2 
PRESENT STATE OF PHARMACY IN ENGLAND. 
gists, or true pharmaceutists, that they will be frequently 
alluded to. 
There is a force in the Anglo-Saxon character, which, 
if once brought to bear on any object, will gain its end, or 
bring about material changes in the condition of the things 
opposed to it ; and the results of its energetic manifestations 
in favor of pharmaceutical reform have been greatly pro- 
portioned to the unanimity of sentiment, and combination 
of will, exhibited by the acting party. 
In contemplating the position of the chemists and drug- 
gists of England, prior to 1841, we cannot but be struck, 
with the entire want of any generally understood bond of 
interest, except that instinctive sense of self-preservation 
which had from time to time called them together, to 
oppose, as best they could, the over weening arrogance and 
selfishness of the apothecaries in trenching on their rights. 
They had no general principles of action, the pharmaco- 
poeia was their only pharmaceutical authority, except the 
comments upon it by writers on the materia medica; for the 
rest; each establishment had its own private formulae, its 
own methods of manipulation, and the precincts of the 
laboratory were guarded with a jealous care, proportioned 
to the slight confidential intercourse that existed amongst 
the members of the profession. 
In England the rights and immunities of professional 
bodies are based on a stronger law power than with us. 
The grants of Parliament are readily carried into effect, to 
the utmost extent when the prosecuting party desires it. 
Besides, long established usage has given the different 
branches of the medical corps, " the right of way," as it were, 
with the public. The physician expects and receives his 
guinea fee when called in, because it is universally under- 
stood in the community that it is the price of his service, 
and those who send for him prepare for this consequence. 
This high charge in a society that includes so vast a pre- 
ponderance of the poorer classes, has led to the immense 
