared for 
their protection, unless the Commissioners have had 
instances brought under their notice sufficiently 
numerous to convince them that the revenue is in 
danger, and then they prepare a Bill based on this 
'experience which will, as they believe, remedy the 
defects in the law. These Bills are generally passed 
without opposition, because they are known to have 
originated with those responsible to the country for 
the equitable collection of the duties imposed by the 
Xegislature. 
In the case of new duties, the Government is 
certainly responsible for their imposition, but the 
-Commissioners prepare the requisite machinery for 
their equitable assessment. 
Now in the case under notice, the facts are simply 
these. The Act 0 George IV. cap. 81 expressly 
states that “ every person in Scotland or Ireland 
not being a distiller, rectifier or compounder of 
spirits, who shall keep or use any still for the car¬ 
rying on the trade of a chemist, or any other trade 
or business requiring the use of any still or stills, 
shall pay a licence of ten shillings per annum.” 
The Act 9 & 10 Vict. cap. 90, extends the pro¬ 
visions of this Act to England, and in the first 
.•section the words used are, “For every excise 
licence to be taken out by every person, not being 
a licensed distiller, rectifier or compounder of spirits, 
or vinegar-maker who keeps or uses any still or 
xetort, the sum of ten shillings.” 
It will be seen that in the latter Act the word 
chemist is omitted, but in the second section of tliis 
Act it is distinctly stated that all “ previous clauses, 
matters and things contained in the said recited Act 
of the 6 Geo. IV. cap. 81, shall be applicable to tliis 
Act, and to the several provisions, clauses, matters 
and tilings in this Act contained, as fully and ef¬ 
fectually as if the same had been repeated and re¬ 
enacted in the body of this Act.” 
As stated by our correspondent, the Act 9 & 19 
Vict. cap. 90, contains the following exemptions :— 
“ 1st. Stills maybe kept and used for experiments in 
chemistry; 2nd. Stills may be kept and used by 
persons carrying on trade or otherwise for the manu¬ 
facture of any articles other than spirits or spirit 
mixtures.” It must not, however, be overlooked 
that although there are these exemptions, the Com¬ 
missioners, in framing this Act, have been careful 
to strictly reserve to themselves full power of grant¬ 
ing or withholding these indulgences ; and if the two 
Acts are carefully read together, it will be seen that 
the words “ may permit ” really mean that the Com¬ 
missioners, having full power to compel all persons 
keeping or using stills to pay the licence duty, they 
in their discretion may (as a privilege, but not as a 
right) permit stills to be used without licence in 
cases of purely chemical research, and in those 
trades in which articles other than spirits or spirit 
mixtures are manufactured; provided always that 
they can impose such restrictions for the protection 
of the revenue, as they may think proper for its 
security. 
The last clause of the Act seems to imply that the 
Commissioners have not the power to grant such 
indulgences to persons manufacturing spirits or 
spirit mixtures. Spirit mixtures would certainly 
include tinctures and all other preparations of which 
alcohol is an ingredient, and consequently the indul¬ 
gence could not be extended to pharmacists. 
As a general principle it must be borne in mind 
that the Commissioners of Inland Revenue being 
solely responsible for the spirit duties, which now 
amount to upwards of ten millions per annum, are 
compelled to make all their regulations tend to this 
one object; and, as a governing body, they could not 
grant an indulgence to keep a still to a single phar¬ 
maceutical chemist—who in good faith would use it 
simply for preparing distilled water—unless they 
were prepared to grant a similar indulgence to every 
chemist in the United Kingdom, and at the same 
time were ready to undertake the responsibility 
of providing such a system of supervision that the 
stills should be used only for legitimate purposes. 
We have been favoured by several correspondents 
with copies of a paragraph taken from the Pall Mall 
Gazette , founded upon the sad occurrence reported 
at p. 138 of this Journal, and bearing the sensational 
heading of “ The Necessity for Hanging a Chemist. 
We do not see that any benefit can accrue from the 
reproduction of such an article ; but as a sample of 
