444 
Editorial. 
(  A.M.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\     Sept,  1, 1874. 
appointed  a  committee  to  represent  us  in  spirit  at  the  unveiling  of  Priestley's 
statue." 
A  report  of  the  Finance  Committee  and  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  of 
Five  consisting  of  Profs.  Bolton,  Smith,  Silliman,  Horsford  and  Hunt,  to  co- 
operate with  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science  in 
•establishing  the  chemical  section  on  a  firmer  basis,  closed  the  labors  of  the 
second  session. 
Prof.  Jos.  Henry,  of  Washington,  had  consented  to  deliver  an  address  at 
Priestley's  grave;  but,  he  being  unable  to  attend,  Prof.  H.  Coppee,  of  Beth- 
lehem, Pa.,  stepped  into  his  place,  and  at  6^  P.  M.,  in  the  presence  of  a  large 
assemblage,  delivered  an  eloquent  discourse  upon  the  aims  and  objects  of  the 
life  of  him  whose  mortal  remains  rested  near,  on  the  hillside  overlooking  a 
beautiful  panorama  of  the  narrow  valley  of  the  Susquehanna. 
At  8  o'clock  in  the  evening,  a  review  of  the  century's  progress  was  given  by 
Prof.  Smith  ;  and  on  "  Oxygen  Day,"  August  1st,  an  essay  on  American  Con- 
tributions to  Chemistry,  by  Prof.  Silliman.  Both  addresses  were  full  of  interest, 
but  the  design  was  rather  on  too  extensive  a  basis,  and  many  important  points 
-could,  therefore,  receive  but  a  passing  notice,  or  had  to  be  omitted  altogether. 
After  a  report  of  the  Finance  Committee,  the  presentation  of  the  autographs 
of  the  visitors  to  the  descendants  of  Jos.  Priestley,  and  the  adoption  of  reso- 
lutions of  thanks  to  the  citizens  of  Northumberland,  a  motion  to  adjourn  was 
unanimously  amended  "to  meet  Aug.  1,  1974,"  and  an  invitation  extended  to 
all  present  to  be  in  attendance. 
It  deserves  to  be  mentioned  that  the  chairman  of  the  Local  Committee  was 
Joseph  Priestley,  M.  D.,  a  great-grandson  of  the  philosopher,  the  centen- 
nial anniversary  of  whose  important  discovery  was  thus  celebrated. 
The  Georgia  Examining  Board  to  regulate  the  licensing  of  physicians  and 
druggists,  which  has  been  in  existence  since  1824,  hald  a  meeting  at  Atlanta, 
July  14,  and  registered  twenty  three  persons  as  druggists  and  apothecaries  and 
one  only  as  a  pharmacist.  We  obtain  this  information  from  the  Southern  Medical 
Record  for  July,  where,  however,  we  find  no  explanation  of  the  legal  standing 
of  the  two  classes  mentioned.  Mr  J.  M.  Clark,  of  Milledgeville,  has  been  the 
pharmaceutical  member  of  this  State  Board  for  a  number  of  years  past. 
The  Percentage  Business,  by  which  a  physician  obtains  a  certain  propor- 
tion of  the  charges  for  prescriptions,  has  been  repeatedly  denounced  as  a 
species  of  dishonesty,  and  as  a  disgrace  to  the  medical  and  pharmaceutical 
professions.  It  is  not  often  that  we  find  it  alluded  to  in  medical  journals,  and, 
therefore,  we  insert  here  with  pleasure  a  portion  of  the  timely  remarks  of  the 
Medical  and  Surgical  Reporter,  in  its  issue  of  August  8th: 
"  Some  definite  and  positive  action  ought  to  be  taken  by  the  medical  societies 
of  this  country  to  discountenance  and  discourage  the  custom  of  receiving 
percentages  from  druggists  on  prescriptions  sent  them.  Such  action  '  is  not 
and  cannot  come  to  good.'  It  is  a  hardship  to  the  druggist,  because  such 
percentages,  in  the  nature  of  a  commission  on  sales,  do  not  enter  into  the 
