622 
PHARMACEUTICAL LEGISLATION. 
been made for two reasons ; first, that all members of the trade might be brought 
together ; secondly, that their vested interests might be more perfectly preserved, 
and even augmented by a permanent record. Under the new arrangement 
chemists and druggists now in business would be left, as the apothecaries were 
in 1815, to work on without any interference. 
It may be that a voluntary registration would be instituted ; but that does 
not appear at present. There is no principle lost in this resolution, and it affects 
both Bills alike. 
The second resolution is of more consequence, and that from what it omits 
rather than what it contains. There can be no doubt that dangerous drugs 
should be sold only by qualified persons, but to put the sale forward as more 
important than dispensing them in compounds is a vast mistake, and one which, 
in the interest of the public, we hope will be rectified before any new Bill resulting 
from the inquiry of this Committee be launched in the House. If a man require 
a poison in its simple form he may be expected, of his own judgment, to know 
enough of its nature to ascertain whether he be rightly or wrongly supplied. 
Not so with regard to mixed medicines. 
For the rest all is for the moment uncertain. We know the opinion of 
Government, as expressed by Sir George Grey, on the second reading of the Bills, 
as to the examining board which should be entrusted to carry out what may be 
enacted ; that opinion seems to be shared by the whole House of Commons, 
and strengthened as it must have been by all the evidence of the medical officers 
of the State and the independent medical witnesses, we feel no fear as to the 
result; but the proceedings of the Select Committee on these Bills have 
not been such as to inspire much confidence in the future. If the resolutions 
already passed be adhered to, any measure that may be framed in accordance 
with them will but imperfectly accomplish the objects contemplated by the origi¬ 
nators of the existing Bills, and it is quite possible that further resolutions may 
convert what was a beneficial measure into one of an undesirable character. The 
subject is at present in a critical position, and requires more than ever that 
every step should be carefully watched by the Council, and that our members 
throughout the country should be prepared for prompt and energetic action in 
case of need. We cannot say that it would be impossible now to frame, upon 
the resolutions of the Committee, such a Bill as we should be prepared to accept; 
but there is some ground for apprehension that au attempt may be made to sub¬ 
stitute for a really good and comprehensive measure, one the effect of which 
would be to impose unnecessary and objectionable restrictions on trade, and, by 
recognizing and establishing an imperfect and insufficient qualification for dealers 
in and dispensers of medicine, to discourage rather than promote the advance¬ 
ment of the art and science of pharmacy. The Pharmaceutical Society, who, 
for nearly a quarter of a century, have upheld the standard of pharmaceutical 
qualification, and have stood alone as the promoters and supporters of pharmaceu¬ 
tical education, have a heavy responsibility resting upon them. At the suggestion of 
the Medical Council they have endeavoured to give extension to the operation 
of the principles which, as a voluntary association, they have hitherto advocated 
and applied; but rather than sacrifice these principles, they should be ready to 
fall back upon their existing position, and to rest satisfied for the present with 
the privileges they possess, and the confidence they have acquired from the 
whole of the medical profession and a large proportion of the general public. 
