EDITORIAL. 
381 
that  of  common  retailers  of  drink  ;  that  as  a  profession,  we  ask  only  to  be 
protected  as  legitimate  pharmaceutists  in  the  transaction  of  our  necessary 
and  appropriate  business  ;  that  under  the  present  statutes  it  is  impossi- 
ble for  us  to  conduct  our  business  and  perform  our  duties  to  the  medical 
profession  and  the  sick. 
Now,  therefore,  in  view  of  the  above  statement  of  facts,  we  most  re- 
spectfully petition  your  Honorable  bodies  to  alter  the  present  law  in  such 
a  way  that  apothecaries  may  be  able  to  conduct  their  business  in  a  legal 
manner. 
At  the  special  hearing  of  the  witnesses  of  the  College  before  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  Legislature,  Mr.  Colcord  presented  a  memorial,  setting  forth 
with  great  force  "  the  apothecaries'  views  of  this  great  question  of  the  use 
and  sale  of  wines  and  spirits  for  medicinal,  chemical,  mechanical  and 
manufacturing  purposes/'  and  containing  the  substance  of  the  testimony 
to  be  given  by  them. 
We  regret  that  our  limited  space  will  not  permit  us  to  give  even  an  out- 
line of  this  memorial,  or  the  able  argument  of  Mr.  Colcord,  nor  of  the  tes- 
timony produced  ;  we  must  content  ourselves  with  extracting  from  the 
evidence  a  few  cases,  showing  to  what  injustice  our  brethren  in  Massa- 
chusetts were  subjected  through  a  spirit  of  persecution,  under  the  pro- 
hibitory law  of  that  State: 
Hon.  John  A.  Andrew  stated  that  Mr.  Royal  Whiton,  of  Hingham,  an 
apothecary  and  a  strong  temperance  man,  had  been  prosecuted  and  fined 
for  selling  spirits  of  camphor. 
Mr.  Wm.  T.  Rand,  of  Dedham,  was  prosecuted  and  fined  for  selling 
liquor  on  the  prescription  of  a  physician,  to  deliver  which  he  had  got  out 
of  bed  at  midnight;  and  he  relinquished  the  business  so  as  not  to  violate 
the  laws  of  the  Commonwealth. 
Charles  0.  Bixby,  an  apothecary  in  North  Bridgewater  for  the  past 
fifteen  years,  said  that  he  did  not  think  he  could  do  justice  to  his  business 
and  to  the  community  without  selliug  wines  and  spirits.  He  had  sold 
California  wines,  and  after  a  year  or  two  he  was  notified  by  the  officers  to 
discontinue  their  sale,  which  he  did.  Soon  after  he  was  warned  to  appear' 
before  a  Justice  for  selling  liquor  in  violation  of  law,  and  one  man  testi- 
fied to  having  bought  a  bottle  of  whiskey  from  him  for  medicinal  purpo- 
ses, nearly  a  year  ago,  and  he  had  heard  lately  that  it  had  not  been  half 
used  up  ;  and  another  man  came  to  him,  after  having  been  to  the  town 
agent  for  some  wine  ordered  by  a  physician,  and,  being  unable  to  obtain 
it  from  the  agent,  he  sold  it  to  him  ;  and  another  testified  to  having 
bought  alcohol  to  burn  in  a  lamp — and  upon  this  testimony  he  was  con- 
victed and  fined  fifty  dollars  and  costs  as  a  "  common  seller."  The  wine 
which  he  sold  was  for  a.  lady  dangerously  sick,  and  who  died  two  days 
after. 
We  conclude  our  report  on  this  subject — at  once  interesting  and  of 
vital  importance — with  Mr.  Colcord's  eloquent  remarks,  which  apply  with 
equal  force  to  the  United  States  Internal  Revenue  Law,  by  virtue  of  which 
pharmacists  are  allowed  to  sell  fermented  liquors  only  on  physicians'  pre- 
scriptions : — "If  I  know  the  sentiments  of  our  profession,  all  reliable  pharma- 
ceutists will  place  themselves  unmistakably  upon  the  side  of  law  and  order, 
whatever  may  be  the  consequences  to  the  medical  profession  and  the  commu- 
nity," M. 
