PHARMACY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
399 
my  subject,  draw  your  attention  to  the  fact  that,  up  to  the  pre- 
sent moment,  there  exist  no  special  laws  regulating  the  drug- 
business,  as  it  forms  a  part  of  the  general  free  trade ;  that,  con- 
sequently, there  is  no  governmental  supervision  nor  any  author- 
ized tariff. 
Several  States,  among  which  is  the  State  of  New  York,  in 
their  Legislatures,  have  provided  special  laws  for  that  purpose, 
in  order  to  prevent  others  than  qualified  persons  to  embark  in 
that  responsible  business.  The  legal  requirements  for  the  open- 
ing of  a  retail  drug  store  consisted  in  the  following : — 
An  apprenticeship  of  four  years  with  a  druggist  having  a 
diploma  either  from  Europe  or  from  one  of  the  Colleges  of  the 
United  States ;  two  seasons  of  lectures  in  one  of  the  Colleges 
of  Pharmacy,  and  a  diploma  of  the  same.  This  was  all  that 
was  requisite  to  entitle  him  to  the  right  of  establishing  himself 
wherever  he  thought  proper ;  because,  in  case  of  ill  success, 
nobody  else  than  himself  would  suffer  by  his  losing  the  capital 
invested  in  his  undertaking. 
By  force  of  that  law,  the  College  of  Pharmacy  in  New  York, 
in  the  year  of  1830,  after  having  repeatedly  fined,  caused  a 
number  of  establishments  (the  owners  of  which  could  not  prove 
their  legal  qualification)  to  be  closed.  But  they  appealed  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  which  declared  this  law 
unconstitutional,  it  being  not  in  accordance  with  the  general 
freedom  of  trade,  as  sanctioned  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States. 
On  the  strength  of  that  decision,  those  that  were  thus  inter- 
rupted in  their  business  commenced  an  action  against  the  Col- 
lege of  Pharmacy  of  New  York,  which  had  to  pay  such  heavy 
damages,  that  it  took  that  yistitution  over  fifteen  years  to>ecover 
from  it. 
This  state  will,  therefore,  continue  until  corrected  by  legisla- 
tion of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  for  which  purpose 
more  claims  are  constantly  arising  among  Pharmaceutists  and 
the  public  in  general. 
A  special  law  is  wanted  for  this  business — that  is,  the  proof 
of  qualification  for  its  duties — while  nobody  claims  a  special 
protection  or  privilege  for  it. 
