ON  SOME  POINTS  OF  CHEMICAL  THEORY,  ETC.  397 
after  having  spoken  of  the  advantages  which  would  flow  from  the 
adoption  of  a  single  Pharmacopoeia  for  the  British  Empire,  I 
endeavored  to  show  that  the  only  way  to  reach  the  evil  was  the 
one  pointed  out  by  Dr.  Turner.  Wishing  to  make  known  these 
views  to  the  reading  public,  I  had  the  part  of  my  lecture  relating 
to  them  published  in  this  Journal,  for  January,  1855;  and,  subse- 
quently, I  was  gratified  to  find  that  the  extract  was  copied  into 
the  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  of  London,  for  March  of  the  same 
year.  I  have  entered  into  these  details,  in  order  to  convey  to  you 
the  gratifying  intelligence,  that  the  British  Parliament,  after  re- 
peated failures  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  has  at  last 
passed  a  bill,  the  object  of  which,  as  stated  in  the  preamble,  "  is 
to  enable  persons,  requiring  medical  aid,  to  distinguish  qualified 
from  unqualified  practitioners."  The  powers  conferred  by  the 
bill  are  vested  in  a  "  General  Council  of  Medical  Education  and 
Registration,"  consisting  of  eighteen  members  ;  twelve  appointed 
by  twelve  medical  corporations  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ire- 
land, one  by  each,  and  six  by  the  government.  Among  the 
powers  conferred  on  the  General  Council,  is  that  of  publishing 
a  single  Pharmacopoeia  for  the  British  Empire.  The  words  of 
the  act  conferring  this  power  are  as  follows  :  »  The  General 
Council  shall  cause  to  be  published  under  their  direction,  a  book 
containing  a  list  of  medicines  and  compounds,  and  the  manner 
of  preparing  them,  together  with  true  weights  and  measures  by 
which  they  are  to  be  prepared,  and  containing  such  other  matter 
and  things,  relating  thereto,  as  the  General  Council  shall  think 
fit,  to  be  called  <  British  Pharmacopoeia';  and  the  General  Council 
shall  cause  to  be  altered,  amended,  and  republished  such 
Pharmacopoeia  as  often  as  they  shall  deem  it  necessary." 
This  is  certainly  an  important  step  in  medical  progress,  and 
one  that  intimately  concerns  all  the  apothecaries  and  medical 
practitioners  throughout  the  world  who  speak  and  write  the 
English  language.  Let  us  cherish  the  hope  that  the  British 
work  will  be  issued  before  the  completion  of  the  revision  of  our 
National  Pharmacopoeia,  which  is  again  to  be  published  in  1860; 
so  that  we  may  avail  ourselves  of  the  labors  of  our  British 
brethren. 
