The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-04 00:00:00

SALE OF POISONS.

A special meeting of the members of the Phar-
maceutical Society was held last evening at the
home of the society in Bloomsbury-square, to con-
sider the precautions' which ought to be adopted in
reference to poisons, and the provisions of a bill
on this subject now before the House of Lords.
There was a numerous attendance.

~ Mr. JACOB BELL presided, and in opening the
business ofth9 meeting said they assembled t b at even-
ing on a subject which concerned the public health
and safety; the security which 'could be best afforded
to the public in the sale and preparafon of medi-
cines. A bill had been lately introduced into the
House of Lords, which had evidently been pre-
pared by parties not practically acquainted with the
subject. The society had no wish to oppo3e any re-
strictions which it might be thought desirable to

place upon them as vedorsof drugs ,and dispensers
of medicine, but their object was so to regulate
those restrictions as to prevent inconvenience to
the profession. The council of the society 40 had
the bill under their consideration, and they had ap-
proached the subject with a desire to see Such
amendmenti made in the bill as would make it an
useful and desirable measure, but the further they
proceeded the more theyfound the difficulties of the
subject increase. The bill in the first place repealed

the-Arsenic Act, which as far as he was aware, was
an unobjectionable act, although it had not done all
that was expected of it. It then proceeded to enact
that a certain class of medicines which were consi-

dered poisonous shoufd be kept under lock and key.
They comprised a very large number of medicines in
daily use, and it would oblige them to rove a very
considerable portion of their stock Sunder lock and
key. Then there was a provision that no poison
should be sold except to a person of full age, in the
presence of a witness of full age who was known to
the person selling the poison, and to whom the pur-
chaser was known, and unless there were a certifi-
cate signed by the clergyman of the parish, or a
legally qualified medical practitioner, or a justice of
the peace, that the poison might be safely supplied.
It was absurd to suppose that a chemist could not
prepare .a fever mixture with a little antimonial
wine in it without such a certificate as that. Then

there was no difference whatever made between
a qualified pharmaceutical chemist and a country
grocer
,who sold a few drugs at one corner of his
counter, but who was totally ignorant of their na-
ture. The bill then imposed a variety of conditions
—most of. which were entirely impracticable, and,
if the chemist should transgress, the penalty might
be 20/: for the first offence, and for the seconi

offence he was rendered incapable of carrying on
business thereafter. If the bill passed and was
carried into effect, it • would shut every chemist's
shop within six months. There were some ex-
emptions in the bill ; they were to be at liberty to
sell poisons at the written request of persons fol-
lowing certailltrad.fas,euchas painters, dealers in co-
lours, photographists, dyers
,paper-stainers, electrc-
pl eters, braziers, whitesmiths, and bird -stutters ; but
they were not to sell less than half a pound. Thus
these persons were allowed to deal with poisons,
while the chemist, who understood thorn, was not
recognised. The quantity; however, to be sold was
to be not less than half a pound. Anything better
calculated to promote the very object which the bill
was intended to prevent could not be iinaginel. A
man wanted an ounce of oxalic acid; he was obliges
to buy half a pound. The remainder wou!d be put
away in some cupboard, or on some shelf, and was
just as likely to be taken for Epsom salts as not.
He regarded as equally futile the provision that
poisons should be coloured with indigo or soot.
That would entirely destroy the use of poisonous
substances for many purposes.
Mr. CULLEN said he thought some u:e might be
made of the bill. It would be well that there should
be some regulations. Persons who sold poisons
should have some qualifications ; they should not
sell at all to children, and no young apprentice
should be allowed to sell them.
Mr. DEAN moved the first resolution, to the effect
that the 101 l would afford no protection to the pub-
lic, and that it would throw useless obstacles in the
way of the sale of useful and necessary medicines.
Mr. SLIPPER seconded. He thought it would be
impossible to carry out the bill, which must have
been framed by persons totally unaquainted with
the business. The bill would increase the danger to
be apprehended from poisons. For instance, the
brass finishers were in the habit of keeping small
quantities of bi-chloride of mercury, and they gene-
rally bought just sufficient to make up a pint or
two of bronze, and they did not keep the poison by
them, but if this bill passed they would be com-
pelled to buy half a pound at once ; and thus they
would frequently have large quantities of poison by
them. The same remarks would appry to the sub-
stances used in many other trades.
The resolution passed unanimously.
Mr. Comarrs moved the next resolution, "That
in the event of the bill making further progress it
would be desirable that a general special meeting of the
society should be convened, and that the local sec-
retaries be communicated with on the subject."
Mr. EDWARDS seconded, and said a meeting
would be held at Liverpool on the subject this day.
The chemists there were anxious that active mea-
sures should be taken to prevent this bill passing
into a law. If it should pass it would throw great
difficulties in the way of the study of chemistry by
youths who now studied it as amateurs.
Mr. PEDLER agreed that the bill was impractic-
able but they could not blind themselves to the
fact that a great deal of accidental and intentional
poisoning had taken place in this country, and he
thought they should assist Government in carrying
a measure which would prevent those evils. He
suggested that a deputation should be appointed to
wait on Lord Campbell, whose bill it was, and
point out how it could be amended.
Professor ROGERS thought the greatest safety lay
in the growing intelligence of chemists. The bill
would cause a great deal of inconvenience, and no
protection from poison.
Professor REDWOOD bad no doubt the bill was
brought forward in good faith, and they all ad-
mitted that it was desirable by legislation to pro-
mote the safety of the public, without unnecessarily
infringing on the convenience of the public. Poi-
sons might be divided into two classes. In the
first class might be included such articles as oxalic
acid, essential oil of bitter almonds, and substances
of that description used in trades, which might be
sold under some restrictions ; but subtle poisons,
such as the vegetable alkaloids and prussic acid,
should only be sold by qualified persons or under
the supervision of medical practitioners. Persons,
thought
that pharmaceutical chemists should be placed on
the same footing as surgeons.
This resolution, like the former one, was unani-
mously agreed to.
The CHAIRMAN, in acknowledg;ng a vote of
thanks, said if the society had been consulted they
might have assisted •in drawing up a bill which
would have answered the objects off the framers,
and would not have interfered unnecessarily with
the trade.

