200 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [September 2,1871, 
■we get in the year from the parent Society to defray the 
expense of the Society in Scotland, (which is independent of 
the expenses connected with the examination,) has hitherto 
precluded some of the other provincial societies in Scotland 
from asking a grant from the same source; and we think it 
is just possible that it might be a barrier to them getting a 
grant were they to ask it, for the large towns in England are 
jealous of Scotland getting too many advantages. We are 
sorry, however, that we have no inclination to give up any 
part of the money we get, as we require it all to ourselves ; 
and if your friends had not been asleep when the good things 
were being handed out at first, mattei*s might have been 
different; they must now, however, accept the consequences. 
Considering all this, and seeing you are such a young 
member of society, Mr. Fairlie, take my advice, lay your 
pen aside, and go to sleep with the rest of your brethren; at 
all events, do not disturb the “ Council of the North British 
Branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.” 
I may just add, that I do not take up this matter from any 
jealousy on my part or that of any of my friends here,—the 
very reverse. We yet cannot see any reason to remove the 
examining body from Edinburgh to Glasgow, or elsewhere, 
as we believe thoroughly that the present Board do their 
duties conscientiously enough; and having hitherto received 
nothing but kindness at the hands of our Edinburgh brethren, 
we only wish that good feelings will continue to be recipro¬ 
cated between us. My object, however, is to point out 
that Edinburgh is not North Britain, and that if the North 
British Branch of the Pharmaceutical Society is to be looked 
upon as such, it must be conducted in a more open and 
liberal manner. I therefore hope that the next, and all 
future annual meetings, of this Society shall be held at an 
hour in the day to suit both country and town members; and 
further, that sufficient notice be given, both in the Journal 
and otherwise, prior to the meeting taking place; and above 
all, that the election of the Council be conducted in a formal 
manner by voting papers, etc. If' this is not done, our Edin¬ 
burgh friends may expect that ere long “ the heather will be 
on fire; ” when they will, perhaps, regret their exclusion of 
other large towns in this matter. 
James M. Faielie. 
St. George's Ci'oss, Glasgow, August 8th, 1871. 
Sir,—I venture to offer a few remarks upon Mr. Mackay’s 
reply to Mr. Fairlie on this subject, being desirous that the 
question of this Council’s relation to the members of the 
Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland should be properly un¬ 
derstood by old, new and prospective members. For though 
Mr. Mackay has favoured us with a restime of the constitu¬ 
tion and history of this Council, he has left the matter as to 
the mode in which it is elected and its powers pretty much 
where they were ; and this I think was the point indicated 
in Mr. Fairlie’s wish to have the question discussed. At 
least many of my pharmaceutical friends in different parts of 
the country, as welt as myself, have frequently wondered 
what authority they had for using the title “North British 
Branch,” seeing it was, if not wholly, at least to a very large 
extent, an Edinburgh institution. It is all very well for Mr. 
Mackay to say now, when he is brought to book, that an 
annual meeting was held every year, and that it has always 
been their regret that they could not induce more of their 
country friends to come forward. But how could they ex¬ 
pect country friends to come to these meetings if they did not 
intimate to them beforehand that such a meeting was to take 
place ? It is all but likely that they would ask some of their 
particular friends of the larger towns to come; but speaking 
tor the country towns, I know there are gentlemen who 
have been five, ten and even fifteen years connected with the 
Society who have not received so much as one invitation to 
attend their annual meetings further than their annual re¬ 
port referred to by Mr. Mackay, which was, of course, always 
published a month or six weeks after the meeting had taken 
place, and this surely could not be looked upon as any an¬ 
nouncement for a future meeting. As regards the Glasgow 
chemists being pharmaceutically asleep hitherto, I think it 
does not speak greatly in favour of Mr. Mackay and his 
Edinburgh friends that it has been so. It is only an hour 
or so by rail between the two places, and surely it was their 
