488 
MINUTES  OF  THE 
trade  and  of  the  medical  profession,  backed  by  public  opinion.  The  pro- 
posed committee  must  try  to  secure  a  more  rigid  enforcement  of  the  law 
of  1848  to  prevent  the  importation  of  bad  and  worthless  drugs,  being  a 
fundamental  principle  of  this  organization,  as  enunciated  iu  Section  1, 
Article  1st  of  our  Constitution.  I  am  more  convinced  than  ever  of  the 
great  utility  of  that  law,  and  many  facts  to  the  support  of  that  assertion 
will  be  brought  to  your  notice.  It  is  the  only  law  that  the  Government 
has  ever  vouchsafed  us.  European  nations  may  do  without  it,  as  they 
rely  on  stringent  internal  police  regulations  not  compatible  with  our  in- 
stitutions, and  England  being  the  market  of  the  world,  has  the  advantage 
of  having  the  first  pick.  It  is  for  us  a  necessary  protection,  and  it  would 
be  highly  proper  that  the  members  of  our  Association  who  reside  in  dis- 
tricts where  there  are  drug  examiners,  should  see  that  the  duties  of  the 
office  are  properly  discharged,  and  report  thereon  to  the  tariff  committee. 
This  committee  should  urge  that  the  salary  be  increased  sufficiently  to 
command  all  the  qualifications  required  for  so  responsible  a  position. 
The  importation  of  powdered  drugs,  at  least  in  wholesale  quantities, 
should  be  prohibited.  Worthless  drugs  rejected  by  the  examiner  are 
said  to  have  been  powdered  on  their  return  to  Europe,  reshipped  to  this 
country,  consigned  to  a  different  party  to  avoid  suspicion,  and  thus  the 
law  has  been  evaded.  
The  report  of  the  delegation  to  the  International  Pharmaceutical  Con- 
gress in  Paris  was  published  in  last  year's  Proceedings.  It  was  the  only 
delegation  that  voted  for  the  free  practice  of  pharmacy,  with  the  guarantee 
of  a  diploma  and  personal  responsibility.  Such  regulations  were  not 
sufficiently  stringent  to  meet  the  views  of  our  European  brethren.  They 
considered  certain  regulations  necessary,  to  which  our  delegation  could 
not  reconcile  their  ideas.  There  is  little  in  common  to  stand  on,  yet  it 
would  be  proper  that  a  delegation  be  appointed  to  attend  the  next  Con- 
gress, wherever  it  shall  be  convened.  There  is  a  growing  tendency  in 
England  to  adopt  reasonable  laws,  and  in  Germany  there  exists  a  desire 
for  the  partial  abolition  of  their  existing  protective  and  police  regula- 
tions. 
[The  address  favors  the  idea  of  a  universal  Pharmacopoeia  within  cer- 
tain limits,  as  a  means  of  giving  uniformity  of  strength  throughout  the 
civilized  world  to  such  preparations  as  the  tinctures  of  aconite  and  nux 
vomica,  wine  of  colchicum,  etc.,  but  thinks  each  nation  would  need  a  spe- 
cial code  besides.] 
There  is  also  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference,  which  has  held 
its  fifth  annual  meeting ;  and  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great 
Britain,  that  is  entrusted  with  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  relating  to  the 
practice  of  pharmacy;  with  which  we  should  continue  to  cultivate  inti- 
mate relations,  as  they  challenge  our  sympathies  by  the  great  similarity 
of  their  organization  and  objects  with  our  own  ;  and  the  experiences  and 
sympathies  of  co-workers  must  always  be  desirable.  The  success  they 
have  already  met  with  should  be  the  subject  of  congratulation. 
