ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  PHARMACY. 
435 
sale  of  drugs,  however  (like  the  king)  never  dies,  understanding 
the  word  "  drugs  "  in  its  broadest  and  most  comprehensive 
sense.  What  is  there  short  of  Prussic  Acid  which  the  English 
Pharmaceutist  will  not  sell  ?  What  is  there  short  of  Strychnine 
which  his  customer  cannot  buy  ?  With  respect  to  such  transac- 
tions, the  law  in  France  hangs  over  the  Pharmacien  like  the 
sword  of  Damocles,  and,  however  often  he  may  escape  the  penalty, 
he  is  conscious  of  treading  on  forbidden  ground,  and  fears  lest 
at  any  moment  he  should  be  detected.  Yet,  I  venture  to  assert, 
that  there  is  not  six  shops  in  London  where  medical  advice  on 
ordinary  casual  maladies  is  not  afforded,  and  that  there  are  very 
few  remedies,  not  of  an  absolutely  dangerous  character,  that 
would  be  denied  to  a  retail  customer.  The  rule  in  such  cases  is 
not  definite,  some  houses  are  infinitely  more  strict  than  others, 
but  the  main  fact  is  undeniable,  that  both  advice  and  remedies 
are  given  here  under  circumstances  that  would  not  be  justified 
in  France.  Well  do  I  recollect  a  long  and  fruitless  chase  after 
one  drachm  of  Iodide  of  Potassium.  It  was  my  first  and  last 
knight-errantry.  It  would  seem,  from  the  following  instance, 
that  French  law  is  as  strict  as  ever. 
Sale  of  Chloroform. 
On  the  9th  of  August,  1857,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evenings 
the  Commissioner  of  Police,  belonging  to  the  section  of  the 
Champs  Elyse'es,  received  notice  that  a  person  unknown  had  just: 
attempted  suicide  in  a  hotel. 
The  Commissioner  of  Police  went  there,  and  saw  in  a  room  a 
man  who  appeared  to  be  about  forty,  lying  on  a  bed  in  a  very 
dangerous  state.  A  medical  man  who  had  just  attended,  pre- 
pared to  take  him  to  the  hospital.  The  patient  was  scarcely 
put  in  a  cab  before  he  expired.  The  unhappy  man,  not  being 
able  to  give  an  explanation  with  regard  to  himself,  and  having 
no  papers  on  him  by  which  he  could  be  recognized,  was  carried 
to  the  Morgue.  An  inquiry  was  commenced,  of  which  these  are 
the  particulars.  On  the  day  the  suicide  was  attempted,  the  in- 
dividual in  question  presented  himself  at  the  hotel,  and  asked 
for  a  room,  in  which  he  shut  himself  up.  Some  hours  after, 
the  waiter,  who  was  serving  in  an  adjoining  room,  heard  groans, 
and  informed  his  master,  who  hastened  up-stairs  and  knocked 
at  the  door  from  whence  the  sounds  proceeded.    It  was  then 