duty, as leaders of the Society in Scotland, to endeavour at 
least to awaken them out of their languid state they had 
fallen into as regards things pharmaceutically. But there is 
too much conservatism in our Edinburgh friends to do so; 
in fact, to my mind, at least, they resemble in almost all 
things the London pharmacists. We all know how near we 
were having the poison regulations enforced upon us by a 
sidewind of the London chemists at last annual meeting, and 
in this case of the amended Bill and the Edinburgh Council, 
though Mr. Mackay says there was no intent to deceive, the 
fact is still there, that they call themselves the Council of 
the North British Branch of the Pharmaceutical Society,, 
which, if it means anything, must mean the representative- 
body of the pharmaceutists of Scotland, which they know it 
is not, though it may contain some of the oldest and best 
known members of the profession. With regard to the state¬ 
ment of Mr. Mackay, that Edinburgh is allowed by a clause 
in the Act of 1852 to have an examining body, I may just 
remind him that it is at the submission of the Scotch phar¬ 
macists that they are allowed such, and not by the Act alone ^ 
for, if the Scottish members were to demand that the exa¬ 
mining body should sit either in Glasgow or elsewhere, the- 
London Council would hardly refuse to give their authority 
for such, so that this is another instance of the overbearing- 
manner of the Edinburgh chemists over their other brethren 
in trade. And I grant it is a question, now that Glasgow 
has awakened out of her slumber, whether she should not be 
considering the propriety of having this body removed some¬ 
what nearer the west, that our young men may be saved part 
of the expense now incurred in passing the examinations, 
and also get some of the good things which it is rumoured 
are only to be had through such close proximity to head¬ 
quarters. M.P.S. IX THE Countey. 
Deuggists’ Peices. 
Sir,—Having been much interested‘in the late discussion 
in your pages relative to druggists’ charges, believing that in 
such discussion or exposure of what is termed the “ cutting 
system, as applied to dispensing chai’ges, will be found one- 
potent remedy for the evil, I regret nevertheless to add a 
further illustration to the long catalogue already chronicled 
by you. I had handed to me tins evening a recipe, of which 
the following is a copy, with the request to “ see that it was 
properly made up,” some doubts being expressed as to its 
being faithfully dispensed elsewhere, on a previous occasion:— 
Powd. Turkey Rhubarb 
Comp. Ext. Colocynth 
Ext. Chamomile 
Castile Soap, of each two scruples. 
Mix and divide into pills. 
After finishing and dividing the above into forty-two pills, 
I was asked what the charge would be, and on naming what 
I regarded as the very moderate sum of one shilling, you 
may imagine my astonishment and annoyance at being told 
that I was “ sixpence above Mr.-.” 
On my expressing surprise that any druggist could under¬ 
take to dispense the recipe for such a sum, I was favoured 
with the names of three registered chemists in the vicinity,, 
all of whom had charged for it the paltry sum of sixpence 1 
Had such a statement been made by a stranger I might have- 
disputed it, but coming as it did from what I know to be a 
trustworthy source, I saw no reason to doubt its correctness.. 
The absurdity of such charges will be still further appa¬ 
rent if we consider that, had the sale been that of a quack 
medicine, containing probably less than half the quantity of 
pills above mentioned, the stereotyped Is. 1 fd. or 2s. 9 d. would 
have been obtained without a murmur, and. with no further 
trouble to the seller than that of handing it across the counter- 
“ In all labour there is profit,” if we are to accept Scrip¬ 
tural testimony on the subject, though too many of our 
brethren appear to set at nought the dictum of the wise man, 
so far as dispensing is concerned, if we may judge from the- 
foregoing, in addition to the many instances to the same effect,, 
already recorded in your correspondence. 
We read and hear much, at the present time, of the evils- 
of “ over-regulation prices,” in relation to military matters j 
would that we could obtain even “regulation prices” in 
matters pharmaceutical! N. O. P. 
Mexborough, Yorkshire, July 24 th, 1871. 
Communications, Lettees, etc., have been received from 
Mr. J. F. Brown, Mr. Savage, Mr. G. Brown, Mr. Eastman, 
Mr. J. J. Thomas, Mr. C. H. Wood, Mr. C. J. Bell, Mr. 
Swendon, Mr. W. W. Stoddart, Mr. J. Mackay, Messrs- 
Arnold and Sons, Mr. Lucas, Mr. J. David, M. M. B., B. R.,, 
J. S. H., “Ferrum,” “Harry,” “Dispenser,” “ Theta.” 
