5 02 
T1IE TWO SOCIETIES. 
up since 1853, as the admissions by examination every year have not quite 
equalled the losses from death and various other causes; but the defalcation may 
principally be ascribed, we believe, to the fact that the Society contained 
most of the best men in the trade at the time of the passing of the Pharmacy 
Act, and that many of those who then entered the Society, on the door being 
freely opened, were in their hearts, or from their limited means, but luke¬ 
warm or constrained supporters of the recognized principles of the Society. 
With such members the necessity of paying an annual subscription out¬ 
weighed their zeal in the cause, and they gradually dropped off. But although 
after the spirt which took place in 1853, there was an annual falling off for 
several years, yet such has not latterly been the case, and the Society is now 
numerically as well as financially, in a more healthy, vigorous, and prosperous 
condition than it has ever been in since the early days of its formation. It 
still contains the zealous and united men who have laboured so long and so 
successfully in carrying out its objects ; it comprises nearly all the men of 
prominent position and of greatest influence in the trade, and although from 
peculiarities of temperament or some other cause, there are a few who have 
held aloof and refused to join the association, which must almost necessarily 
be the case with a voluntary society, yet the Pharmaceutical Society certainly 
does represent the intelligence and the moral and professional influence, as well 
as the bulk of the legitimate business of the drug trade. 
And now, having looked at this picture, let us look at the other. 
The United Society of Chemists and Druggists was commenced in 1861, 
and in the First Annual Iteport, dated February 27, 1862, the objects of the 
Society are thus explained :— 
“ The Society is based upon the principle of co-operation, as essential to 
the strength and progress of Chemists and Druggists as a trading commu¬ 
nity, with the following objects :— 
“ 1st. The establishment of a Benevolent Fund for the assistance of Mem¬ 
bers in sickness, destitution, and death. 
“ 2nd. To carry out, by district meetings and combined action, any improve¬ 
ment that may be deemed necessary for the welfare of the Trade. 
“ 3rd. To promote early and Sunday closing. 
“ 4th. To watch the progress of, and support or oppose, any legislative en¬ 
actment that may affect the interests of Chemists and Druggists as a trading 
community. 
“5th. To answer any legal questions relating to the trade rights of Mem¬ 
bers, free of cost. 
“ 6th. To keep a [Register of the Transfer of Businesses, required Partner¬ 
ships, and Situations for Assistants, etc., and to be the general recipient and 
■exponent of any other Trade requirement. 5 ’ 
The Committee in this Beport state that, “to place the Society upon a 
broad numerical basis was their immediate object; and to enable them to do 
so successfully, they determined that the admission fee should be within the 
means of the poorest member of the trade!’ They accordingly fixed the 
members’ subscription at 5s. a year, and with this small payment as the only 
condition to membership they endeavoured to extend the Society, upon the 
broad numerical basis alluded to. At the end of the first year’s operations, 
the Committee announced the receipt of subscriptions amounting to £218. 
14 s. 6d., which would represent 875 members at 5s. each ; but it seems very 
doubtful from the statement published, which, like everything else emanating 
from the same source, is vague and unsatisfactory in the extreme, whether 
this amount does not comprise donations to the Benevolent Fund. Assuming, 
however, that the £218 represents the subscriptions of Members, it is obvious 
that these were not bond fide Chemists and Druggists, but any persons who 
