572 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[January 13,1872. 
fixed to the Medical Directory for 1872 recently 
issued by Messrs. J. and A. Churchill. 
“ A penalty of £20 may he inflicted, for every such 
offence, upon any person acting or practising as an apo¬ 
thecary in England or Wale^, without the licence of the 
[Apothecaries’] Society, and a penalty of £5 for every 
such offence, upon any person acting as assistant to an 
apothecary to compound and dispense medicines, without 
having obtained the certificate of the Society. The So¬ 
ciety can, therefore, afford no protection against practice 
by bone-setters, and that class of persons, but it can supply 
an efficient safeguard against irregular practice by che¬ 
mists and druggists, for it has been held that a chemist 
■who not only sells but also applies and administers me¬ 
dicines, in the ordinary course of attending patients, 
practises as an apothecary, and is not exempt from the 
penalty.” 
“ A medical man keeping an open surgery for the sale 
or compounding of poisons, must not engage an unquali¬ 
fied assistant who is not registered under the Pharmacy 
Acts. No person may, under a penalty of £5, act as 
assistant to an apothecary in compounding and dispens¬ 
ing medicines without first passing an examination and 
obtaining a certificate from the Apothecaries’ Company.” 
“A medical practitioner, not being a legally qualified 
apothecary, is prohibited from selling or keeping an open 
surgery for retailing, dispensing, or compounding poi¬ 
sons, under a penalty of £5, unless he was either regis¬ 
tered before August 11th, 1869, or has been registered 
since that date, after passing an examination in phar¬ 
macy in order to obtain his diploma for such registra¬ 
tion. A legally qualified medical practitioner may dis¬ 
pense to his patients medicines containing poison, but 
such medicine should be labelled with his name and ad¬ 
dress, and the ingredients thereof, and the name of the 
person to whom it is sent should be entered in a book to 
be kept by him for the purpose. A medical man who 
keeps an open surgery, must conform to the same regu¬ 
lations as to the sale and compounding of poisons as are 
imposed upon chemists and druggists, under a penalty of 
£5 for the first, and £10 for each subsequent offence.” 
MEDICAL HONOURS. 
The discussion of the question as to the honours 
that the medical men in attendance on the Prince 
of Wales should receive from the nation, which was 
perhaps somewhat prematurely started by the Lancet 
a fortnight since, has developed into a general con¬ 
sideration of the kind and degree of honours most 
suited for the recognition of great eminence and dis¬ 
tinguished services in the profession of medicine. 
In the article referred to an opinion was expressed 
that a more liberal creation of medical baronets from 
time to time would stimulate the exertions of scien¬ 
tific men, and that when, as in the case of one of the 
gentlemen in question, a baronetcy has already been 
conferred, some means should be found for confer¬ 
ring further honour. The Times, considering that 
there was here a hint for the creation of medical 
peerages, objected in a leading article that medical 
talent is a great speciality, and much less likely to 
descend with the blood than legislative, military, or 
even legal talent. It is more than probable that the 
son of a physician will not be a great physician, if a 
physician at all, while it may be the merest chance 
that he will have an estate to support the title. The 
Times considers that to be the temper of the age as 
well as its plain requirements, and that, wliib ac¬ 
cepting the hereditary principle, it does not wish 
to see it further, developed. The British Medical 
Journal adopts the same view, and makes tin fol¬ 
lowing remarks on the subject:— 
“ It has always been felt in our profession that here¬ 
ditary honours carry with them elements of possib.e em¬ 
barrassment. They imply the possession of a large 
estate, and the necessity of a stringent settlemert of a 
large part of that estate; and, honourable as is tie dis¬ 
tinction of a baronetcy, it has been declined, or its ac¬ 
ceptance postponed, more than once, even by livirg men 
—among others, by Sir Henry Holland and Sir Thomas 
Watson. Sir James Clark was a Knight of the Bath as 
well as Baronet; but this is not an order which usually 
recognises or implies the existence of peaceful scientific 
distinction. The dignity of Privy Councillor and the 
title of Right Honourable have many times been em¬ 
ployed to recognize civil services to the State and a high 
order of ability. It is not hereditary, and it does not 
pledge posterity. It will not supersede the propriety of 
conferring baronetcies in suitable cases, but it may offer 
a desirable addition or alternative. It implies that its 
possessor is a person who enjoys the confidence of the 
sovereign, and is fitted to be called into counsel on proper 
occasions. Of course the title is mainly honorary; but 
it is one of the most honourable, and, as we think, one 
of the most appropriate which a medical man could 
receive.” 
INFRINGEMENT OF THE PHARMACY ACT. 
It will be seen by a report at p. 575, that the un¬ 
satisfactory result following a recent prosecution at 
Croydon for a breach of the Pharmacy Act, in the 
sale of poison insufficiently labelled/ 1 ' has been fol¬ 
lowed by fresh proceedings against the defendant for 
selling poison without being on the Register. On 
tliis occasion the Pharmaceutical Society has been 
the plaintiff, and a decisioli has been obtained much 
more in accordance with the spirit of the Act and 
with the public welfare. 
SIR ROBERT CHRISTISON, BART. 
This distinguished pharmaceutist and physician 
will be entertained at a public dinner, in Edinburgh, 
on the 23rd proximo. The occasion is that of the 
fiftieth anniversary of his induction as a Professor 
in the University. Lord Justice General Inglis 
will preside, and the list of croupiers and stewards, 
including many names v T ell-known in the depart¬ 
ments of medicine, surgery, and pharmacy, gives 
promise of a success quite commensurate with the 
high merits of the Nestor of the Edinburgh School. 
Representatives of nearly every university in the 
United Kingdom have signified their intention of 
assisting on the occasion; while the demand for 
tickets, on the part of the general public, is already 
so great that all who are desirous of being present 
should lose no time in applying to the Honorary 
Secretary, Mr. J. Hope Finlay, W.S., 52, Frederick 
Street, Edinburgh. 
* See ante , p. 417. 
