The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-28 00:00:00

EDUCATION OF DISPENSERS OF

MEDICINE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SIIN.

SIR, —The Council of the Pharmaceutical Society think
it desirable au the present time that the public should
be made acquainted with the efforts of the society der-
inq man years to improve the qualifications of dis-
pensers of medicine.

Numerous accidents arising from the indiscriminate
sale of poisons by incompetent persons having of late
directed public attention to the subject, the council have
prepared the enclosed statement for circulation in the
public journals.
On behalf of the council, I therefore request the favour
of its insertion in the The Sun.—l am, &e.,
GEORGE W. SMITH,
Secretary and Registrar.
17, Bloomsbury-square, Oct. 27.

The "statement" which forms Mr. Smith's enclosure
is too long for insertion in our columns at length. The
following are its essential portions :
" More than 15 years have elapsed since the chemists
and druggists projected a society for the purpose of in-
troducing an efficient system of education and an exa-
mination for the future members of their body. Expe-
rience had shown that the science of the physician can
be of no avail unless seconded by the requisite skill and
knowledge in the dispenser of his prescriptions ;that the
variable quality of drugs, as usually found in the market
occasioned frequent disappointment to medical practi-
tioners and their patients ; that the public were exposed
to danger from the unrestricted sale of strong medicines,
including poisons, by uneducated persons ; and that the
most effectual remedy for the existing defects would be
a legislative enactment for regulating the qualifications
of pharmaceutical chemists. The Pharmaceutical
Society was established in 1841, as a means of lay-
ing the foundation of the desired improvement, thrsugh
the instrumentality of a voluntary association. In 1843
the society was incorporated by royal charter, and a bye-
law was passed requiring all persons, except those who
were in business on their own account before the date of
the charter, to pass an examination prior to admission,
and fixing a date after which even this exemption should
not be granted. The subjects of examination are Che-
mistry, Pharmacy, Materia Medics, and Botany, includ-
ing the practical manipulations of the laboratory and the
dispensing counter, the modes of ascertaining the
strength and purity of drugs, the tests and antidotes
for poisons, the doses of ordinary medicines, and an
acquaintance with prescriptions. A school of pharmacy
was founded in Bloomsbury-square, where lectures
on the above subjects are delivered by eminent pro-
fessors, a library, and a very extensive museum
were established, and a laboratory was fitted up,
with all the apparatus required for practical instruc-
tion in the processes of the pharmacopoeia and in
chemical analysis. The late Dr. Anthony Todd Thom-
son, Dr. Pereira, and Professor Fownes, gave the school
the benefit of their valuable services, assisted by Mr.
Redwood, who is the present professor of chemistry,
Mr. Bentley having succeeded to the chair of botany
and materia medics. A considerable number of students
have availed themselves of these opportunities of im-
provement, and their progress has been highly satisfac-
tory. At the time of the incorporation of the society,
the number of members amounted to 1662, consisting of
the leading chemists and druggists in the metropolis, as
well as in Liverpool, Manchester, and many other pro-
vincial towns. It subsequently obtained a very consi-
derable accession of members. A branch of the society
is in active operation in Scotland, and a board of exa-
miners sits in Edinburgh. Auxiliary schools of phar-
macy have also been established in Liverpool and
Blanchester, with a view of preparing young men for
the examination. The expenditure of the society for
purposes of education and scientific improvement has,
from the time of its commencement, exceeded an
average of 3,000/. per annum. It was the original
object of the founders of the society to provide for
the education of the entire body of chemists and drug-
gists, and to procure the passing of an act of Parliament,
requiring all future members of the trade to pass the
examination. In June, 1861, a bill, in accordance with
this object, was introduced into Parliament by a mem-
ber of the society, after mature consideration of the coun-
cil. This bill contempla' ed, first, the registration of all
persons at that time in business who should apply to be
registered within 12 months ; secondly, the recognition
of the board of examiners of the Pharmaceutical Society;
thirdly, the examination of all future members (with the
exception above stated) prior to registration; and 4thly,
the prohibition of unregistered persons from carrying
on the business of a chemist and druggist. It the
bill had been passed in its original form, all the suc-
cessors of the chemists and druggists of that date would
have been of necessity regularly educated and exa
mined, and the entire change of the pharmaceutical
body from the condition of a mere trade, without
any regular education, to the status of a recog-
nised and qualified profession, would have been
effected within the space of from 20 to 30 years. It may
be useful to explain the exact state of the law under the
provision., of the Pharmacy Act, which was passed in
1853, and to show the distinction between the act as it
is and the bill as originally drawn. The act recognises
the Pharmaceutical Society as a voluntary association
for the examination and registration of pharmaceutical
chemists, and confers upon the persons so registered the
exclusive right to assume or use the title of pharmaceu-
tical chemist, pharmaceutist, or any other name, title,
or sign implying flat they are registered, or that they
ire members of the society. No person not already re-
gistered can henceforth be admitted to the privilege of
registration or membership without previously passing
the examination. Consequently all the apprentices of
the present time who aspire to the status of a phar-
maceutical chemist, the only one (except that of a
medical practitioner) recognised by law as implying
e qualification in pharmacy, must go through a
regular csurse of study to enable them to pass the
examination. The act does not interfere with the sale of
drugs and the dispensing of prescriptions by incompetent
persons ; but it establishes a distinction between such
persons and those who possess a legal qualification and
corresponding title. Instead of directly prohibiting the
dispensing of prescriptions and the sale of poisons by
unregistered persons, its operation is indirect through the
medium of public opinioq. It is therefore obvious that
the success of such a la* must depend greatly on the
will of the public, since the chief induce:nent to uture
chemists to qualify themselves under the provisionskof the
act is the prospect of distinction as a passport to success
in business. The Pharmaceutical Society is raising up a
qualified class of dispensers of medicine ; the law confers
on such persons a distinctive title, viz., that of•pharina-
ceuticai chemist or pharmaceutist, but the recognition of
this claim to confidence by the public, for whose benefit
this law has been passed, is necessary to complete its
success. The indiscriminate and uncontrolled sale of poi-
sons has engaged the serious attention of the council,
and some important statistical information in reference
to the sale of arsenic was obtained by the intervention
of the, Pharmaceutical Society at the time tse Sale of
Arsenic Act was introduced. The assistance of the so-
ciety, and the experience of its members, would be avail-
able on any future occasion in reference to the sale of
other poisons, on which numerous suggestions for legis-
lative interference have been made by persons practically
unacquainted with the subject, and the difficulties at•
tending the proposed restrictions. The Pharmaceutical
Society has always taken an active part in exposing and
endeavouring to prevent the adulteration of drugs The
subject is constantly under discussion at the meetings
the society ; and in several instances the publicity thus
given to cases of fraud and impurities prevalent in drugs
and pharmaceutical preparations has led to consider-
able improvement both in the case of foreign products
and those of home manufacture. The council believe
that the exertions of the society in elevating the
scientific character of pharmaceutical chemists will have
more effect iu checking adulteration, imperfections in
medicines, and accidents from poison, than any penal en-
actment that could be passed ; and that, however desir-
able it may be able to provide facilities for the summary
punishment of persons guilty of fraud, it is equally im-
portant, and should be the first object of solicitude, to
regulate the qualifications of those who dispense medi-
cines, and who ought to be sufficiently educated to be
able to test the duality of their drugs and preparations."