EDITORIAL. 
91 
12  foreigners,  who  represented  the  United  States,  Spain,  Turkey,  Eng- 
land, Prussia,  Switzerland  and  Belgium.  The  officers  of  the  "  Societe  de 
Prevoyance  "  of  the  pharmaciens,  of  the  department  of  the  Seine,  of 
which  M.  Amedee  Yee  is  President,  formed  the  temporary  organization. 
After  much  discussion  and  two  ballots  M.  Fumouze  was  declared  Presi- 
dent;  next,  six  Vice-Presidents  and  six  Secretaries  were  elected;  and, 
at  the  suggestion  of  M.  Vee,  afterwards,  nine  "'Assessors"  were  elected 
from  among  the  foreign  members,  including  Dr.  Jenkins,  of  Louisville, 
(who  was  in  attendance),  as  representing  the  United  States. 
The  subsequent  sessions  were  occupied  in  discussing  the  reports  on  the 
questions  of  the  day,  which  had  been  prepared  beforehand.  The  first 
was,  ';  Is  the  legislation  which  regulates  the  exercise  of  Pharmacy  in 
France  in  harmony  with  the  customs,  the  economical  institutions  of  the 
country,  and  the  exigencies  of  the  Profession?"  The  resolution  of  the 
reporters  in  reply  was  that  "The  General  Congress  of  French  and  For- 
eign Pharmaciens  think  that  the  laws  and  ordinances  which  govern  Phar- 
macy in  France  ought  to  be  revised  in  the  sense  of  absolute  liberty, 
without  any  restrictions,  under  the  guarantee  of  the  diploma  and  the  civil 
responsibility  of  the  pharmacien." 
We  have  not  space  now  to  expose  the  views  which  obtained  in  this 
large  and  democratic  body  of  pharmaciens,  but  will  merely  state  that  in 
the  main  they  represent  the  liberal  views  of  the  "  Societe  de  Prevoyance" 
of  Paris,  as  regards  the  freedom  of  Pharmacy  from  undue  legal  restraint 
and  interference,  believing  that  education,  represented  by  the  diploma 
and  the  common  law,  is  sufficient  to  regulate  Pharmacy,  and  guarantee 
the  protection  of  the  public.  In  this  they  are  diametrically  opposed  to 
the  Society  of  Pharmacy,  and  the  other  two  Congresses,  whose  action 
aims  to  make  Pharmacy  as  much  a  profession  as  medicine,  to  abolish  all 
specialties,  to  prevent  all  advertisements  of  medicines,  and  some  of  the 
members  go  so  far  as  to  advocate  no  public  display — keeping  shop  in  a 
back  room  or  in  the  second  story,  with  the  simple  sign  on  the  door  of 
"  A  B,  Pharmacien."  All  this  does  very  well  for  old-established  houses, 
but  parallel  with  it  must  go  gray-haired  clerks,  too  poor  to  marry  and 
hopeless  of  advancement,  the  business  conducted  by  proxies,  and,  without 
the  stimulus  of  competition,  relapsing  into  a  vegetative,  red-tape,  almost 
fossilized  condition. 
Proceedings  of  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference,    Dundee  Meet- 
ing, 1867;  pp.  48,  octavo. 
We  are  in  receipt  of  this  volume  by  mail,  from  the  Secretary,  Dr. 
Attfield.  The  English  custom  of  publishing  the  proceedings  in  advance 
of  the  official  volume  enabled  us  to  print  a  selection  from  the  articles  in 
November  and  several  others  in  this  number;  and  our  friend  Ebert's  let- 
ter enlightened  our  readers  in  regard  to  the  transactions  at  Dundee. 
The  amount  of  matter  produced  is  less  this  year  than  last,  a  result  prob- 
