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EDITORIAL. 
4.  Resolved,  That  the  adulteration  and  sophistication  of  medicines  is 
an  evil  only  partially  reached  by  the  special  examination  provided  for  by 
the  United  States  Government  at  the  several  ports  of  entry,  and  by  the 
vigilance  of  the  several  pharmaceutical  colleges  and  associations,  and 
anyjust  and  practical  laws  which  can  be  devised  for  its  suppression  shall 
have  our  earnest  and  hearty  support ;  yet  we  look  to  the  more  general 
cultivation  and  spread  of  pharmaceutical  science,  and  the  more  thorough 
professional  education  and  organization  of  dealers  and  compounders  of 
drugs  and  medicines  as  the  surest  guarantees  of  the  purity  and  efficiency 
of  remedial  agents. 
5.  Resolved,  That  we  have  no  confidence  in  either  of  the  bills  recently 
introduced  into  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  the  one  looking  toward 
the  appointment  of  a  State  Inspector  of  Drugs,  and  the  other  authorizing 
summary  processes  for  searching  pharmaceutical  stores,  and  the  arrest  of 
their  owners  at  the  instance  of  irresponsible  informers,  as  neither  law 
would,  in  our  judgment,  prove  sufficient  or  useful,  while  the  latter  espe- 
cially would  lead  to  endless  annoyance  and  petty  litigation. 
The  resolutions  were  seconded  by  Dr.  Reid,  and  unanimously  adopted. 
Dr.  Reid  believed  that  druggists  should  co-operate  to  secure  uniformity 
in  prices ;  that  they  should  repudiate  the  giving  of  per  centages  to  physi- 
cians. 
Ambrose  Smith  thought  that  very  few  instances  of  physicians  receiving 
per  centages  existed. 
The  President  did  not  think  any  respectable  physician  would  accept  it. 
G.  W.  Yaughan  said  this  practice  of  giving  physicians  a  per  centage 
was  common  in  his  district.  He  believed  it  a  great  evil  and  a  growing 
one,  and  said  that  he  could  name  physicians  who  received  per  centages 
that  would  surprise  the  meeting. 
Prof.  Procter  recalled  the  attention  of  the  meeting  to  the  alleged  adul- 
teration of  drugs.  It  would  be  satisfactory  to  him  if  gentlemen  present 
would  freely  express  themselves  in  regard  to  the  feasibility  of  a  law  to 
prevent  adulteration.  He  believed  there  was  adulteration  in  drugs,  but 
a  much  greater  adulteration  in  pharmaceutical  preparations. 
Prof.  Parrish  believed  roguery  in  drugs  would  be  reached  more  effect- 
ually through  the  ethical  rules  of  organized  bodies,  and  especially  by  a 
law  of  registration,  to  give  character  and  standing  to  our  profession,  than 
by  criminal  prosecutions. 
Dr.  Stetler,  a  member  of  the  medical  profession,  was  present  from  his 
interest  in  the  subject,  and  hoped  there  would  be  no  antagonism  with 
physicians  in  the  matter  of  the  proposed  drug  law.  He  gave  a  brief  his- 
tory of  its  origin,  and  claimed  that  the  State  Medical  Society  only  wanted 
to  get  pure  drugs.  He  hoped  that  both  professions  would  unite  in  getting 
a  proper  law  that  would  reach  the  evil. 
Charles  Ellis  approved  of  co-operation  with  physicians,  but  counselled 
delay  till  next  year  to  mature  action. 
Mr.  Bullock  had  a  high  regard  for  physicians,  but  did  not  see  in  what 
they  should  be  consulted  in  regulating  the  drug  trade,  a  matter  which  he 
deemed  beyond  their  province.  The  law,  in  his  opinion,  should  emanate 
solely  from  druggists  and  pharmaceutists. 
