512 
PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE 
qualify  themselves  and  take  a  regular  collegiate  course,  and  not 
be  levelled  with  grocers  and  dry  goods  dealers,  as  mere  traders  ; 
and  that  such  protective  laws  are  the  kind  wanted. 
Dr.  Gardiner,  of  New  York,  being  introduced,  thought  it  in- 
jurious to  have  laws  which  cannot  be  carried  out ;  the  New  York 
law  he  considered  to  be  in  that  category ;  that  conscientious 
men  in  the  business  were  the  best  safeguard.  Any  man  may 
set  up  for  a  doctor  and  obtain  articles  for  criminal  purposes,  and 
the  present  registry  law  can  be  easily  evaded  and  is  futile.  He 
also  recommended  the  idea  that  physicians  should  be  careful  to 
send  their  prescriptions  to  qualified  apothecaries. 
Charles  A.  Junghanns,  of  Cincinnati,  was  in  favor  of  the  As- 
sociation making  the  best  draft  of  a  law  for  the  purpose  that  can 
be  effected  as  a  primary  step. 
W.  J.  M.  Gordon  stated  that  the  Ohio  law  required  arsenic 
to  be  colored  before  being  sold. 
Dr.  Bachelder,  of  New  York,  thought  that  the  present  New 
York  law  was  somewhat  beneficial,  but  was  easily  evaded. 
John  Meakim  believed  the  difficulty  laid  at  our  own  doors; 
we  were  too  unwilling  to  act  vigorously  in  the  matter. 
Charles  T.  Carney  believed  the  law  should  restrict  the  sale  of 
very  few  poisons,  and  that  some  State  law  would  be  acceptable 
to  most  pharmaceutists.  He  had  entirely  declined  the  sale  of 
some  leading  poisons  in  his  own  store. 
Frederick  Stearns  considered  that  no  law  could  be  framed  of 
any  practical  results,  and  that  in  such  laws,  if  passed,  poisons 
should  not  be  specified,,  but  generalized. 
W.  J.  M.  Gordon  was  opposed  to  the  views  of  F.  Stearns  in 
regard  to  generalizing  the  expression  of  the  law,  which  he  be- 
lieved should  specify  the  most  usual  poisons. 
W.  Procter,  Jr.,  remarked  that  the  laws  usually  passed  to 
regulate  the  sale  of  poisons  were  more  for  the  protection  of  the 
public  than  for  the  relief  of  the  apothecary ;  that  the  Pennsylva- 
nia law  does  not  limit  the  sale  of  poisons,  but  compels  the  regis- 
tration of  five  kinds,  viz  :  arsenic,  strychnine,  morphia,  corrosive 
sublimate  and  prussic  acid  when  sold  by  retail ;  that  this  law 
could  and  should  be  carried  out  by  regular  apothecaries,  and 
would  thus  far  prove  useful  in  tracing  purchases  with  evil  design. 
