464 
PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY, EDINBURGH. 
the wrongdoer; and that, whatever be the means employed for the prevention of the 
errors, they must, to be effectual, he applied to the mind, and so applied as to call intel¬ 
ligent attention to the work in hand, or they will he useless. 
“ Again, the means used for their prevention cannot be one and the same for all the pos¬ 
sible errors: that which may perhaps tell the Pharmaceutical Chemist he has the 
wrong substance in his haud will never tell him nor the prescriber that the posology of 
the prescription is at fault, either in fact or imagination. Neither are the means which 
warn of danger merely, enough : aconitine, strychnia, atropine, morphia, arsenious acid, 
and very many more, are all dangerous, and need discrimination each from all the others. 
The warning to be given is not always that this is a dangerous material and that an in¬ 
nocent one, for it very often should be,—‘ that dangerous substance is the proper one, 
this is not.’ 
“To procure perfect safety, the questions which the Pharmaceutical Chemist must 
put and find a true answer to, are these:—Is this the proper substance ? Is this the propel 
quantity ? Is the prescription rightly read and understood, and is the posology correct ? 
Is it properly prepared and labelled ? correctly addressed and duly delivered to the person 
for whom it is intended? On all these points there is a liability to err; and against 
such misadventures your committee have to report, that they are not aware of any me¬ 
chanical means whereby the whole necessities of the case are, or might be met. 
“ After a careful examination of the questions involved, your committee are of opinion, 
—First, that none of the mechanical methods hitherto proposed for the prevention of ac¬ 
cidental poisoning, can do more than meet the evil partially, and for a time. Second, 
that no mechanical means for the prevention of poisoning can, or ought to supersede a 
thoroughly educated Pharmaceutical Chemist, well instructed in all. that relates to the 
nature and properties of the substances with which he is called upon to deal, and clearly 
understanding the responsibilities which lie upon his handiwork. Machinery to remind 
the Pharmaceutical Chemist that he is engaged with dangerous substances, and tell him 
when and where he is wrong, would, if perfect, render him useless, and might, with 
equal propriety, be applied to the lawyer, the physician, or even the divine. Your 
committee are therefore unanimously of opinion, that the best security against accidental 
poisoning which can be given to the public, rests in the intelligence and care of those en¬ 
gaged in the practice of Pharmacy; without which, no arrangement or mechanical appli¬ 
ances will be of the least use. 
“ In conclusion : your committee have had under their consideration various means for 
preventing mistakes on the part of those who have occasion to use, or administer medi¬ 
cines, and particularly the propriety of putting dangerous substances into bottles of un¬ 
usual shape. Your committee are of opinion that such a practice might be of much use, 
provided the same shape of bottle were universally adopted and rigidly adhered to ; but 
that otherwise it would fail to answer the end desired.” 
The reading of this report lead to a very lengthened discussion, in which Professor Archer, 
the President, Messrs. Mackay, Nichol, Stephenson, and D. E. Brown took part. The 
general feeling was to disapprove of any capsule or other means for the fixing, covering, 
or fastening the stoppers of dispensing bottles. Most of those who spoke, while admit¬ 
ting that the system of peraliar- shaped bottles for poisonous preparations was a good 
one, yet thought it inadvisable in the meantime to introduce these generally, until dis¬ 
pensing chemists, as a body, had agreed to adopt and adhere, to the practice of dispen¬ 
sing certain preparations in one particular kind of bottle, and thus ensure uniformity in 
all respectable establishments. In no way could such an end be obtained but by legisla¬ 
tive enactment; and as there were certain matters in connection with the entire regula¬ 
tion of the important question of poisons under consideration, it was hoped that, ere long, 
such regulations would be proposed and enforced which, while they would tend to give 
increased security to the public, would also prove a satisfaction to the Pharmaceutical 
Chemist and dispenser of medicines. The approval of the report having been put by 
the Chairman to the meeting, it was carried unanimously ; and, after a vote of thanks to 
the committee, the meeting adjourned. 
