400       ACT  OF  PARLIAMENT  RELATIVE  TO  PHARMACY,  ETC. 
to  the  seller,  and  on  every  sale  of  any  such  article,  the  seller 
shall,  before  delivery,  make  or  cause  to  be  made  an  entry  in  a 
book  to  be  kept  for  that  purpose,  stating  the  name  and  address 
of  the  purchaser,  name  and  quantity  of  the  article  sold,  and  the 
purpose  for  which  it  is  stated  by  the  purchaser  to  be  required, 
to  which  entry  the  signature  of  the  purchaser  and  of  the  person, 
if  any,  who  introduced  him  shall  be  affixed,  any  person  or  per- 
sons selling  poison  otherwise  than  is  herein  provided,  shall,  upon 
a  summary  conviction  before  two  justices  of  the  peace  in  Eng- 
land, or  the  sheriff  in  Scotland,  be  liable  to  a  penalty  not 
exceeding  five  pounds  for  the  first  offence,  and  ten  pounds  for 
the  second  or  any  subsequent  offence."  A  reservation  is  made 
in  reference  to  poisons  exported  wholesale,  and  to  poisons  in 
medicines  dispensed,  by  apothecaries  and  others  legally  qualified, 
in  prescriptions,  which  sales,  however,  are  required  to  be  regis- 
tered. 
The  remaining  clauses,  from  18th  to  28th  inclusive,  refer  to 
the  new  relationship  introduced  by  the  Act,  between  the  Pharm- 
aceutical Society  and  Chemists  and  Druggists,  and  defines  to 
what  extent  the  latter  can  partake  of  and  enter  on  the  privileges 
of  that  Society.  The  Act  unfortunately  does  not  exempt  th  e 
chemist  and  druggist  from  jury  service,  as  it  does  the  pharma- 
ceutical chemist. 
It  should  have  been  remarked  that  the  sale  of  poisons 
in  part  2d  of  schedule  A  are  only  required  to  be  duly 
labelled  and  sold  only  by  qualified  persons.  On  the  whole,  we 
think  this  Act  is  an  advance  in  the  right  direction  ;  it  opens  the 
way  to  the  permanent  union  of  all  the  pharmaceutists  of  Eng- 
land and  Scotland,  removes  the  sale  of  poisons  from  grocers 
and  other  dealers,  not  registered  as  druggists,  etc.,  and  will  re- 
quire an  examination  of  the  next  generation  of  chemists  and 
druggists  that  will  sift  out  the  unqualified.  The  inconveniences 
of  the  sale  of  poison  law  will  be  great  and  annoying  in  a  country 
where  poisons  like  bread  could  be  had  everywhere,  but  they  will, 
if  carried  out,  accomplish  to  a  large  extent  what  is  aimed  at. 
The  points  in  the  Act  which  in  our  view  are  most  satisfactory, 
are  the  union  of  all  Pharmaceutists,  and  the  very  decided  recog- 
nition of  and  confidence  in  the  council  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  as  the  agent  for  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the  bill, 
especially  in  reference  to  poisons. 
