940 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [May is, 1872. 
of the policy with a hond by himself or other sureties, 
and annuities, and endowments; provisions for children 
might also he included. I think that if these advantages 
w r ere put forward, such a scheme would be sure of success, 
and that we should meet with a response from nearly 
all the chemists and druggists in the kingdom. I dare 
say there are many in the trade who have not insured 
their lives, and here they would have a body to deal 
with which would have every consideration for them, 
which would consider each case ; and if adverse circum¬ 
stances occurred, and the policy could not he kept up, it 
would he in the hands of the Society, which would give 
the member its full value. Receiving aid in such a way 
would not entail the feeling of pauperism on the part of 
the recipients; and I hope, therefore, the subject will 
receive mature consideration from all parties. It is a 
matter which has grown upon me, and I feel its im¬ 
portance so much myself, that I shall be willing to co¬ 
operate with any gentlemen in carrying it out. 
Mr. Smith (Walworth) said several cases had come 
to his knowledge during the last year of peculiar hard¬ 
ship, on account of the provision of law which com¬ 
pelled the widow of a pharmaceutical chemist to sell 
the business directly after his death, and he should very 
much like to hear if something could not be done by the 
Council to alter that objectionable clause in the Act. 
If any member died, his business could not be con¬ 
tinued by his widow or daughter, but must be sold. He 
knew a case within the last six months in which a 
widow had to sell her business at a loss of over £400. 
The President said that a business could be carried 
on for the benefit of the widow by trustees appointed 
for the purpose. 
The Solicitor read the clause in the Act bearing 
upon the point, namely: “Upon the decease of any 
pharmaceutical chemist or chemist or druggist actually 
in business at the time of his death, it shall be lawful 
for any executor, administrator, or trustee of the estate 
of such pharmaceutical chemist or chemist and druggist 
to continue such business.” 
Mr. Smith : For how long ? 
The Solicitor : There is no limit “if, and so long only, 
as such business shall be bond fide , conducted by a duly 
qualified assistant.” 
Mr. Bannard said the last speaker was not singular 
in his opinion, for he had known a similar case. 
Mr. Urwick said he had the arrangement of an estate, 
and, on writing to the Secretary, he hadbeen informed that 
the business could be conducted by a qualified assistant. 
The Solicitor further explained that the business 
could only be carried on by trustees, or executors, or 
administrators, not by a legatee. If a man died with¬ 
out a will, some one must administer in the estate, and 
he could carry on the business for the benefit of the 
widow; but the moment the estate passed to a legatee, 
then the executorship or trusteeship came to an end. 
Mr. Reynolds (Leeds) said: Mr. Mackayhad repro¬ 
duced a statement from the Journal w’hich put three 
northern towns in rather an invidious position. If he had 
read that article with a little more care he would have 
seen that whilst the average percentage of membership 
throughout the country was twenty, if the statistics 
given for those three unhappy Yorkshire towns were 
thrown into percentages, they came out Sheffield, 
twenty-seven ; Leeds, twenty-four; Hull, nineteen ; or 
an average of twenty-three and a third, a little better 
than the general average of the country. Ho would 
also point out that membership in the Society must 
not be taken as the only test of earnestness in the 
cause of pharmaceutical education, for the local asso¬ 
ciations had many more members. In his own town 
there were over fifty members of the local association 
who paid their half guinea a year, simply because they 
were in earnest in promoting education. 
Mr. Mackay said he had only quoted the figures to 
show how natural it was that the Council should desire 
to have more evidence of support given to the Society,, 
before making grants to any particular town. 
The resolution for the adoption of the report was then 
put, and carried with one dissentient. 
Mr. Vizer then said: Mr. Chairman,—I will en¬ 
deavour to be as brief as possible in my remarks in 
introducing the resolution of which I have given notice ; 
and I hope those who follow me will be brief also. The 
resolution is : 
“ That considering the altered position which this 
Society now holds under the Pharmacy Act, 1868, 
towards the trade, it is the opinion of this meeting 
that no resolution involving legal consequences, as 
contemplated by the first clause of that Act, should 
be received at any general meeting of the members 
unless fourteen days shall have been previously 
given to members by the Secretary by advertisement 
or otherwise. This meeting, therefore, respectfully 
urges upon the Council the importance of framing a 
Eye-law to that effect.” 
This resolution, Sir, is I think one of great and general 
interest to every member of our trade, whether he bo 
inside or outside the pale of this Society. In the first 
place I would call your attention to the Act of 1852, 
which you will find really only legalizes the registration, 
of a certain voluntary body. It states in the preamble 
that “ certain persons are desirous of advancing chemistry 
and pharmacy and promoting an uniform system of 
education,” and so on. I will not trouble you by reading 
the whole of that Act, but if you go through it clause by 
clause you will find that almost every one refers to the- 
registration of a voluntary body. Now, the Act of 1852. 
was supplemented by that of 1868, which incorporated and 
embraced the previous Act, putting our trade in a wholly 
different position to that which it held before. Up to- 
1868 it was a matter of choice whether a person in 
trade chose to become a member of our Society or not; 
he was a perfectly free agent, and nobody could prevent 
h.'m opening shop or cairying on business. But the Act 
of 1868 entirely alters the position of the trade. The 
very first clause says,—“ It shall be unlawful for any 
person to sell or keep open shop for retailing, dispensing, 
or compounding poisons (and so on), unless such person 
shall be a pharmaceutical chemist or a chemist and 
druggist within the meaning of this Act, and be regis¬ 
tered under this Act, and (this is the point to which I 
wish to direct your particular attention) shall conform 
to such regulations as to the keeping, dispensing, and 
selling of such poisons as may from time to time be pre¬ 
scribed by the Pharmaceutical Society with the consent 
of the Privy Council.” If 1 may be allowed, I will for 
the moment omit all reference to the word “poison.” 
Under this Act every chemist is bound to obey the laws- 
emanating frem 17, Bloomsbury Square. The Act in every 
way applies as much to the most isolated village chemist 
as to the most renouned of London establishment. No one 
can say now that ho will not obey the laws of this. 
Society, because the Government says he must. I be¬ 
lieve it was stated last year by Mr. Giles that this- 
meeting was ‘ omnipotent;’ at any rate I say so to-day. 
This meeting is omnipotent according to the Act of Parlia¬ 
ment. I would draw your special attention to the word¬ 
ing here; it does not say such regulations as shall bo pre - 
scribed by the ‘ Council,’ but by the ‘ Pharmaceutical 
Society,’ and the ‘ Society’ consists of the general meetings 
of the members. It is, I believe, the only clause in the- 
Act in which the word “ Society” occurs; but acting on. 
that clause we may come to this meeting, and any reso¬ 
lution may be brought forward and passed, and after the 
consent of the Privy Council has been obtained thereto- 
there is no power to alter it. I would ask your attention 
for a moment to that fact; in my opinion such unlimited, 
power is highly undesirable to be vested in any meeting,, 
where such large interests are involved. It may be said, 
that this resolution would cripple or hinder our discussions. 
Not the least in the world. Discussion is one thing; but 
