376  Compounding  and  Dispensing.        { A^uJg°ust' i909rm' 
conspicuous.  Section  10  of  the  Act  of  1887  related  to  the  first  of 
these  regulations.  A  poison  was  defined  to  be  any  drug,  chemical, 
or  preparation  which,  according  to  standard  works  on  medicine  or 
materia  medica,  is  liable  to  be  destructive  to  adult  human  life  in 
quantities  of  60  grains  or  less.  It  was  further  provided  "that  no 
person  shall  retail  any  poisons  without  affixing  a  label  printed  or 
plainly  written  containing  the  name  of  the  article,  the  word  poison, 
and  the  name  and  place  of  business  of  the  seller.  Neither  shall  he 
deliver  poison  to  any  person  without  satisfying  himself  that  such 
poison  is  to  be  used  for  legitimate  purposes." 
In  addition  to  the  above  it  is  the  further  duty  of  any  one  selling 
or  dispensing  poisons  which  are  known  to  be  destructive  to  adult 
human  life  in  quantities  of  five  grains  or  less,  before  delivering 
them,  to  enter  in  a  book  kept  for  this  purpose  the  name  of  the  seller, 
the  name  and  residence  of  the  buyer,  the  name  of  the  article,  the 
quantity  sold  or  dispensed,  and  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  said  to 
be  intended,  which  book  of  registry  shall  be  preserved  for  at  least 
two  years  and  shall  at  all  times  be  open  to  the  inspection  of  the 
coroner  or  Courts  of  the  county  in  which  the  same  may  be  kept. 
Two  exceptions  are  noted  to  this  section  of  the  Act :  first,  as  to  the 
dispensing  of  physicians'  prescriptions  specifying  poisonous  articles ; 
second,  as  to  the  sale  to  agriculturists  of  such  articles  as  are  com- 
monly used  by  them  as  insecticides. 
The  regulation  of  the  quality  and  purity  of  drugs  was  referred 
to  in  Section  9  of  the  Act,  and  as  there  expressed  was  intended  to 
prevent  wilful  and  deliberate  falsification  or  adulteration  of  drugs, 
the  viewpoint  being  that  of  the  correction  of  the  pharmacist.  In 
1897  the  viewpoint  had  changed  and  in  the  enactment  of  that  year, 
of  May  25,  the  subject  is  viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the  public 
and  with  regard  to  their  safety  and  protection.  In  other  words,  the 
element  of  intent  on  the  part  of  the  pharmacist  is  eliminated  from 
the  question  and  a  fixed  standard  is  established  which  he  is  required 
to  follow  and  maintain. 
This  feature  of  the  law  has  recently  seen  the  greatest  develop- 
ment. Simultaneously  the  Legislature  passed  the  Dairy  and  Pure 
Food  Acts.  A  comparison  of  these  two  Acts  shows  a  remarkable 
similarity  and  speaks  eloquently  of  the  progress  of  the  day  toward 
the  highest  and  best  moral  and  scientific  principles. 
