EDITORIAL.  471 
people  likely  to  suffer  in  silence,  while  the  offender  might  persevere  with 
less  labor  and  no  sacrifice,  in  the  pursuit  of  money. 
Yet,  when  Mr.  Procter  goes  into  the  analysis  of  his  objections  to  the 
address,  it  is  pleasant,  nor  without  some  surprise,  after  such  an  exordium, 
to  find  that  he  agrees  with  me  in  a  number  of  the  opinions  which  I  really 
entertain.  Of  the  questions  proposed  for  consideration  by  the  reader, 
he  omits  twelve,  quotes  seven,  and,  of  these,  answers  three  in  the  affirma- 
tive and  two  in  the  negative.  Thus,  in  regard  to  the  use  of  Latin  in 
naming  drugs,  to  the  comparative  claims  of  all  well-educated  young  men, 
and  of  those  individuals  with  whose  ideas,  choice  of  articles  to  be  used, 
and  degrees  of  preparation,  the  practitioner  is  acquainted,  to  the  easier 
inspection  of  a  limited  number  of  establishments,  to  the  preference  due 
to  those  who  practise  attention  and  care,  and  to  the  moderate  limits  of 
the  number  which  the  city  can  support  without  intermixture  of  other 
species  of  commerce,  I  feel  no  occasion  to  express  much  dissent  from 
what  he  alleges. 
Yet,  although  the  ignorance  or  imperfect  knowledge  of  Latin  among 
both  our  physicians  and  apothecaries,  renders  it  proper,  as  was  agreed 
by  the  practitioners  of  a  preceding  generation,  to  write  all  directions  for 
family  use  in  English,  though  addressed  to  the  apothecaries  ;  and  although 
the  being  united  with  physicians  in  the  confidential  secrecy  of  a  dead  and 
learned  language  was  probably  one  of  the  most  powerful  means  which  in- 
ducted the  apothecaries  of  England  into  the  practice  of  medicine, 
yet  Mr.  Procter  ought  to  acknowledge  that  any  prohibition  of  the 
older  language  is  essentially  wrong.  The  power  and  right  to  communi- 
cate in  the  language  of  medicine,  ought  to  be  preserved.  This  negligence 
of  Latin,  and  introduction  into  the  pharmaceutical  and  medical  profes- 
sions of  unprepared  men,  is  confined,  I  believe,  to  the  Anglo-Saxons.  It 
is  said  to  nave  arisen  from  insuperable  difficulty.  To  achieve  what  is 
impossible  ought  not  to  be  demanded  of  any  man  ;  but  the  error  con- 
sists in  suffering  men  who  have  not  overcome  a  given  difficulty  to  be 
passed  off  among  those  who  have  done  it.  With  regard  to  the  medical 
profession,  our  State  Society  is  engaged,  at  this  moment,  in  efforts  to 
remove  this  cause  of  censure. 
To  another  of  the  reviewer's  decisions,  I  qualify  my  assent.  In  limit- 
ing deviations  from  a  trade  claim  to  supply  particular  parties,  the  ex- 
pressions "  except  in  special  cases,"  and  "  without  good  reason,"  may 
be  understood  to  cover  a  great  deal  of  ground.  Who  is  to  select  the 
cases  and  decide  on  the  goodness  of  the  reasons?  I  am  under  the  im- 
pression that,  as  in  one  of  the  instances  cited  briefly  in  the  address,  the 
physician  has  been  held  to  defend  himself  before  the  judgment  of  the 
apothecary  in  his  own  case.  The  truth  is,  that  the  proper  motive  in  the 
transaction  is  the  welfare  of  the  patient ;  and  that  this  claim,  as  now 
used  and  as  urged  here,  is  a  part  of  the  attempt  to  subject  a  conscientious 
and  scientific  duty  to  the  laws  of  trade  ;  to  the  objections  against  which, 
in  the  much-censured  address,  I  feel  obliged  still  to  adhere.  It  is  not 
just  to  say  that,  when  we  send  from  one  establishment  to  another,  the 
inference  is  conveyed,  u  that  the  apothecary  does  not  understand  his 
business."  It  is  notorious  that  the  apothecary  does  not,  and  perhaps 
cannot,  keep  all  the  best  articles ;  and  that  these  may  often  be  obtained 
in  particular  localities.  It  is  also  true  that  some  apothecaries,  more  than 
others,  abstain  from  levity  and  talk  while  putting  up  drugs,  and  from  the 
sale  of  non-medical  articles. 
With  regard  to  "  motives,"  I  think  sufficient  such  are  obvious.  The 
paper'was  read  before  a  medical  society;  and  on  the  Events  of  the  Year, 
