256 
USE OF METHYLATED SPIRIT. 
examined as to liis ability to perform tbe functions of a physician, and, being 
found competent, is licensed to practise as an apothecary, or compounder of 
medicines : about as sensible a statement as if the College of Civil Engineers 
in their certificate were to state that the possessor had been examined on 
theoretical and practical engineering, and, being found competent, was en¬ 
titled to sell onions! I could pursue the subject further, but, having no 
desire to offend the susceptibilities of general practitioners, will not enlarge. 
A very important reform is impending, in the supply of medicines to the poor 
by the guardians instead of medical men. A large metropolitan parish sup¬ 
plies medicines and medical appliances to their workhouse infirmary at a cost 
of several hundreds a year, instead of adopting the usual practice of farming 
out the supply of medicines to the medical man for a fixed sum; in addition, 
the district medical officers who attend the outside poor are furnished with 
any quantity they may require of cod-liver oil and quinine; and I trust, be¬ 
fore long, guardians will be compelled (instead of, as now, permitted) to supply 
all medicine to paupers, paying the medical men for their time and skill 
only. 
When the time shall have arrived when both the upper and lowest class 
shall be prescribed for only by medical men, the medicine ordered being ob¬ 
tained from independent sources, the great middle class may discern that 
medical men ought not to have any interest whatever in the medicines they 
prescribe, and be willing to pay for advice, unaccompanied by medicine, very 
frequently worthless. I venture to prophesy, that, under such conditions, 
armed with an intellectual qualification, and fortified with the generous sup¬ 
port of the medical profession,—no longer rivals,—the profession of pharmacy 
will be one offering fair inducements to its votaries, instead of being, as at 
present, to the majority, like the apples of the Dead Sea, fair to look upon, 
but dust and ashes to the touch. 
Haverstock Hill, September 22nd, 1866. 
USE OE METHYLATED SPIEIT. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
Cambridge, September 24, 1866. 
Sir,—As I believe there is a confused idea in the minds of many chemists 
respecting methylated spirits and methylated finish, may I be allowed to 
make, through your Journal, the following remarks .P— 
Till your last month’s Journal came out, I should have supposed every 
chemist had been aware that methylated spirits of wine could not be sold 
without a licence. 
How, as there may be some chemists who suppose the finish cannot be sold 
either without a licence, allow me, through your Journal, to say, no licence 
is required to sell methylated finish. Heither does the Act which comes into 
operation on the Ist January, 1867, affect the sale of methylated finish, as 
finish, in any way. 
Here I would give my advice to chemists having methylated finish by 
them : test it, and see that it is finish, and not spirits. Every gallon of spirits 
ought to contain at least 1 ounce of shellac or sandarac. To some, the fol¬ 
lowing inquiry may be interesting:— 
“ To the Honourable Commissioners of Inland Revenue. 
" Gentlemen,—May I ask your favour in answering the following question ?■— 
