Am.  Jour,  Pharm.  \ 
Nov.,  1883.  J 
Editorials. 
58^ 
instruct  the  public  in  prescribing  for  themselves  ;  and  self-dosing  is  fostered 
by  the  advertisers  of  secret  remedies.  "  Another  minor  cause  of  the  depres- 
sion in  pharmacy,"  says  Prof.  Attfleld,  "is  found  in  the  fact  that  many 
chemists  and  druggists  have  thoughtlessly  encouraged  the  purchase 
w^holesale  and  distribution  retail  of  what  are  termed  packed  or  packeted 
goods,  be  they  patent  medicines,  proprietary  preparations,  simple  or  com- 
pound drugs,  coated  pills,  or  what  not,  instead  of  themselves  preparing 
such  articles.  .  .  .  Worse  still,  their  action,  or  rather  inaction,  tends  to 
deprive  the  public  of  that  safeguard  against  the  supply  of  bad  drugs  which 
the  pharmacy  acts  were  designed  to  afford." 
We  have  not  the  space  to  refer  to  other  points  discussed  by  Professor  Att- 
field,  but  the  foregoing  is  a  brief  resimie  of  the  important  facts  and  causes, 
some  of  which  are  due  to  the  Pharmacy  Act  of  Great  Britain,  which 
restricts  the  sale  of  only  a  limited  number  of  poisons  to  properly  qualified 
pharmacists,  but  leaves  the  sale  of  non-scheduled  poisons  and  other  potent 
medicines  open  to  all.  The  legal  restriction  of  the  title  of  "chemist  and 
druggist"  to  those  qualified  under  the  act,  has  not  prevented  the  unedu- 
cated vendors  from  palming  themselves  off  as  such.  It  is  argued  that 
the  remedy  lies  in  an  extension  of  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  Pharmacy 
Act,  that  the  list  deemed  poisons  should  be  considerably  extended,  saving 
all  rightful  interests  of  persons  who  would  be  unfairly  prejudiced,  and 
that  the  retail  sale  in  open  shop  of  most  of  the  simple  and  compound 
medicines  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  should  be  carried  on  only  by  qualified 
pharmacists. 
The  danger  to  which  the  public  is  exposed  is  not  only  felt  in  Great 
Britain,  the  same  causes  nearly  have  made  serious  inroads  upon  pharm- 
acy in  the  western  hemisphere,  indeed,  some  of  them  are  more  or  less  at 
work  in  the  diflferent  countries  of  Continental  Europe.  The  able  address 
of  Professor  Attfield  is  therefore  not  merely  of  local  importance,  but 
deserves  the  careful  attention  of  all  who  are  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
pharmacy  and  who  have  at  heart  the  best  interests  of  the  public  in 
obtaining,  when  needed,  a  supply  of  trustworthy  medicines. 
The  National  Retail  Druggists  Association  was  organized  at 
Washington,  D.  C,  on  Monday,  September  10.  Mr.  T.  Roberts  Baker,  of 
Richmond,  Va.,  acting  as  temporary  president.  The  object  of  the  associa- 
tion is  "  to  unite  all  retail  druggists  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  protection 
in  their  business  interests  from  evils  known  to  exist,  and  for  mutual  sup- 
port and  co-operation."  The  officers  elected  are  Henry  Canning,  Boston, 
President;  N.  H.  Jennings,  Baltimore,  T.  R.  Baker,  Richmond,  Va.,  and 
J.  B.  Bond,  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  Vice-presidents;  J.  W.  Colcord,  Lynn, 
Mass.,  Secretary,  and  J.  D,  Wells,  Cincinnati,  Treasurer.  An  Executive 
Committee  of  fifteen  was  also  elected,  to  which  the  President  and  Secretary 
were  added  as  members  ex  officio.  The  principal  discussion  turned  about 
the  trade  in  proprietary  articles  and  its  disruption  in  consequence  of  com- 
petition and  cutting  of  prices  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  Two  plans  for 
the  remedy  of  this  evil  were  freely  discussed,  known  as  the  rebate  plan 
and  coupon  plan,  the  former  of  which  seemed  to  have  the  sanction  of 
the  large  majority  of  those  present  as  most  likely  to  remedy  the  evil 
