931

focated. The body during the whole timewas cold.Treatment.-As soon as I had ascertained

the nature of the poison I gave him (the sto-mach-pump not being at hand), in repeatedthough rapid doses, about three drachms ofsulphate of zinc, encouraging its operationby tickling the fauces, and by administeringwarm water. As soon as the emetic hadoperated I save large doses of sal volatile instrong brandy and water. I applied hotbottles to the feet, additional blankets tothe bed, and bags of hot salt to the stomach.Under the above treatment I had the satis.faction of seeing him recover; I then order-ed the following mixture :-

Carbonate of ammonia, one drachmCompound tincture of cardamoms, one

ounce ;Camphor mixture, seven ounces. Twotablespoonfuls every hour.

He gradually recovered from the effects ofthe poison. I am, Sir, your obedient ser-

vant.

12, Old-square, Birmingham,Sept.14,1839.

PYE HENRY CHAVASSE.

THE LANCET.

London, Saturday, September, 21, 1839.

NULLITY OF THE ACT OF 1815.

THE decision in the case of the Apothe.caries Company v. Greenough has destroyedthe last illusions which attached to the

Act of 1815. Chemists, druggists, run-

away apprentices, and swarms of quacks,are springing up, forsaking the counters, andinvading the domain of private practice.The druggist and unqualified empiric meetthe qualified practitioner at the corner of

every street. But it had hitherto been

imagined by many,that the druggist, ignorantof medical science, only practised it by tole-

rance ; and that he had no legal right to

tamper with the lives of the people. The

Apothecaries Act was considered to be a pro-ttetiora the dread of its penalties drove thou-sands of able men to submit to a degrad-ing examination ; to purchase a worthlesslicense; to enrol their names under a list of

drug-dealers ; to become members in a Com-pany in which they had not the slightestinterest or influence. We proved, thirteen

years ago, that the Act of 1815 was a legal

nullity, that the Company had no legal rightto interfere with the unlicensed druggist,and that it could not protect its licentiates orthe public. The charge of Baron MAULE,and the verdict of the Lancaster Jury, haverecognised this fact. Whatever the decision

of the Court of Queen’s Bench may be, themoral effect of the Apothecaries Act is anni-hilated.

What were the circumstances of GREEN-

OUGH’s case? GREENOUGH kept his sister’sshop ; over the door was « M. GREENOUGH,Chemist and Druggist." GERARD was takenill ; he had what the druggical luminarydesignated" pleurisy fever." GREENOUGHattended the patient almost every day ; senthim medicines from M. GREENOUGH’S shop;charged for the medicines; and charged forthe visits at the rate of ts. 6d. a visit; andwhen the case had terminated in the natural

way, under such hands, GREENOUGH—greenenough in his therapeutics, but keen enoughin his book-keeping-received the sum of

31.9s. 6d. (the full amount of his bill) from thehapless GERARD’S father. Other cases were

detailed ; and it was stated in evidence byMARSH that the defendant had a great many

patients, and that he had upwards of 300bills to make out. The facts were flagrant;it was not pretended that the defendant,GREENOUGH, had the Apothecaries’ license,that he had practised as a surgeon, or that hehad not prescribed, dispensed, and chargedfor visits, precisely as a licensed generalpractitioner would have done in similar cir-cumstances. The verdict was for the de-

fendant. The Jury decided that the " chemistand druggist," notwithstanding the Act of1815, was entitled to practise medicine.The consequences of this decision, which

is strictly legal, and in conformity with thelaw of 1815, will exercise considerable in-

fliience, and will bring the question of D-Tedi-cal Reform home to the breast of every

practitioner in the kingdom. The chemists

and druggists will prosecute the counter-

practice with increased activity. "Advice

gratis, and the medicines for nothing" will,perhaps, not be inscribed over the doors-

