Am.  Jour.  Phabm.  ) 
Sept  1, 1871.:  j 
Editorial, 
429 
of  which  offers  opportunities  for  sophistication  or  deception,  are  frequently 
sent  here,  often  done  up  in  packages  without  any  clue  as  to  the  maker's  name, 
and  consigned  to  parties  not  in  the  drug  business.  Such  circumstances  in 
themselves  create  suspicion,  and  if  it  is  remembered  that  in  this  country  we 
have  ample  facilities  for  powdering  drugs,  equal  to  those  of  European  coun- 
tries, it  must  certainly  be  conceded  that  there  exists  no  necessity  for  importing 
drugs  in  a  pulverized  condition. 
An  attempt  recently  made  to  import  a  quantity  of  powdered  drugs,  evidently 
sophisticated,  offered  a  good  opportunity  to  bring  this  important  subject  to  the 
notice  of  the  Treasury,  the  movement  being  aided  by  a  number  of  prominent 
importers,  druggists,  pharmacists  and  physicians.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
Treasury  regulations  will  be  so  altered  as  to  exclude  all  powdered  drugs,  unless 
they  be  of  such  a  nature  that  their  quality  can  be  easily  determined. 
Opposition  to  the  New  York  Examining  Law. — In  a  former  issue  we  have 
freely  criticised  this  law,  and  stated  our  objections  to  it.  Up  to  the  present 
time  we  have  seen  no  reason  to  alter  our  opinion,  which,  on  the  contrary,  has 
been  confirmed  by  all  the  new  developments,  not  the  least  of  which  is  the  table 
of  examining  fees,  showing  that  the  main  object  of  the  law  is  not  solely  the 
public  welfare ;  in  fact,  it  has  been  openly  charged  that  the  bill  was  passed  for 
the  purpose  of  procuring  comfortable  berths  to  a  select  few.  If  the  father  of 
the  law,  Mr.  Irving,  is  really  the  politician  and  prize-fighter  which  he  is  depicted 
to  be  in  the  newspapers,  his  opposition  to  the  bill  offered  by  the  New  York 
College  of  Pharmacy  is  readily  explained. 
With  the  unreasonable  features  of  the  law,  and  the  extravagant  charges 
under  its  cover,  it  could  not  be  otherwise  ;  but  regarded  as  a  new  chapter  in 
black  mail,  and  the  opposition  to  it  amongst  the  New  York  pharmacists  is 
easily  explained.  This  opposition  grew  to  such  an  intensity  that  the  Commis- 
sioners found  it  necessary  to  defend  their  action  in  the  public  press  ;  but  their 
effort  does  not  appear  to  have  convinced  any  one  of  the  justness  of  such  a  law, 
the  propriety  of  appointing  a  pharmaceutical  board  in  such  a  manner,  their 
right  of  disregarding  all  collegiate  evidences  of  proficiency,  or  of  the  propriety 
to  extort  such  fees. 
Undoubtedly  there  are  some  arraigned  in  opposition  to  this  law  mainly  in 
consequence  of  the  fear  that  on  examination  they  might  be  found  wanting,  but 
the  best  pharmacists  of  New  York  are  endeavoring  to  contest  it.  They  have 
formed  an  Apothecaries'  Union,  into  which  educated  pharmacists  only  are  ad- 
mitted, and  whose  ultimate  object  appears  to  be  to  displace  the  present  objec- 
tionable law  by  one  containing  the  main  features  of  the  one  which  is  in  success- 
ful operation  in  Baltimore,  coupled,  perhaps,  with  some  provisions  of  the  Rhode 
Island  law.  They  have  our  best  wishes  for  their  ultimate  and  complete  suc- 
cess. 
The  Keeping  and  Dispensing  of  Poisons  in  Great  Britain. — For  some 
months  past,  our  pharmaceutical  brethern  in  Great  Britian  have  been  agitated 
on  the  above  subject.  The  council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  had  under 
consideration  certain  regulations,  which,  under  the  Pharmacy  Act  of  1868, 
