Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
Aug.,  1878.  ; 
Editorial. 
413 
what  are  called  the  more  or  less  permanent  results,  which  are  claimed  to  have  been 
caused  by  the  poisonous  dose,  are  justly  attributed  thereto  or  not,  and  award 
damages  to  the  plaintiff  accordingly. 
The  plaintiff  is  not  entitled  to  exemplary  damages  in  a  case  like  this.  He  is 
only  entitled  to  such  damages  as  in  the  sound  judgment  of  the  jury  shall  be  a  just 
compensation  to  the  plaintiff  for  his  actual  sufferings  of  body  and  mind,  resulting 
from  the  poisonous  dose.    He  is  entitled  to  actual  compensatory  damages. 
There  is  no  evidence  of  a  wilful  wrong  or  of  a  reckless  disregard  of  duty  for 
which  you  are  at  liberty  to  award  damages  as  a  punishment  to  the  defendant.  But 
the  damages  should  be  strictly  compensatory.  Take  the  case,  gentlemen,  and 
decide  it  according  to  the  evidence. 
The  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  for  the  plaintiff  in  $450.  A  request  by  the  defen- 
dant's counsel  for  a  new  trial  was  denied  by  the  court  5  but  permission  was  granted 
to  make  and  prepare  a  case  of  exceptions  after  entry  of  judgment. 
In  presenting  this  case  to  the  notice  of  our  readers  it  is  not  our  purpose  to  dis- 
cuss the  physiological  effects  of  a  large  dose  of  atropia  ;  we  must  leave  that  to  the 
medical  experts.  But  we  desire  to  direct  attention  to  the  commendable  position 
taken  by  the  leading  physicians  of  Syracuse  to  shield  the  apothecary  who  had  com- 
mitted the  mistake — not  from  the  legal  consequences  of  his  error — but  from  the 
imposition  of  damages  largely  in  excess  over  those  allowed  by  the  law  as  defined 
by  the  learned  judge. 
Another  curious  feature  and  evident  injustice,  though  committed  according  to  the 
letter  of  the  law,  is  the  exclusion  of  medical  evidence  on  the  part  of  the  attending 
physician,  while  laymen  and  others  were  by  the  ruling  permitted  to  testify  in  regard 
to  effects,  which,  it  must  be  supposed,  could  not  be  interpreted  better  than  by  the 
physician  who  attended  the  patient  for  two  months  after  he  had  taken  the  large  dose 
of  atropia. 
It  is  very  evident  that  in  many  parts  of  the  United  States  the  laws  referring  to 
liability  for  negligence  or  error  of  judgment,  and  to  expert  testimony,  are  very  much 
in  need  of  being  amended. 
Pharmaceutical  Legislation  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  —  A  pharmacy  law  has 
been  passed  by  Congress,  and  was  approved  June  15th,  for  the  regulation  of  the 
practice  of  pharmacy  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  which  provides  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  five  commissioners,  three  of  whom  shall  be  pharmacists  and  two  physi- 
cians. All  pharmacists,  in  business  on  their  own  account,  and  all  assistant  pharma- 
cists of  the  district,  who  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  act,  have  been  engaged  in 
prescription  stores,  are  to  be  registered,  within  sixty  days,  as  registered  pharmacists 
all  others  are  to  be  examined,  after  having  attained  the  age  of  21  years  and  served 
in  prescription  stores  not  less  than  four  years,  or  are  graduates  of  some  respectable 
medical  school  or  university,  the  examination  fee  being  ten  dollars.  Graduates  in 
pharmacy,  of  a  college  of  pharmacy  that  requires  a  practical  experience  of  not  less 
than  four  years  before  granting  a  diploma,  are  registered  without  examination,  the 
fee  being  three  dollars.  Rejected  candidates  may  be  examined  again  at  the  expira- 
tion of  twelve  months  without  additional  charge.  Registered  pharmacists  are 
responsible  for  the  quality  of  all  medicines,  except  those  sold  in  original  packages  ; 
adulterations  are  subject  to  a  fine  of  one  hundred  dollars,  and  in  addition  thereto 
