424 
BATH CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 
And this brings me to the subject of our new Pharmacy Bill. It is very pleasing to 
find with what energy and zeal the project of this Bill is being taken up ; a new spirit 
seems to pervade all, whether pharmaceutical chemists or otherwise, the former indeed 
being in the minority. Many of the returns made are highly satisfactory: in Wey¬ 
mouth, every chemist but one has signed the appeal; at Canterbury, every chemist; at 
Leicester, all but one (43 having signed it) ; at Brighton, 45 out of 52, and besides this 
31 assistants ; in Manchester, 116, of which 37 only were pharmaceutical chemists ; and 
here in Bath, nearly every chemist and 15 assistants have signed it; and I have no 
doubt that when the returns are fully made, the majority in favour of the Bill will be 
very great. All speak in the highest terms of the Bill, and also of the liberal offer 
made by the Society to all who really feel inclined to become members by examination. 
Nor can I see the practical difficulty which some apprehend; the examinations have a 
practical rather than a theoretical bearing, and I feel quite sure there is no person in 
this room who is not perfectly qualified for passing such an examination ; it would be 
an insult to their understanding and attainments to doubt it for an instant. Only let 
one try, and the result would be that others would follow, and we should soon be a truly 
Pharmaceutical Society, members rejoicing in M. P. S. won by examination,—a far 
more honourable distinction, allow me to say, than any title procured by purchase. I 
am conscious of a certain delicacy in addressing some whose opinions upon the Phar¬ 
macy Bill may differ very widely from those to which I have given expression, but that 
feeling is to a great extent removed when I consider that it is one of the objects of this 
Society to give frank expression to opinion upon matters of common interest and while 
I shall, I hope, ever listen with deference to the utterance of sentiments adverse to my 
own, when claiming the same sincerity as those which I now offer, I shall hail with 
pleasure the honest acknowledgment of any who with Mr. Moffat, of Glasgow, say, “ I 
w r as mistaken.” I must, however, in common honesty to those gentlemen who form the 
Council of the Pharmaceutical Society, declare that I firmly believe that their inten¬ 
tions are purely devoted to the true interests of the body generally; their very names 
are a guarantee for the honesty of their proceedings. 
I do sincerely trust we shall not be looking with a jaundiced eye on one another 
because we think differently, but let the love of the noble science with which (worthily 
or unworthily) we stand connected preserve good feeling and fellowship, and may 
materia medica, pharmacy, chemistry, botany, etc., secure more of our attention, make 
us more earnest and zealous, and thereby “ more honoured because more honourable.” 
There is another point to which I would now more especially call your attention,—it is 
micro-chemistry. I am sure that those who saw the beautiful specimens exhibited at the 
Conference by Messrs. Deane and Brady, since then engraved in the ‘ Proceedings of 
the Conference,’ |and also the objects shown by Messrs. Stoddart, must have been de¬ 
lighted. I need not dwell upon the obvious advantage of the knowledge of “ how to 
work with the microscope ” in detecting adulterations, etc. 
I do not know if any gentleman has worked the British Pharmacopoeia, but I must 
say the more I know of it the more I am pleased ; it certainly far surpasses the expecta¬ 
tions my first impression of it led me to entertain ; we must not expect perfection, and 
but for some unwise alterations, which certainly are not improvements, it is a “ move in 
the right direction.” There has been a considerable compromise made to satisfy Scot¬ 
land and Ireland, but on the whole it is a valuable book, and with Squire’s ‘ Companion’ 
it is rendered much more complete ; in time it must of necessity become our law. 
With regard to the Poison question, that has been so well ventilated at the Congress 
that it would be only waste of time to enter on it, except to compliment those gentle¬ 
men whose zeal and industry were rewarded by so excellent a report. In conclusion, I 
do most sincerely trust we shall none of us forget the proposal upon which we so gene¬ 
rally agreed, to close our shop upon the Sunday; even in a worldly point of view, I am 
quite sure we shall find a substantial proof of the promise that “ those who honour 
Me, I will honour.” It is now more than twenty years since I adopted that plan, and 
I am sure I have lost nothing, but gained much ; but even had I lost much, I believe I 
should have gained more. 
After which it was proposed by Mr. P. Harding, seconded by Mr. King, and resolved, 
that the address be copied into the minute book of the society, and also that a copy of 
the address be forwarded to the Editor of the £ Pharmaceutical Journal,’ together with a 
brief sketch of the origin of the association, and a request that it be inserted in the next 
number of the Journal. 
