Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
July,  1S78.  ; 
Editorial. 
363 
Section  I.  Be  it  enacted  etc.,  That  after  May  1st,  1879,  no  person  whomsoever  shall  be  allowed  to 
establish  or  carry  on  within  the  limits  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  any  retail  chemical,  drug,  apothe- 
cary or  pharmaceutical  store,  as  proprietor  or  manager  thereof,  unless  he  shall  have  obtained  from  a  med- 
ical college  or  college  of  pharmacy  a  diploma  stating  that  he  has  studied  pharmacy. 
Sec.  II,  That  any  person  who  has  served  two  years  in  a  store  where  medicines  are  compounded  or 
dispensed,  and  who  has  attended  the  lecture  courses  for  one  session  in  a  medical  college  or  college  of 
pharmacy,  shall  be  rcognized  as  a  qualified  assistant,  and,  under  the  supervision  of  a  graduate  of  phar- 
macy, he  shall  be  permitted  to  compound  or  dispense  physicians'  prescriptions. 
Sec.  III.  That  every  graduate  of  pharmacy  actually  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  shall 
be  registered  as  such  in  the  office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  of  the  county  in  which 
he  is  located.    The  fee  for  each  registration  shall  be  one  dollar  ($1). 
Sec.  IV.  That  any  person  who  shall  knowingly,  willfully  or  fraudulenty  falsify  or  adulterate,  or  cause 
to  be  falsified  or  adulterated  any  drug  or  medical  substance  or  any  preparation  authorized  or  recognized 
by  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  United  States,  or  used  or  intended  to  be  used  in  medicinal  practice,  or  shall 
mix  or  cause  to  be  mixed  with  any  such  drug  or  medicinal  substance  any  foreign  or  inert  substance 
whatsoever,  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  or  weakening  its  medicinal  powers  or  effect,  and  shall  willfully, 
knowingly  or  fraudulently  sell  or  cause  the  same  to  be  sold  for  medicinal  purposes,  shall  be  guilty  of  a 
misdemeanor,  and  upon  conviction  thereof  shall  pay  a  penalty  not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars  (#500), 
and  shall  forfeit  to  the  commonwealth  all  of  the  article  so  adulterated. 
Sec  V.  That  "  the  Act  to  regulate  the  Practice  of  Pharmacy  and  Sale  of  Poisons,  etc.,  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  approved  April  4th,  1872,"  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  repealed;  and  all  other  acts  or 
parts  of  acts  inconsistent  or  conflicting  witn  this  act  are  also  hereby  repealed. 
In  addition  to  what  Mr.  Kennedy  has  said  about  this  bill,  we  wish  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  provision  of  Section  I,  requiring  all  who  carry  on  any  retail  apothecary 
store  to  procure  a  "  diploma."  There  are  a  large  number  of  apothecaries  through- 
out the  State,  particularly  among  the  older  members  of  the  profession,  who  would 
thus  have  been  compelled  to  hunt  for  the  crooked  diploma  venders — provided  the 
provision  would  have  stood  the  test  of  law  in  a  court  of  equity. 
Other  provisions  which  we  especially  commend  to  the  consideration  of  those  who 
desire  to  know  "how  not  to  do  it,"  are  contained  in  Sections  II  and  III.  Is  a  per- 
son a  qualified  assistant  who  has  to  learn  yet  how  to  compound  even  simple  pre- 
scriptions? And  if  a  person  has  served  as  errand  boy  or  in  a  similar  position  in  a 
dispensing  establishment,  and  has  attended  a  course  of  lectures,  of  which  perhaps 
he  has  not  grasped  even  the  rudiments,  will  that  make  him  a  qualified  assistant?  A 
graduate  of  pharmacy  was  to  procure  registration  (Sec.  Ill)  5  but  the  happy  individ- 
uals who  under  Section  I  would  have  procured  a  "  diploma  stating  that  they  had 
studied  pharmacy,"  we  presume  would  have  been  exempt  from  paying  the  registra- 
tion fee,  because  the  bill  does  not  declare  them  to  be  graduates,  and  very  likely  a 
crooked  diploma  fee  may  have  been  considered  as  a  sufficient  tax. 
A  Poison  Act. — We  have  received  the  following  copy  of  a  new  law,  which, 
though  it  does  not  directly  affect  pharmacists,  is  nevertheless  of  interest  to  them. 
We  print  the  law,  together  with  some  comments  from  our  correspondent : 
AN  ACT 
To  prevent  the  zvanton  or  careless  use  of  poisons. 
Section  I,  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Commomvealth  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That 
no  person  shall  put  or  expose  in  any  public  place  or  highway,  nor  on  his  own  lands  outside  of  his  build- 
ings, nor  on  the  lands  of  any  other  person,  any  poison  or  admixture  thereof,  with  the  intent  that  the  same 
shall  be  taken  or  swallowed  by  any  bird,  fowl  or  wild  animal. 
Section  II.  Any  person  violating  this  act  shall,  on  conviction  before  any  alderman  orjustice  of  the 
peace,  be  subjected  to  a  fine  of  twenty  dollars  to  the  use  of  the  Commonwealth, 
