THE LAW AFFECTING METHYLATED MEDICINES. 
365 
tions recently made to it, and the benefits it has conferred within the last year 
in necessitous cases, will be cousidered satisfactory in every respect, excepting 
the amount to which the invested capital has been raised. This still falls short 
of the sum of ten thousand pounds, which w^as originally fixed upon as a safe 
and suitable foundation fund from the interest of w'hich annuities might be 
granted. The decision of the Council two years ago to anticipate the invest¬ 
ment of the contemplated amount, by at once granting annuities to a limited 
extent, trusting that by this means increased interest in the objects of the fund 
would be created, and the capital proportionately augmented, has been fully 
justified by the result. The list of subscriptions and donations has considerably 
increased since the fund has been brought into more active operation, and addi¬ 
tions have been annually made to the capital; but it would be long before the 
required amount could be realized, while so much is being annually dispensed, 
unless some active steps were taken to bring the Benevolent Fund, as an im¬ 
portant feature of our institution, more prominently under the notice of members 
of the trade throughout the country. 
It has been by applying the fund that a knowledge of the extent to which 
assistance is required from such a source has been gradually obtained; and the 
diffusion of this knowledge has no doubt contributed more than anything else 
to increase the list of subscriptions. Numerous cases of urgent necessity have 
come to light, in which not only temporary but also permanent relief has been 
afforded, and many more remain to be dealt with as means are provided for 
doing so. No less than seven cases of distress, from different parts of England, 
will, we have reason to believe, be brought under the notice of the Council at 
their meeting in January. We feel assured that nothing more would, under 
any circumstances, be required to stimulate our members throughout the country 
to active exertions in support of such a fund, than a knowledge of the real dis¬ 
tress existing among some of their brethren; and w^e desire, especially on this 
occasion, to impress the fact upon our country friends, that the Benevolent 
Fund is not in any sense a local London charity, but one the benefits of which 
are applicable wdierever members, their widows, or orphans, may be found in 
necessitous circumstances, such as are contemplated in the distribution of the 
fund. 
This is the season at which it is most usual to make appeals to the sympathies 
of those who are placed beyond the pressure of want, for the means of assisting 
their less fortunate fellow-creatures, and we hope it may not prove an unfavour¬ 
able occasion for renewing a direct appeal to the members of our Society, and 
especially to the Local Secretaries throughout the country, to assist in extending 
the benefits of our Benevolent Fund by promoting the success of the Dinner to 
be given in aid of it. The Dinner has been fixed for the 20th of February, at 
AVillis’s Booms ; and judging from the list of stewards whose names have al¬ 
ready been received, and which will be found among the official notices on the 
cover of the Journal, we have no doubt it will be an occasion for the inter¬ 
change of much social feeling among men of kindred pursuits, as well as for 
the promotion of the immediate object of the meeting. 
THE LAW AFFECTING METHYLATED MEDICINES. 
We desire to remind our readers that the law passed in the last Session of 
Parliament, for preventing the unrestricted use of methylated spirit in the 
preparation of medicines, will be in full operation on and after the 1st of 
January, 1867. The object of this law' is to prevent the use of methylated 
spirit in the production of any spirituous compound or mixture that could be 
