EDITORIAL. 
285 
This  law  carried  out  would  shut  up  half  the  stores  in  town,  some  among 
the  first  in  reputation,  which,  from  the  system  of  apprenticeship  long  in 
vogue  in  Philadelphia  (and  which  has  done  more  to  furnish  good  apothe- 
caries than  any  other  course),  would  have  rendered  the  proprietors  un- 
able to  comply  with  the  law.  Where  will  the  next  generation  of  apothe- 
caries get  their  tuition,  if  they  are  not  to  be  taught  in  the  shop  and  labo- 
ratory, under  the  supervision  of  the  proprietor  and  his  qualified  assist- 
ants ?  It  is  an  absurdity,  like  requiring  a  child  to  learn  to  swim  without 
going  into  the  water,  and  strikes  at  the  very  root  of  progress  in  skill  and 
knowledge. 
As  soon  as  its  character  became  known  the  bill  was  printed  and  distrib- 
uted, and  a  committee  sent  to  Harrisburg  to  explain  its  absurdity  and 
impracticability,  and  a  large  meeting  of  prominent  pharmaceutists,  drug- 
gists and  chemists  met  by  call  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Charles  Ellis,  to  delib- 
erate on  what  should  be  done.  After  considerable  discussion,  the  draft 
of  a  bill  prepared  by  one  of  the  members  was  read,  some  additional  clauses 
added,  so  as  to  include  the  regulation  of  the  sale  of  drugs  and  poisons,  by 
requiring  all  who  now  sold  them  to  be  licensed,  and  requiring  all  future 
pharmaceutists  beginning  in  Philadelphia  to  be  either  graduates,  or  to 
have  had  a  special  examination  by  the  College  of  Pharmacy.  The  inten 
tional  adulteration  of  drugs  was  made  a  misdemeanor,  punishable  by  a 
fine  of  $500,  and  the  sale  of  adulterated  drugs,  knowingly,  by  a  similar 
penalty.  The  second  section  of  the  third  bill  (above  quoted)  was  sub- 
stituted by  the  following  : 
Section  2.  That  no  person  not  a  graduate  in  Pharmacy  shall  be  allowed 
by  the  proprietor  of  any  pharmaceutical  store  to  compound  or  dispense 
the  prescriptions  of  physicians,  except  as  an  aid  under  the  immediate 
supervision  of  said  proprietor  or  his  qualified  assistant,  unless  he  has  been 
at  the  business  at  least  two  years,  and  has  attended  one  full  course  of 
lectures  in  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  and  no  proprietor  shall 
leave  his  store  with  any  but  a  qualified  person. 
This  draft  was  printed,  an  interview  had  with  Mr.  Rogers,  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  who  had  brought  out  the  objectionable  bill, 
and  its  provisions  carefully  explained.  On  returning  to  Harrisburg  Mr.  R. 
had  bill  No.  3  recommitted  to  the  judiciary  committee.  He  was  told  that 
the  bill  prepared  by  the  druggists  was  only  intended  for  passage  in  case 
the  alleged  pressure  on  the  Legislature  required  them  to  pass  some  bill, 
but  that  it  was  the  desire  of  the  College  of  Pharmacy  and  the  druggists 
generally  not  to  pass  any  bill  this  session,  so  as  to  give  time  to  mature  a 
blil  properly  and  wisely  to  embrace  drugs,  poisons,  education  and  regis- 
tration. 
Meanwhile,  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  College  of  Pharmacy,  on  the 
29th  of  March,  the  resolution  of  the  County  Medical  Society  was  read, 
considered,  and  a  committee  of  five,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Procter,  Par- 
rish,  Maisch,  Taylor  and  Bullock,  were  appointed  to  meet  the  committee 
of  the  County  Medical  Society,  when  they  should  appoint  the  time  and 
place. 
On  Saturday  evening,  April  10,  the  committees  of  the  County  Medical 
