January 27,1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
611 
Cljt pjaniotettfial $ounml 
-♦- 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 1S72. 
Comnunications for this Journal, and boohs for review, etc., 
should te 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, W.C. 
Advertisements to Messrs. Churchill, New Burlington 
Street, London, IV. Envelopes indorsed “ Fharm. Journ.” 
THE PHARMACY ACT AND THE SALE OF POISONS. 
In the columns devoted to legal reports this week 
will he found some illustrations of the difficulties 
that are met with in carrying out the poison regula¬ 
tion clauses of the Pharmacy Act. Not the least of 
these difficulties lies in the fact, that the magistrates 
and coroners, throughout the country, with com¬ 
paratively few exceptions, are ignorant of the actual 
state of the law. A short time since, in referring to 
this subject, we expressed an opinion that it would 
be well if such officials were furnished with the in¬ 
formation they so much require. This opinion re¬ 
ceives additional confirmation in what is reported 
from Northampton, where the coroner persisted in 
telling the chemist that a sale of laudanum ought to 
have been registered, while the jury, in their verdict, 
with the concurrence of the coroner, said that the 
person supplying it, who was twenty years of age, 
and had passed the Preliminary examination, was too 
young to be entrusted with so much responsibility. 
Place in contrast with tliis scrupulous care of 
the public health, which has led another public 
official to step beyond his proper sphere to enforce a 
supposed regulation which has no legal existence, 
wiiat appears in the evidence concerning the re¬ 
cent tragedy in the Manchester workhouse. There, 
we are told, several nurses are entrusted with bottles 
containing a solution of atropia—for use when 
required—of the same strength as that which is 
supposed to have caused the deceased gentleman’s 
death. We are not now questioning the policy or 
the necessity of such a proceeding; we believe it is 
not an uncommon one; but we think we are justi¬ 
fied in saying that the young man in question was 
as likely to be capable of intelligently handling 
poison as an ordinary w r orkhouse nurse. 
Directly, however, the actual law is put in force the 
public sympathy is excited in favour of the offender, 
and a troublesome duty is made still more irksome 
by the unpleasant manner in which improper mo¬ 
tives are attributed to the prosecutor. Tliis was the 
case at Croydon, and again in the recent proceed¬ 
ings at Wrexham; and although in the latter case 
the imputations were eventually withdrawn, the 
editor of the local newspaper remarks, “We do not 
envy the position of the prosecutor as local secretary 
to the Pharmaceutical Society; it has the appear¬ 
ance of being the position of a common informant, 
—a duty we would much rather hand over to the 
police.” We quite agree as to the propriety of such 
matters being taken in hand by a public prose¬ 
cutor ; but while no provision is made in that way • 
towards enforcing the law, we think the thanks of 
the public are due to those who do undertake the duty. 
It is a curious commentary upon the above, that 
the verdict at one of the inquests recorded was, that 
death was caused by a popular patent medicine, 
which two years since we were told contained no¬ 
thing but sugar, alcohol, oil of aniseed and water ;* 
at another, the verdict was death from natural 
causes, but the deceased had been in the habit of 
using a preparation which was stated by Dr. Harley 
to be “ an extract of monkshood,” mixed with rose¬ 
water and chloroform,” the application of which was 
“harmless, unless the skin was broken.” But no 
restrictions whatever are placed on the sale of such 
preparations, and generally the patient has no idea 
what he is using. 
O 
SPURIOUS TEA. 
Notwithstanding the publicity given to the im¬ 
portation of spurious tea from China, chests of the 
most abominable rubbish still occasionally find their 
way to this country. A few days since a sample 
was submitted to us of a small quantity that had 
recently arrived and been offered for sale at tliree- 
lialfpence per pound, and duty. It was composed, 
for the most part, of spent leaves, closely matted 
together in small lumps, thick pieces of twigs, imma¬ 
ture tea fruits, pieces of straw, and dust and dirt in 
large quantity. It was with some satisfaction we 
learnt, from a respectable house, that this rubbish 
did not find a customer; but are we sure that it will 
not be offered again, and perchance fall into the 
hands of some unscrupulous dealer, who, by mixing 
it in judicious quantities with good tea, may retail 
it in the poorer districts of this great city at a suffi¬ 
ciently low price to realize a handsome profit te 
himself ? 
How much longer this kind of tiling is to be 
allowed to go on is perhaps best known to the 
Government. So long as the duty imposed upon 
all teas, whether good or bad, is equal, and so long 
as the authorities take no cognizance of the quality 
if the duty be paid, we cannot expect much altera¬ 
tion in the present state of things. 
HOURS OF CLOSING. 
An article with this title from the facile pen of 
Mr. R. "YV. Giles, which we recommend to the care¬ 
ful consideration of our readers, will be found at 
p. G01. He informs us that it is the result of an 
attempt to “ methodize ” his ideas on the subject 
* Medical Times and Gazette (1870) vol. i. p. 316. 