932 EMANCIPATION OF THE DRUGGISTS.

your prescribing druggist is notgreen enoughfor that-but every opportunity will be

taken of puffing himself into notoriety, andof seducing patients from the care of thequalified practitioner. The chemist and

druggist will visit his patients, and the

general practitioner, in cities, will encounterhim in his daily rounds ; the country townsand villages, which have hitherto remained

uninfested, will be overrun by adventurous

druggists, dispensing, prescribing, and prac-tising physic, with undisguised effrontery.The rate of medical remuneration will he

greatly reduced ; for any one may style him-self " druggist," and as the education willcost nothing, salts will fall to a farthing anounce, mixtures to a fourpenny-piece, visitsto eightpence-or say to eighteenpence, theGREEN-ENOUGH rate. The physician, the sur-geon, the general practitioner, lost in the

rabble, will lose half their patients, and re- ceive a fourth of their present fees; their day-books and ledgerswill dwindle, visibly, yearby year; their horses may, indeed, grow fat,and be turned to grass, but they must be sentto Smithfield, and sold as the steam-physicadvances; the profession will be swamped,and degraded by the acts of ignorant pre-tenders ; the public, misled and confounded,will throw themselves into the arms of the

men who have the brightest lights, the largestglass globes, the most speciousness, the

least modesty, and the slightest merit. The

druggists, who, like the Salopian ONYONS,fancied themselves compelled to study, aswell as practise, physic, will abandon theattempt as a work of supererogation, as an

unnecessary expenditure of capital, an in-sulting demand upon their addled intellects.This is the precious fruit of the Apothecaries

Act of 1815, for which we have been called

upon to sing poeans, and to thank knaveryso often ; this is the position of licensed

practitioners all over the kingdom in 1839.The question, now, is, will English pi-acti.tioners submit to this state of things? That

vast numbers will not, we know, without a

struggle to wrest an efficient measure of

reform from the Legislature. But there are

others who have never stirred in the cause

of Medical Reform. They are fond of peace.They respect their superiors. They look upto them. They are meek. They are poorin spirit. They are content to surrender

their natural rights. They submit patientlyto the despotic decrees of usurping corpora-tors. They are no agitators-not they-while they can jog along green lanes,gild their pills, send out their draughts, and

empty their ungraduated glasses in stifety.Why should they trouble their heads about

the progress of medical science, the abusesof medical institutions, the conduct of the

great men immortalised in the handwritingupon their walls? The self-elective, selfish,profligate corporations have counted uponthe t’is inertiœ of this class of practitioners.They have treated them with neglect, andcontempt, and indignity ; they have usurpedtheir rights, squandered their money, and

neglected their inlerests; but the crisis isnow come, and we shall be much deceived

if the easy-minded individuals in question,who were partially disturbed by the Poor-Law Commissioners, are not found wide

awake, when they see the chemists and

druggists sallying from the towns, invadingtheir practice in every quarter, carrying offtheir patients, and threatening their familieswith ruin.

The public will be the greatest sufferers

by the anarchy of the medical profession.The lives lost by murder, manslaughterlightning, precipitation from monumental

columns, hydrophobia, explosions in mines,shipwreck, and accidents of every kind,will be inconsiderable when compared withthe numbers that must perish legally, on onehand, by the injudicious administration ofpoisonous drugs; and, on the other, by theabsence of the skilful, well-directed, ener-getic treatment of the scientific practitioner;To avert these deplorable results Medical

Associations should be immediately formedin every county; petitions should be pre-pared, ready to be presented to Parliament

early in the next session, praying for an effi-cient measure of medical reform, which

933ALDERSGATE.STREET DISPENSARY.

would suppress unqualified, unlicensed

practitioners, unite the members of the pro-fession in one body, under a responsibleelective Senate, promote the public health,and be the means of saving thousands of theQUEEN’S subjects from untimely graves.The provincial Branch Associations, to en-sure vigour and unity of action, shouldplace themselves in communication with theBritish .Medical Association, which is, weperceive, shortly to hold its anniversarymeeting at the Freemasons’ Tavern. He

who abandons the cause of his profession.and remains passive now, must have an

empty head or a recreant heart.

