390 
THE NEW PHARMACY BILL. 
If after examination a mechanical preventive for mistakes is required, what 
need of examination at att? The touch of the bottle, be the contents whatsoever 
they may, ought instantly to evoke a train of thoughts as to the composition, 
properties, dose, etc., of the medicine; and it not only makes business a plea¬ 
sure, but strengthens the mind for further exercise, requiring a ready know¬ 
ledge of our art. He must have a shallow mind indeed who simply pursues 
the business of a chemist for the profit derivable therefrom, or, in its stud}'', 
does not feel himself elevated above the mass, as he views with the eyes of a 
philosopher the wonders that crowd round his vocation. 
It may be a small matter to some to serve an ounce of salts, but what an 
amount of instruction is that ounce of salts capable of affording ! Discovered 
nearly two hundred years ago at Epsom, whence its name, and its nature not 
fully explained till the middle of the last century, it is now manufactured by 
hundreds of tons yearly. Its crystalline formation, its solubility, its decompo¬ 
sition by potash, soda, lime, etc., illustrating the great laws of Bertkollet, the 
fact that there are two cases of poisoning by this salt on record, and that, 
strange to relate, no purging occurred in one,—all tend to make this trivial cir¬ 
cumstance the subject of deep thought. 
Accidental poisoning arises either through carelessness or incompetency. If 
a man can be careless in dispensing when a fellow-creature’s life depends upon 
his careful manipulation, is it not making him more thoughtless still by placing 
within his reach some fancied securit y ? A man is not supposed to dispense as 
if in a dream, but to concentrate all his energies upon the business in hand. 
These remarks are equally applicable to mistakes over the counter, as the sub¬ 
stitution of oxalic acid for salts; and the cure is to be found not in a rough 
wrapper or a pricking cork, but in the elevation of the man. This is to be 
accomplished mainly by the master instructing his apprentice, not in the “ dull 
routine” of business alone, as is too often the case, but in the scientific part of 
his calling as well, and as the young man is trained to observation and exact¬ 
ness, so will the seeds of carelessness be early eradicated, and with the individual 
advancement the body collective will progress. 
Some prefer an assistant unconnected with the Society, but such notions as 
cause this preference are fast dying out before the acknowledged superiority of 
its members. They imagine that by keeping his mind solely upon the pounds, 
shillings, and pence, he makes a much better man of business ; but in such 
cases there is simply a business, and nothing more ; they dispense with the 
same indifference as a grocer weighs his tea,—it is nothing more than their 
trade. We have all a tendency to fall into this dilemma, but it is science that 
saves us, and tells us from every “ bottle of physic there is a lesson to be gained 
as well.as a remuneration.” Much more might be said upon this subject, but 
with the hint I leave the matter in abler hands. 
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
E. W. Barnett. 
THE NEW PHARMACY BILL. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
Sir,—I have received a copy of the Pharmacy Act, 1865, and as Local Secre¬ 
tary have obtained the signatures of all the druggists in the locality, -with one 
exception, to the epistle, recommendatory. I like the Bill in many respects, but 
I think it should specify the kind of examination to be passed by future drug¬ 
gists. The tendency of a board of examiners in London or other large town, 
elected principally by retail druggists, would be twofold:—First, to make the 
examination as stringent as possible, so as to reduce the number of druggists ; 
