166 
SELECTED ARTICLES. 
Mr. Nussey is then requested to point out the words of the 
statute which render it imperative upon the society to prose- 
cute upon information being given them, and after some pre- 
liminary parrying, at last fixes upon the 14th clause. Now 
we have this clause before us at this moment, and we defy 
any human being, however ingenious, to construe it in such a 
manner, as to render it imperative on the Society to prosecute 
when information is given them against any individual. We 
give it verbatim. 
"And to prevent any person or persons from practising as 
an apothecary, without being properly qualified as such, be it 
further enacted, that from and after the first day of August, 
1815, it shall not be lawful for any person or persons (except 
persons already in practice as such) to practice as an apothe- 
cary in any part of England or Wales, unless he or they shall 
have been examined by the said court of examiners, or the 
major part of them, and have received a certificate of his or 
their being duly qualified to practise as such, from the said 
court of examiners, or the major part of them as aforesaid, 
who are hereby authorized, and required to examine all per- 
son or persons applying to them, for the purpose of ascertain- 
ing the skill and abilities of such person or persons in the 
science and practice of medicine, and his or their qualification 
to practise as an apothecary as aforesaid: — provided always, 
that no person shall be admitted to such examination until he 
shall have attained the full age of 22 years.'^ 
And this is the clause which renders it imperative on the 
Society to prosecute an individual who may have had his 
qualifications, both in medicine and surgery, tested by men, 
whose names carry authority with them wdierever medical 
science is known, who may be willing to submit to another 
examination conducted by his inferiors in knowledge, but who, 
because he has not served in a menial capacity for five years, 
is deemed to have an education so radically defective, that 
nothing but beginning his studies over again can compensate 
for the evil. Mr. Nussey's free interpretation of the above 
paragraph is at variance with that of other office bearers of the 
^ ciety who admit that there is no clause compelling the Apo- 
