100 
POISON CLOSETS. 
As the net income of many chemists does not exceed a hundred and fifty or 
two hundred pounds a year, I would suggest that the annual sum to be con¬ 
tributed by each subscriber to entitle him to receive the benefit arising from the 
fund should not of necessity exceed half-a-guinea; but, nevertheless, it might 
be intimated that an additional half-a-guinea would be gladly received from 
those who, in advanced and more prosperous circumstances than the majority of 
their brethren in the trade, are well able to contribute that amount. 
It would be expedient to make a regulation that no fine should be defrayed 
by the society except in cases where it was clearly and publicly proved that the 
accident causing such fine to be inflicted was wholly unavoidable on the part of 
the proprietor of the business, and that all desirable precautions had been taken 
by him to prevent any such occurrence; and, in addition, that the amount of 
the fine only , and not the costs ofi defending the action , should be defrayed by tlie 
society, except in cases where the amount contributed had exceeded the stipu¬ 
lated sum of one half-guinea. 
To illustrate the method I suggest, let us suppose a fund to have been esta¬ 
blished two years since, and that immediately on its formation four thousand 
chemists and druggists had become contributors, of whom three-fourths sub¬ 
scribed half-a-guinea, the remaining fourth one guinea; let us suppose that at 
the end of the first year an additional one thousand members had been enrolled, 
of whom eight hundred had contributed half-a-guinea, the remaining two 
hundred one guinea ; had this been the case, at the present time, two years after 
the establishment of the fund, there would be in the hands of the treasurer the 
sum of five thousand eight hundred and eighty pounds, less the current ex¬ 
penses. Now, out of such an amount as that, the fine lately imposed at Liver¬ 
pool could easily be paid, together with the costs of the action, and a consider¬ 
able sum still remain for future contingencies. 
I think that, were these or similar measures adopted, the minds of many 
conscientious and careful chemists would be relieved of a great and pressing 
anxiety, while the expense would not be such as to make the tax burdensome ; 
and an association formed on these principles might eventually prove the means 
of rescuing from bankruptcy and ruin those whose constant endeavours were to 
perform their duties to the public, their families, and themselves in a right and 
high-principled manner, but who nevertheless from quite unavoidable circum¬ 
stances, except for such guarantee, would be subject to overwhelming losses. 
I beg leave to apologize for thus trespassing on your time and attention, but 
hope that should you deem my communication worthy of appearing in the 
pages of the Pharmaceutical Journal, it might lead its readers to give the 
method I have suggested their thoughtful consideration, after which it could 
be adopted or abandoned, as was thought best. 
I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, 
J. C. 
September , 18GL 
POISON CLOSETS. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
Sir,—Among the numerous precautions against accidental poisoning, the 
most favoured scheme at present seems to be the poison closet; now it is very 
easy to make your closet, but wffien made, then comes the question, what are 
you to put into it? and here lies the difficulty. If too many things are put in, 
the effect of the special caution is lost; if not enough, and a fatal accident 
should occur with one of the excluded bottles, a jury would most probably pass 
