HERBALISTS AND THE APOTHECARIES ACT.

HERBALISTS AND THE APOTHECARIES ACT.

AN IMPERIAL "BRlrISH PHARMACOPEIA." comforts, the "vicarious progreasion" on horseback or in and the facilities for exploring the attractive spot...

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AN IMPERIAL "BRlrISH PHARMACOPEIA."

comforts, the "vicarious progreasion" on horseback

or

in

and the facilities for

exploring the attractive spots within its circumference. In every one of these particulars the improvement has of late years been immense. Add to

palanquin,

this the good steamboat service and postal communication with the British Isles-"just near enough to escape anxiety, while distant enough to dodge worry"-and the attractions of Madeira for the invalid, or the healthy, while over-wrought, professional man, will be recognised as very On the other hand, we trust that the Portuguese Government and the local authorities will take note of, and carry out, the suggestions with regard to certain matters of sanitation and public health which were advanced in our articles. obvious.

Annotations. "

Ne quid nimis."

of that useful association-the Medical Defence Union-acting on behalf of the Apothecaries’ Society, was convicted in two One was a case of scarlet cases of acting as an apothecary. fever. He did not order the child to bed but allowed it to be dressed. Mr. Newton being ill he sent his assistant, whosaid there was nothing serious the matter with the child. The parents, becoming anxious, called in a medical man, and’ a message was sent to the herbalist requesting him not to call again. He sent in a bill for ;E15s. 6d., charges for eight visits at 2s. each, besides medicine. Dr. Showell Rogers of Bir-mingham represented the society, and quoted Mr. Justice Cresswell’s definition of an apothecary in the case of the Apothecaries’ Company v. Lotinga (1843) : "I apprehend that an apothecary is a person who professes to judge of internal deseases by their symptoms and applies himself to cure such diseases by medicines." Mr. Walter Beverley defended the’ herbalist, relying on an Act passed in 1542. The defendant claimed that he could visit as a herbalist under the Act of Henry VIII. He not only visited, but he notified the case. Looking over the defendant’s book, the judge found that his practice had been most general, including cases of typhoid fever and scarlet fever. Dr. Showell Rogers said that, however im-portant the case was for the defendant, it was also very important for the medical profession, for the public, and especially for the poor, who could not protect themselves. The jury, after a short retirement, found for the plaintiffs, and his Honour gave judgment for E20 and costs. In a second case-the society declining to withdraw it as Mr. Beverley wished-he accepted judgment without having the jury sworn, and his Honour gave judgment for .620 without costs. We congratulate the Apothecaries’ Society on a most wholesome use of their legal powers, and the Medical Defence Union on their efficient agency in this matter. It is monstrous. in these days of exacting medical education that herbalistsshould assume the airs and give the certificates of duly qualified medical men, and it is still more so when a man in Mr. Newton’s position gives the sanction of his example to such practices.

"BRITISH PHARMACOPŒIA." AN interesting paper on the above subject was lately read by Professor Attfield, F.R.S., before the Pharmaceutical Society. He was careful to observe that, although it was written entirely in his private capacity, it had been prepared with a due sense of the responsibility involved by his position It will as the appointed editor of the next Pharmacopoeia. be remembered that at recent meetings of the General Medical Council the question of extending the sphere of usefulness of the Pharmacopoeia has been discussed Profesor Attfield wishes to acquaint pharmacists and others in Great Britain, Ireland, the colonies, and India with the nature of some of the proposed alterations. To encourage them to work at pharmaceutical researches he showed how largely their labours had assisted the editors of former Pharmacopoeias, and, lastly, he invoked the aid of chemical, botanical, and pharmaceutical friends, both at home and abroad, in the arduous editorial labour connected with the proposed alteration of scope. It is scarcely necessary to summariseI here the history of past Pharmacopceias, or to indicate the very numerous instances in which the results of pharmaceutical research work have improved upon previous statements. The question for the future is the changes which are necessary to better adapt the Pharmacopoeia to Colonial requirements, or, in other words, to the requirements of all the more distant portions of the British Empire, and suggestions are accordingly invited from all parts, though, as in previous editions, such suggestions must remain subject absolutely to the controlling voice of the General Medical Council and the Pharmacopoeia Committee. Professor Attfield had much to say upon nomenclature, and we are glad to note that he is averse to mere pedantic alterations. He is, however, in favour of facilitating the employment of the metric decimal AN IMPERIAL

system, and he suggests that,

as a student’s handbook, the value might be increased by the inclusion of explanations of tests. To edit an Imperial Pharmacopoeia single-handed seems a task of great magnitude, but Professor Attfield has already shown in his reports to the General Medical Council that he possesses a keen appreciation of the progress of pharmaceutical study, and the frankness with which he invites cooperation will, we trust, meet with a ready response.

HERBALISTS AND THE APOTHECARIES ACT. Keighley County Court on the 14th inst., before his Honour Judge Gates, Q. C., and a jury, a herbalist, Mr. Newton, who is also a chemist and a town councillor, at the instance AT the

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BACCELLI AND HAECKEL. IT is well known that at the coming congress the German representatives will outnumber those of all the non-Italian nationalities, and that the Teutonic element will equally predominate in the programme of proceedings. This result will surprise no one who has witnessed the ?’approchement between Italy and the great central European power. No opportunity, indeed, of drawing closer is missed on either side, and,. whether it be a death or a jubilee, the departure of a. Billroth or the celebration of a SchifE’s seventieth anniversary, the accession of a Baccelli to office or the demise of a, Sperino, the interchange of sympathy, now of congratulation. and now of condolence, is as prompt as it is genuine. Considering the previous antagonism of the two nationalities, all this is as it should be, and certainly Italy owes not a little of her recent development in every walk of science to the life-giving touch of a vigorous, while alien, civilisation. Probably no German biologist is so popular in her schools as is theProfessor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in the University of Jena, Ernst Heinrich Haeckel, whose uncompromising evolutionary spirit finds peculiar favour in all Italian seats of learning. In his case it was quite enough to have attained, not his seventieth, but (as is the fact) his sixtieth year for young Italy to send him her formal congratulations. In honour of that event a marble bust of the professor, designed to occupy an honoured niche in the Jena school, has been ordered from a capable sculptor, and towards. its defrayal some forty Roman admirers have joined their subscriptions to those from Germany and other countries. Concurrently with this step Dr. Francesco Gasco, Professor of Comparative Anatomy in the University of Rome, gave an eloquent of Professor Haeckel’s contributions to science,,

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