■588 
Editorials. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I      Nov.,  1883. 
two  and  a  half  ounces.  The  makers  stated  that  it  was  owing  to  a  loss  of 
water,  and  that  the  packages  were  of  proper  weight  when  first  put  up. 
Jenning's  magnesia  had  been  generally  found  to  be  of  full  weight. 
There  being  no  further  business,  the  meeting,  on  motion,  was  adjourned. 
T.  S.  Weigand. 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
The  Future  Supply  of  Drugs  to  the  Public  is  the  subject  of  the 
address  which  was  delivered  before  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference 
by  the  retiring  President,  Professor  Attfleld,  and  which  has  also  a  signifi- 
cant bearing  upon  pharmaceutical  afTairs  in  this  country.  Professor  Att- 
field  shows  that  the  pharmacy  law  of  1868  is  being  openly  evaded  in  many 
parts  of  Great  Britain  by  unqualified  and  incompetent  persons,  and  that 
the  protection  of  the  public  in  obtaining  trustworthy  medicines  in  cases  of 
need  is  thereby  [rendered  nugatory  in  many  districts.  Grocers,  general 
shopkeepers,  and  others  sell  not  only  domestic  drugs,  but  likewis*e  more  or 
less  potent  ones,  including  poisons,  and  not  unfrequently  those  which  by 
law  have  been  entrusted  to  the  custody  of  registered  chemists  and  drug" 
gists.  These  dealers  sell  drugs  like  other  merchandise  with  a  small  profit, 
such  as  is  customary  in  common  trade,  or  at  a  nominal  profit,  as  decoys  for 
the  pretended  low  i^rice  of  other  wares.  The  qualified  pharmacist  is  cer- 
tainly entitled,  in  all  fairness,  to  a  better  compensation,  for  he  has  spent 
time  and  money  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  the  knowledge  and  skill 
necessary  for  carrying  on  such  a  responsible  business,  and  which  are  con- 
tinually required  for  determining  quality,  for  the  making  of  preparations, 
and  for  guarding  against  accidents  and  mistakes.  Whether  or  not  such 
compensation  be  charged  as  a  "fee"  appears  to  us  quite  immaterial,  as 
long  as  it  is  understood  that  the  charge  is  made  not  only  for  the  actual 
value  of  the  article,  but  also  for  the  "brainwork"  of  the  dispenser.  We 
do  not  know  whether  dentists  get  a  fee  as  a  remuneration  for  supplying  a 
set  of  teeth,  but  it  is  well  understood  that  this  sum  represents  not  merely 
the  value  of  the  material. 
The  surreptitious  invading  of  the  pharmacist's  domain  by  mere  vendors 
is  seriously  felt  in  many  localities,  and  has  not  only  materially  affected  the 
market  value  of  many  business  stands,  but  is  also  manifested  in  this,  that 
while  the  population  of  Great  Britain  has  increased  by  nearly  11  per  cent, 
within  ten  years,  in  the  same  time  the  number  of  registered  chemists  has 
increased  only  two  per  cent.,  and  since  chemists  are  on  the  register  who  do 
not  actually  practise  pharmacy,  the  number  of  practising  pharmacists  has 
probably  decreased.  The  income  from  pharmaceutical  work  has  largely 
decreased,  and  the  profit,  actual  and  relative,  has  decreased.  Obviously 
the  supply  of  medicines  from  co-operative  stores  and  the  simplification  .of 
physicians'  prescriptions  come  in  for  a  considerable  share  of  such  a  result, 
as  also  the  dispensaries,  where  advice  and  medicines  are  furnished  gratui- 
tously to  large  numbers  of  persons  who  can  well  afford  to  pay.  Physicians 
by  recommending  proprietary  preparations,  as  they  not  unfrequently  do, 
