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EDITORIAL. 
Society/'  consisting  originally  of  the  better  educated  pharmaceutists,  who 
by  association  aimed  at  raising  their  body  to  a  professional  rank  by  a 
most  earnest  course  of  endeavor  to  encourage  education  and  good  practice 
among  the  dispensers  of  medicine.  The  early  labors  of  these  men,  among 
whom  the  late  Jacob  Bell  occupied  so  prominent  a  position,  at  last  suc- 
ceeded in  gaining  the  recognition  of  Parliament,  who  by  an  Act  granted 
certain  powers  to  this  Society,  which,  whilst  they  were  far  more  limited 
than  the  applicants  desired,  yet  conferred  upon  the  Association  a  position 
and  influence  that  have  done  much  to  advance  the  cause  of  pharmaceutical 
education  in  that  country.  Among  other  rights  and  privileges  granted  in 
the  Charter,  is  that  of  making  the  name  "Pharmaceutical  Chemist'^  a 
title  belonging  only  to  members  of  the  Society,  no  other  dispensers 
having  the  legal  right  to  employ  it.  Numerous  as  are  the  members 
of  the  Society,  it  by  no  means  includes  all  the  reputable  pharma- 
ceutists, some  refusing  originally  to  join  the  movement  from  various 
motives,  until  the  period  arrived  when  none  could  join  without  sub- 
mitting to  an  examination,  a  course  very  repugnant  to  many  men 
who  consider  themselves  qualified  by  long  service.  This  feature,  and 
the  fact  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  is  not  slow  to  draw  the  line 
between  its  members  and  the  outsiders  so  distinct  as  to  influence  the  public, 
has  begotten  a  feeling  of  union  among  the  "  Chemists  and  Druggists,^'  as 
they  call  themselves,  which  has  resulted  in  the  formation,  or  rather  the 
commencing  steps  to  the  formation  of  a  distinct  Society,  called  "  The 
United  Society  of  Chemists  and  Druggists, to  which  the  annual  subscrip- 
tion is  but  five  shillings  sterling,  about  a  dollar  and  a  quarter.  So  far  as 
we  can  learn  from  the  pages  of  the  "  Chemist  and  Druggist/'  only  the 
initiatory  steps  have  been  taken.  Mr.  C.  T.  Buott,  the  Secretary  pro  iem., 
has  been  engaged  in  an  active  canvass,  by  letter,  among  the  trade,  with 
a  view  of  getting  as  numerous  an  adhesion  as  possible,  believing,  as  did 
the  early  supporters  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  that  numbers  were  of 
the  first  importance  in  giving  force  and  influence  to  the  movement.  In 
pursuance  of  this  idea,  Morgan  &  Brothers,  the  publishers  of  the  "Chemist 
and  Druggist/'  and  the  great  druggists'  sundries  men  of  Bow  Lane,  Lon- 
don, have  offered  to  give  the  Society  five  hundred  dollars,  if  by  Christmas 
the  number  of  members  reached  one  thousand.  We  have  not  been  able 
to  meet  with  a  clearly  defined  view  of  the  modus  operandi  proposed  for 
this  new  Society,  nor  are  we  aware  of  the  exact  limits  of  qualification  for 
membership  its  founders  propose, — whether  druggists,  or  manufacturing 
pharmaceutists,  properly  so  called,  on  the  one  hand,  and  druggist  grocers 
on  the  other,  will  be  included  or  excluded, — but  the  following,  taken  from 
"  the  preliminary  prospectus,"  issued  in  August  last,  will  give  some  idea  of 
their  aims  : — 
"  United  Society  of  Chemists  and  Druggists." 
"The  promoters  of  this  Association,  feeling  impressed  with  the  fact  that 
so  numerous  and  intelligent  a  body  as  the  Chemists  and  Druggists  of  the 
