'^"'■Srim^''"  }    British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  533 
Associations  read,  the  President  called  upon  Mr.  Naylor,  one  of  the  Honorary 
Secretaries,  for  the  report  of  the  Executive  Committee, 
If  it  be  true  that  a  social  body  is  happy  in  proportion  as  it  remains  without 
a  history,  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference  might  be  considered  thrice 
blessed,  since  its  history,  as  recorded  in  the  annual  reports,  has  been  usually  of 
the  briefest  and  most  uneventful  nature.  From  this  rule  the  report  presented  by 
the  Executive  Committee  to  the  Conference  showed  no  variation.  The  only 
subject  of  an  "  exceptional "  character  reported  upon  was  a  proposition  that 
members  attending  the  Conference  should  be  furnished  with  copies  of  the  pa- 
pers to  be  read,  which  the  Executive  has  decided  to  be  impracticable,  princi- 
pally, as  it  appears,  for  financial  reasons.  Other  subjects  referred  to  in  the  report 
are  certain  changes  of  colonial  secretaries,  the  issue  of  a  new  edition  of  the 
Unotficial  Formulary,  and  grants  in  aid  of  research.  In  connection  with  the 
gift  of  books  provided  by  the  Bell  and  Hills  Fund  a  difficulty  has  arisen  simi- 
lar to  that  which  occurred  at  Southport,  consequent  upon  there  being  no  local 
pharmaceutical  association  in  existence  in  Bath  to  receive  the  books.  They 
have  therefore  been  presented  to  the  Bath  Koyal  Literary  and  Scientific  Soci- 
ety, subject  to  the  condition  that  they  shall  at  all  reasonable  times  be  accessi- 
ble to  resident  pharmacists. 
It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  gather  from  the  Financial  Statement  the  exact 
relative  financial  position  of  the  Conference  as  compared  with  last  year;  but 
taking  into  account  only  the  money  assets  and  liabilities,  and  ignoring  any  in- 
crease in  the  stock  that  may  have  accrued,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  decrease 
on  the  credit  side  of  about  £27.  This  would  be  more  than  accounted  for  by 
the  falling  off  in  members' subscriptions  received,  from  £611  13s.  9c?.  to  £584 
13s.  6d.  On  the  other  hand  the  effect  of  this  falling  oflP  has  been  lessened  by  a 
reduction  in  the  cost  of  the  production  of  the  '  Year  Book,'  postage,  and  in  other 
items.  The  publication  of  the  Unofficial  Formulary  has  also  been  a  source  of 
profit  to  the  Conference.  But  it  is  evident  the  membership  is  now  hardly  large 
enough  to  provide  the  means  for  the  present  rate  of  expenditure,  and  it  be- 
hooves all  those  who  wish  to  maintain  the  Conference  in  a  vigorous  condition 
to  do  what  they  can  to  recover  the  ground  that  has  been  lost  during  the  last 
two  or  three  years  in  respect  to  its  numerical  strength.  The  adoption  of  the 
Report  of  the  Executive  Committee  and  of  the  Financial  Statement  was  moved 
by  the  President,  seconded  by  Mr.  G.  S.  Taylor,  and  carried  unanimously. 
The  President  then  proceeded  to  deliver  w^hat  proved  to  be  a  very  long,  but 
very  interesting  address.  He  commenced  by  humorously  describing  the 
meeting  as  the  celebration  of ''the  silver  wedding  of  pharmacy  and  good  fellow- 
ship," and  after  an  appropriate  eulogium  of  the  late  Henry  Deane.  the  first 
President  of  the  Conference,  he  referred  briefly  to  the  growth  of  the  Conference 
and  some  other  changes  during  the  twenty-five  years  that  have  passed  since  its 
formation.  The  average  annual  death-rate,  he  said,  had  fallen  considerably,  a 
fact  which  pharmacists  as  scientific  men  could  understand  even  if  the  credit  for 
it  was  mainly  due  to  others.  But  in  the  lightening  of  the  "burden  of  pain  ' 
which  had  taken  place  during  the  same  time,  it  was  claimed  that  pharmacists 
have  played  an  important,  if  sometimes  an  unrecognized  part.  The  speaker 
then  proceeded  to  consider  the  relation  of  pharmacy  to  the  pharmacist  who 
has  adopted  the  calling  as  a  me  sns  of  living.  It  was  pointed  out  that  formerly 
pharmacy  was  combined  with  a  trade  in  the  preparation  and  supply  of  a  large 
