AmMi?ch,f907.rm'}    American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  139 
"Criminal  Responsibility  in  the  Sale  of  Abortifacients  "  was  the 
subject  matter  of  the  communication  by  Dr.  Henry  Beates,  Jr. 
Dr.  Beates  referred  to  the  various  statutes  relating  to  the  use, 
sale  or  distribution  of  abortifacients  and  condemned,  in  no  uncertain 
terms,  the  practice  of  advertising,  in  lay  journals,  articles  designed 
to  prevent  conception  or  to  produce  abortion.  He  held  that  addi- 
tional publicity  might  well  be  given  to  the  serious  nature  of  the 
questions  involved,  and  urged  that  steps  be  taken  to  prevent  the 
use  of  the  United  States  mails  by  newspapers  and  magazines  pub- 
lishing advertisements  of  abortifacients  or  of  instruments  designed 
to  prevent  conception. 
Dr.  John  B.  Roberts,  in  opening  the  general  discussion  of  the 
question,  asserted  that  there  certainly  could  be  no  difference  of 
opinion  on  the  degrading  influences  of  practices  that,  as  had  been 
shown  by  the  previous  speakers,  tended  to  convert  pharmacists  and 
pharmaceutical  manufacturers  into  liars  and  medical  practitioners  into 
frauds  and  fakirs. 
The  subject  matter  was  further  discussed  by  Dr.  Henry  W.  Cat- 
tell,  Dr.  F.  E.  Stewart,  Dr.  C.  B.  Lowe  and  Messrs.  Remington,  La- 
Wall,  Turner,  Thum,  Beringer,  Vanderkleed,  Cable,  Westcott,  Wil- 
bert  and  Cliffe. 
Mr.  Cliffe  presented  the  following  resolutions,  which,  on  motion, 
were  unanimously  adopted  : 
Resolved  that  the  Philadelphia  Branch  of  the  American  Pharma- 
ceutical Association  condemns  the  advertisement  in  drug  journals, 
magazines  and  newspapers  of  abortefacient  medicines  and  depre- 
cates their  sale  by  reputable  pharmacists. 
Resolved  that  all  members  of  this  branch  be  urged  to  exclude 
such  medicines  and  articles  from  their  stocks. 
The  secretary  then  read  a  communication  entitled  "  Objectionable 
Side  Lines  to  the  Practice  of  Medicine,"  specifically  mentioning 
several  profit-sharing  and  stock-distributing  schemes  that  are  now 
doing  business  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 
This  communication  was,  on  motion,  directed  to  be  forwarded  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Society  with  the 
offer  to  submit  additional  evidence  to  the  officials  of  that  organiza- 
tion. 
There  being  no  further  business  the  meeting  was  declared  ad- 
journed. 
