THE QUALIFICATIONS OF CHEMISTS AND DHUGGJSTS. 
497 
pharmaceutical business of the country. And then there would be the Be- 
gister of Chemists and Druggists,—of the men who have hitherto held 
themselves aloof from those of their brethren who, for a long series of years, 
have been carrying out successfully the principles which are now so tardily 
and reluctantly acknowledged by this section of the trade. This register of 
Chemists and Druggists would comprise those not belonging to the Pharma¬ 
ceutical Society, and as it would be unnecessary for any man to have lus 
name on more than’one register, and it would be optional with every one 
which examination he underwent, there would of course be a competition 
between the two Societies as to which should get the greater number of 
names. 
As far as registration is concerned, the difference between the two Bills is, 
that Bill No. 1 provides for a mere extension of a system already in existence, 
which would be carried out by existing arrangements, without any new 
mechanism, and would then supply a complete and undivided register, easy 
of reference, and available for all required purposes ; whereas Bill No. 2 
contemplates the organization of a new mechanism, which would have to be 
created at great cost, by a cumbrous arrangement, for the purpose of pro¬ 
ducing a register, which would necessarily be imperfect and would very in¬ 
adequately fulfil the required object. 
There can surely be no question between the relative advantages of these 
two methods of effecting registration. 
But Bill No. 2, as well as Bill No. 1, contemplates something more than 
registration-. It provides for the examination of those who hereafter shall 
become chemists and druggists ; but this part of the Bill is extremely loose, 
crude, and imperfect. Clause 13 gives to the Council the power of appointing 
examiners in such parts of England and Wales as they shall think ht, and of 
making rules and regulations for conducting the examination of persons 
applying to be registered as chemists and druggists as to their knowledge of 
the nature of drugs and medicines in general use, with their doses. It does 
not appear that these rules and regulations are to be of the nature of by¬ 
laws requiring the confirmation of the Secretary of State ; but, on the con¬ 
trary, the object appears to be to leave the subject to the uncontrolled discre¬ 
tion of the Council, with a very vague indication of what sort of an examination 
is intended. It may be inferred, indeed, from its being stated that the exami¬ 
nation is to be on the nature of drugs and medicines in general use, with their 
doses, that it is not intended to include a knowledge of Latin, even such a 
knowledge as is required for reading prescriptions, but merely a general 
smattering about the nature of drugs and their doses, such as most appren¬ 
tices, without much study, would be likely to possess. If this is what is 
meant by “ regulating the qualifications of chemists and druggists,” we have 
no hesitation in saying that such “ regulation ” would be worse than useless ; 
it would be a mere sham and delusion, tending, not to the advancement of 
pharmacy and the elevation of those engaged in its practice, but rather to the 
discouragement of the efforts which have been so successfully made in that 
direction for many years past by the Pharmaceutical Society. If one part 
of the Bill more than another was required to be clearly defined, and made 
subject to the control of some higher authority than that of a Council elected 
by a sort of universal suffrage, it was that which defines the nature and 
regulations of the proposed examinations. 
But even if the proposed examinations were satisfactory, the existence of 
two examining boards, such as there would be for the examination of chemists 
and druggists if Bill No. 2 were enacted, would be subject to grave objec¬ 
tion. The board of examiners under the Pharmacy Act, and the separate 
board under the Chemists and Druggists Act No. 2, would both have the 
