390 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [November ll, 1S71. 
Probably there is no man in Edinburgh who has 
done more for the reputation of the city and the 
efficiency of the University than he. The high pro¬ 
fessional tone he has kept up in the Senatus has 
been paralleled by the enlightened and active public 
spirit he has manifested in the promotion of mu¬ 
nicipal interest. If there is anything that can add 
to the gratification with which we announce the 
honour just bestowed upon Sir Robert, it is the 
reflection that he has received it, not at the con¬ 
clusion of his career, but at a time when he is still 
full of that intellectual and physical energy which 
may be expected in the future to equal, if not excel, 
its achievements in the past. 
PHARMACEUTICAL GRIEVANCES IN THE UNITED 
STATES. 
On several occasions during the last twelve months 
we have recorded attempts, more or less successful, 
that have been made in various States of the Ameri¬ 
can Union to obtain the enactment of laws for the 
regulation of the practice of pharmacy. Doubtless 
part of the legislation proposed has been very crude, 
but the way in which the “ Drug Clerk Bill,” recently 
passed by the legislature of New York,* is being 
carried out, will probably cause a temporary cessation 
in some of the efforts to obtain State recognition, and 
lead to a careful revisal of proposed Bills previous 
to bringing them before the respective legislatures. 
One serious ground of objection to the New York 
Act, by the druggists of that city, is, that the ex¬ 
amining board have decided not to admit the diplo¬ 
mas of American or foreign schools of pharmacy as 
evidence of qualification, and that all candidates 
shall undergo an examination in chemistry, poisons 
and their antidotes, practical pharmacy, officinal 
botany, the adulteration of drugs and prescriptions. 
Another objection is, to the fee of thirty dollars de¬ 
manded, which is roundly denounced as extortionate, 
and an opinion has been expressed by some New York 
druggists that the law was concocted and forced 
upon them, not with the view of benefiting society, 
but to afford emolument to a few political partisans. 
Consequently an “Apothecaries’ Union” has been 
formed, having for its object to test whether a law 
which ignores diplomas granted by the New York 
and other chartered colleges, and in effect “ legislates 
men out of the business they have followed for 
years under solemn legal sanctions, charters, and 
guarantees,” is constitutional. 
In England, while most people rejoice when they 
hear of an increase in the revenue, the collector of 
revenue is certainly not very popular, and few per¬ 
sons covet his frequent interference with their busi¬ 
ness. Thus pharmacists in tins country will be able 
to sympathize with their American brethren, who 
seem just now to attract more than a fair share of 
his attention. We learn from the American Journal 
of Pharmacy that, until recently, imported perfumery 
in small packages, as originally put up by the makers, 
could be sold unstamped, but it has now been noti¬ 
fied that it may only be so sold while in the original 
or unbroken packages, as entered at the Custom 
House. This regulation will, in practice, nearly 
abolish the sale of small original packages, as each 
bottle will have to be stamped before sale by the 
importer of the larger parcel. 
Again, a few months since the revenue assessors 
visited a number of pharmacists in Philadelphia, 
and induced the proprietors to stamp their shop- 
bottles, from which perfumery and toilet articles 
were retailed, equivalent to the stamp duty of the- 
retail value of their contents. The revenue com¬ 
missioner, however, has since decided that the law 
does not authorize this practice, but that it “ requires 
the stamp to be affixed to the bottle, or other en¬ 
closure, in winch the article is sold or delivered, 
even though the bottle or enclosure may be furnished 
by the purchaser.” As the law also requires per¬ 
fumery to be stamped in proportion to the full retail 
value of the vessel and its contents, a rather ludi¬ 
crous result would follow the presentation by a- 
luxurious customer of a valuable fancy bottle to bo 
filled with a few cents’ worth of perfume. 
We are requested by the Registrar to state that 
the letter from “ Spes,” which appeared in our last 
issue, and which referred to the number of failures- 
at certain places in the last Preliminary Examina¬ 
tion, contains some inaccuracies. “ Spes ” appears 
to have fallen into the error of supposing that the 
published “List of Towns at which Examinations 
were held, with the Numbers of Candidates annexed” 
(p. 329), also represented the places at which the 
candidates resided, and, comparing it with the list 
of names and residences of those who passed (p. 328),.. 
he thus arrived at conclusions which are incorrect. 
For instance, at Swansea, five candidates presented 
themselves for examination, none of whom resided 
in that town, although it happened to be the nearest 
centre for them. All of these passed, but as their 
addresses in the list do not appear as “ Swansea,” 
“ Spes ” gives them as failures. We append. 
“ Spes’ ” list corrected by the Registrar :— 
London . . 
Candidates 
examined. 
. 30 
Candidates 
passed. 
17 
Candidates- 
failed. 
13 
Manchester. 
. 9 
6 
3 
Birmingham 
. 2 
0 
2 
Derby . . 
. 4 
4 
0 
Peterborough 
. 4 
0 
4 
Swansea . . 
. 5 
5 
0 
Taimton. . 
. 4 
1 
3 
Aberdare 
. 3 
2 
1 
Aberdeen . 
. 5 
2 
3- 
Carmarthen 
. 3 
1 
2 
Chester . . 
. 3 
0 
3 
AY ol verhampton 
. 2 
0 
2 
74 38 36 
At the recent meeting of the American Pharma¬ 
ceutical Association, the following gentlemen were 
elected Honorary Members :—Professors Redwood^ 
and Attfield, of London; Henry B. Brady, Esq., 
of Newcastle-on-Tyne; M. Leon Soubeiran, of' 
Sevres; MM. Augustin Delondre and A. Cheval- 
lier, of Paris; Professor A. Duflos, of Breslau 
Professor H. Ludwig, of Jena; and Herr Anton v.. 
Waldheim, of Vienna. 
* Yol. i. pp. 773, 890. 