WE subjoin an authentic account of oneof those swindling transactions which are

usually designated " elections of medicalofficers’to metropolitan dispensaries." The

Aldersgate Dispensary (the dispensary inquestion), and the actors in this disgracefulscene, are not unknown to fame ; they maybe found embalmed in a former volume of

THE LANCET. We shall, probably, refer tothis election at greater length next week ;at present it will be sufficient to notice one

fact. Candidates are invited to offer them-

selves for the office; at first, under the

colour that the person who is best qualifiedwill be elected. After his testimonials are

printed, and the independant electors are canvassed, it is intimated to him, by some of the hangers-on, that to secure his electionhe must make a given number of votes.

Each candidate is told this. Up to the latesthour-seven days before the election takes

place-several receiving houses, where votesmay be made. are kept open, and, by a re-finement upon the artifices of the swindlingauctioneers who infest the metropolis, eachcandidate is cajoled and robbed of as much

money as can be extracted from him; thefavourite candidate of Mr. HERRING, the

druggist, always having it in his power to

make a greater number than his competitors.This enables the worst candidate to pur-

chase the office, and places the poor at the

mercy of the man who is least scrupulous.andqualified to carry the charitable intentionsof the bona-fide subscribers into effect. This

is said to promote the interests, by increas-

ing the funds, of the charity. Upon suchground the candidates are swindled, andthe practice is defended. But it may be

worth while inquiring, whether some of the

parties who are so active in picking thepockets of youthful candidates, in the nameof the charity, may not have a direct inte-rest in seeing the revenue of the dispen-saries augmented. We may undertake thisinquiry at a future time.Mr. HERRING, of the firm of HERRING,

Brothers, druggists, in Aldersgate-street,is the Treasurer of the Aldersgate Dispen-sary. The receipts in the year endingApril, 1838, amounted to 8121. ; namely,4131. 14s. from annual subscribers, 4l. from

donations, 311. 10s. from three life sub-

scribers, and 362l. 16s. 10d. dividends on

stock, &c. Mr. HERRING, the Treasurer,has the interests of the institution verymuch "at heart," and entertains very justnotions as to the importance of supplyingthe Dispensary with genuine, unadulterated

drugs. Its success, he affirms, " very muchdepends upon that:" so he supplies the

Dispensary with excellent drugs from thefirm of HERRING and Brothers. The drugbill for the year 1837-8, amounted to the

sum of 4421. Os. Sd. Mr. HERRING is a very

accommodating Treasurer. The expendi-ture for the year exceeded the receipts by1151. Is. 8d.: the balance remains due to

Mr. HERRING. But his drug bill, as wehave stated, was 442L The institution de-

rives great advantages from these arrange-ments ; the Treasurer is exceedingly zealousin obtaining subscriptions ; he never tiresin the blessed cause; he has the merit of

suggesting the present system of electingmedical officers; in his dealings with young,inexperienced, medical candidates, he hasalways been remarkably successful. Nos

one would ever suspect such a Treasurer of

adulterating his drugs. We recommend thehouse to Union surgeons, if they would

934 ALDERS GATE-STREET DISPENSARY.

escape animadversion in future. The pro-

ceedings which are detailed below would,probably, fall under some clause of the

Metropolitan Police Act.

ELECTION OF APOTHECARYTO THE

GENERAL DISPENSARY,ALDERSGATE-STREET.

