AMERICAN  PHARMACEUTICAL  ASSOCIATION.  497 
Resolved,  That  this  Association  recommend  to  each  State  the 
enactment  of  such  a  law  as  shall  require  every  person  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  and  sale  of  any  patent  or  secret  medicine,  designed 
or  recommended  for  exhibition  as  a  remedial  agent,  to  file  in  the 
proper  office  of  each  State  wherein  such  remedy  is  offered  for  sale, 
a  full  and  complete  formula  of  such  remedy,  and  that  under  oath ; 
and,  moreover,  to  require  such  manufacturer  so  offering  goods  for 
sale  or  agency  or  otherwise,  to  conform  to  such  State  laws  as  regu- 
late the  levying  of  tax  or  excise  upon  all  who  engage  in  the  busi- 
ness of  buying  and  selling  merchandize. 
[In  support  of  his  resolution  Dr.  Guthrie  said  that  no  great  object  was  attained 
without  an  early  and  zealous  effort.  If  we  would  accomplish  anything,  we  must 
aim  high.  He  was  aware,  Irom  the  discussion  this  morning,  that  almost  every 
individual  present  was  opposed  to  the  resolution  ;  and,  while  respecting  their 
opinions,  he  felt  compelled,  as  a  member  of  the  Association,  to  speak  out 
plainly.  He  felt  the  opposition  of  the  brethren,  yet  he  knew  he  had  the  good  of 
the  Association  at  heart.  From  a  small  beginning,  quackery  had  grown  to  a 
great  monster,  of  which  we  are  afraid.  Was  this  right?  Putting  aside  pecu- 
niary considerations,  he  thought  very  few  would  uphold  the  system.  He 
wanted  right  to  be  placed  above  money.  The  American  Medical  Association 
were  afraid  to  touch  it;  they  have  repeatedly  given  it  the  go-by.  At  their  last 
meeting  in  New  York,  they  made  great  preparations  for  an  attack  upon  it;  but 
at  the  first  flourish  of  the  enemy's  trumpets,  the  whole  army  were  put  to  flight. 
Shall  we  be  afraid  of  it  ?  In  the  name  of  humanity  let  us  do  something.  Let 
us  meet  the  question  manfully,  and  not  hide  our  light  under  a  bushel. 
Dr.  Guthrie  combatted  the  suggestion  that  the  law  would  not  reach  it. 
Quackery  was  not  independent  of  the  law,  but  under  its  control.  If  this  reso- 
lution should  pass,  and  its  consideration  be  pressed  upon  the  Legislatures,  there 
is  little  doubt  such  a  law  as  that  asked  for  could  be  passed  in  several 
States,  perhaps  during  the  coming  winter,  and  of  its  good  effect  he  could  have  no 
doubt.  In  reference  to  the  argument,  that  such  a  law  as  that  proposed  would  de- 
prive every  owner  of  a  quack  medicine  of  the  exclusive  right  to  prepare  and  sell 
it,  he  quoted  the  case  of  Rogers  vs.  Rogers,  tried  in  one  of  the  Ohio  Courts,  in 
which  the  owner  of  a  quack  preparation  sued  another  party  of  the  same  name 
for  imitating  his  label,  the  decision  of  the  Court  sustained  the  right  of  the  origi- 
nal proprietor  of  the  medicine  to  his  trade  mark  which  was  his  label,  and  gave 
judgment  against  the  imitator.  He  admitted  the  difficulties  of  the  subject,  but 
argued  that  all  great  movements  must  be  sustained  through  opposition  and  re- 
proach. He  concluded  with  a  review  of  the  history  of  this  Association  from  its 
origin,  and  made  a  stirring  appeal  to  its  members  to  falter  not  in  the  great  work 
to  which  they  are  called. 
He  was  followed  by  Mr.  Parrish,  who  deprecated  the  expenditure  of  much 
time  upon  the  subject.  He  regretted  the  disposition  to  turn  our  energies  in  the 
direction  of  legislation,  instead  of  looking  mainly  toward  self-improvement  and 
the  general  elevation  of  our  profession.  He  did  not  think  public  sentiment  was 
prepared  for  the  abolition  of  quackery,  however  legislatures  might  be  induced  to 
pass  stringent  laws  against  it.  He  urged  that  in  this  count  y  no  law  was  ef- 
fectual which  was  not  sustained  by  public  sentiment,  and  instanced  the  liquor 
law  of  Massachusetts,  which  is  violated  in  Boston  with  such  impunity  ;  also  the 
law  of  the  State  of  New  York  requiring  that  apothecaries  in  New  York  city 
should  be  graduates  in  pharmacy,  while  a  very  small  proportion  are  such  ;  also 
a  law  of  Maine,  somewhat  similar  to  that  called  for  by  the  resolution,  which  is 
understood  to  be  unavailing  as  a  means  of  suppressing  quackery.  He  sympa- 
thized with  the  high  toned  view's  of  Dr.  Guthrie  on  this  subject,  and  had  no  dis- 
position to  discourage  a  consistent  opposition  to  quackery,  but  regarded  the  sub- 
ject as  a  very  delicate  one,  in  view  of  the  involved  condition  of  pharmacy.  He 
had  been  reminded  during  Dr.  Guthrie's  remarks  of  the  Scripture  account  of 
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