390 
Michael  Carteighe. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
(    August,  1910. 
was  never  introduced  into  Parliament,  for  the  reason  that  the  Coun- 
cil's Parliamentary  advisers  showed  conclusively  that  there  was  no 
prospect  of  proceeding  with  it  successfully.  Another  Bill  was 
drafted  shortly  afterwards,  but  never  introduced,  in  which  it  was  pro- 
vided that  in  Section  12  of  the  Pharmacy  Act,  1862,  and  in  Section 
15  of  the  Pharmacy  Act,  1868,  "  words  importing  the  masculine 
gender  shall  include  the  feminine  gender,  and  words  importing  the 
singular  shall  include  corporate  bodies  and  the  plural."  In  1883, 
the  second  year  of  Mr.  Carteighe's  presidency,  another  Bill  was 
drafted  on  similar  lines ;  it  contained  twenty-three  clauses,  and 
shared  the  fate  of  its  predecessors  for  a  similar  reason.  So  far  as 
any  attempt  at  legislation  was  concerned,  matters  were  then  allowed 
to  remain  in  abeyance  until  1887;  when  the  measure  of  four  clauses, 
which  is  usually  known  as  the  "  Curriculum  Bill,"  was  produced, 
with  the  underlying  idea  that  improvement  of  the  status  of  the 
pharmacists  by  educational  means  was  probably  the  best  way  of  re- 
moving existing  difficulties.  That  Bill  was  introduced  into  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  might  have  passed  the  second  reading,  but 
unfortunately  none  of  those  in  charge  of  the  measure  were  present 
when  the  opportunity  presented  itself  for  proceeding  with  the  Bill. 
A  fourth  attempt  was  made  in  1888,  when  a  Bill  was  drafted  in 
which  it  was  again  sought  to  secure  powers  to  establish  a  curriculum. 
That  Bill  was  introduced  into  the  House  of  Lords  by  the  Earl  of 
Milltown;  it  passed  through  the  Upper  House,  but  did  not  get  be- 
yond its  intitial  stage  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Another  Bill  deal- 
ing with  education  and  the  establishment  of  a  curriculum  was 
drafted  in  1889,  but  it  was  not  proceeded  with  owing  to  lack  of  sup- 
port and  the  prevalence  of  the  idea  that  it  was  not  worth  while  to 
trouble  Parliament  about  pharmaceutical  education  alone.  A  sixth 
Bill,  promoted  by  the  Council  in  1890,  contained  a  clause  dealing 
with  the  proposed  curriculum,  and  another  restricting  the  dispensing 
of  medicines  to  registered  chemists.  This  was  the  measure  on 
behalf  of  which  Mr.  Michael  Carteighe  endeavored  to  arouse  en- 
thusiasm by  addressing  meetings  of  chemists  and  druggists  in 
various  parts  of  Great  Britain.  He  failed,  however,  to  obtain  any 
material  support,  and  the  Bill  was  not  introduced  into  Parliament. 
A  seventh  Bill,  on  similar  lines  to  that  of  the  previous  year,  was 
drafted  in  1891  and  introduced  into  Parliament,  but  it  was  not  for- 
tunate enough  to  secure  a  second  reading.    Three  years  later  another 