(From a Correspondent.)THE vacancy for the situation of apothe-

cary to the above institution was declaredby public advertisement, on Monday, Au-gust 4th, owing to the resignation of Mr.Gurney Turner. The election by ballottook place Wednesday, Sept. 4th. Mr. T.B. Stott was then elected. The first weekafter the vacancy was declared no less thanseven gentlemen came forward as candi-dates,-Mr. Stott, a practitioner, who livedin the neighbourhood of the Dispensary, afriend of the late apothecary ; Mr. Hard-wicke and Mr. Curtis, of University Col-lege ; Mr. Donald, Mr. Harston, and Mr.Houghton, of Bartholomew’s Hospital; andtwo others. If we judge from the printedtestimonials of these gentlemen, they are allhighly qualified for the office, but somemore deserving than others; some were notmembers of the College of Surgeons; and asthe apothecary at a dispensary has to per-form both medical and surgical duties, heought to be a member of the College; how-ever, the laws of the institution do not makethat a necessary qualification. Each candi-date sent round to the Governors his testi-monials, and was very active in canvassingthe Governors. Everything appeared to goon fairly up to the last week, each candidatetrusting to his merit, or to the local interestwhich he could bring into operation. The General Committee met to examine

the testimonials and qualifications of eachcandidate. The medical officers met previ-ously to the General Committee, for the pur-pose of making a report respecting the qua-lification, &c. of each candidate. Instead ofmaking particular mention officially of thatone who was the best qualified for theoffice, as it was intended, to the GeneralCommittee, they stated that they had ex-amined the qualifications, &c. and found thecandidates eligible to the office. The GeneralCommittee met, and discussed various othermatters, viz.:—1. A report which had beenspread that Mr. Stott was not eligible, be-cause he had broken a rule of theinstitu-tion by canvassing before the vacancy wasdeclared ; this was not proved, and there thematter rested. 2. The propriety and impro-priety of allowing special votes to be madeby the candidates for the purpose of carry-ing the election was also discussed. There

are divers opinions among the members of theCommittee on this subject; the majority areagainst the practice. It was on this subjectthatDrs.Clutterbuck and Birkbeck resigned.The time came for making votes, seven daysbefore the day of election; and the collec-tor sent notice to each candidate, on theafternoon of the same day, when votes weremade, that he should remain at home untilnine o’clock, to receive subscriptions. Itwas this circumstance which gave rise toMr.Houghton’s resignation, because he couldnot conscientiously comply with the termsalluded to in the letter; he, therefore, gavenotice to the Governors by advertisement inthe " Times" and "Chronicle" of the fol-lowing morning, that he had resigned.Two of the candidates were not, however,

so scrupulous about the matter; one (Mr.Stott) went before nine o’clock to the collec-tor, entered twenty new votes (new sub-scribers, pro tempore), and another candi-date, it was reported, offered 140l.We doubt very much if they would have

refused the 140l. had it been offered to them.We have been told that this evening twentyvotes were made at the house of the collec-tor before nine o’clock; and that during thesame evening new votes could also be madeat the house of the Secretary, Mr. Wood,whose office wasopen (undoubtedly for thatpurpose) late, and where the same candidatewho had made twenty votes at the collec-tor’s, made twenty-two more votes ; andanother candidate made thirty withouthaving been told that forty-two had beenmade by his competitor. The circumstanceof two receiving-shops being open, showsthat there was a disposition to trickery ; for,while one candidate could make one hun-dred at one place, his competitor couldmake the same, or a few more, at another.Each guinea subscription made a vote.Of course, the two who had made one hun-dred or one hundred and five votes wouldbe cheated; such is the practice which issanctioned by some of the leading men whobelong to the General Dispensary. Al-though at the present election the practiceof vote-making has not been carried to the

’ same extent as on former occasions, theelection of surgeon has cost consider-ably more (10001. it is said), than whenthe iniquitous practice of vote-makingwas more openly patronised than at present.

It was then allowed to the candidates tol place 101. down upon the table, up to the last’ minute of the election. That has been done

to the amount of 8001. by Mr. Salmon, whenhe lost the election of surgeon. It appearsthat at the present election they have only; augmented the funds to a trifling extentcompared with former occasions (721.). _. Is it the hope of augmenting the funds at: each election which tempts the Committeeto keep in operation such iniquitous prac-tices? If it had been generally known to