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ME NEW EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF
SIR J. FRANKLIN.

The following letter from Capt. M'Clintoek has
been received by Mr. S. R. Graves, the chairman
of the Liverpool Shipowners Association :
" United Service Club, Pall-mill, May 13.
" Dear Sir —I take the liberty of addressing you
the more freely, perhaps, because by your. letter
you se m to fca•considerable interest in the object
of my voyage. I regret much that I cannot visit
Liverpool now, as. all the work is thrown upon my
hands. In this note I simply purpose to offer you
my best• thanks for your cordial offer of assistance,
and also to off ird you a few details of my plan, and
the means pl iced at my disposal for carrying it out.
As you may not have a convenient pocket
map at hand. for reference, I send you Lady
Franklin's pamphlet, which con ains one. Upon
it you will see markedout the ' area to be searched.'
All the Other lands laid down have been searched.
"I intend to sail about the end of June, from
Aberdeen, and proceed to Barrow Strait—ascertain
that the provisions, stores, and boats left at Port
Leopold and Beeching Island,by the recent search-
ing expeditions are in good order, in the event of
my having to fall back upon them—examine the
state of the ice in Peel Strait, and, if practicable,
proceed down it into the unknown area.
" Should I' not succeed here I intend to return
to Port Leopold, and proceed down Prince Regent's
Inlet .to Bello Strait, and there make another
attempt to pass into and through the field of search
to Victoria Land, where 1 shall winter; and in the
ensuing spring, before the thaw sets in, complete
the entire exploration and search by means of men
and dogs.
' "In endeavouring to reach Victoria Land it is
my intention to avoid, if possible, any risk of be-
coming involved in the ice; and, should I not
succeed in reaching Victoria Land, I will return
to Bellot Strait to pass the winter, as we know by
experience that the retreat of the ship from there
amounts almost to a certainty. From Victoria
Land the homeward voyage is equally certain, but
by way •of Behring Straits.
" The means of accomplishing. Lady Franklin's
object, the coMpletion of the search; and now
placed at my disposal, are ample. The vessel is
a three-masted screw schooner yacht, with fore-
topsail and topgallantsail •, the topsail reefs from
the deck ; she is decidedly a clipper—diagonally
built, 132 feet long over all, 320 tons builder's
measurement, with a light draught of water ;
trunk engines, of 30-horse power ; crew numbering
30 individuals, including an Esquimaux interpreter.
" Almost all will be old shipmates of my own in
former Arctic voyages ; they shall be fed sod clothed
as in the Government expeditions and receive
double pay. I therefore, anticipate no difficulty
in keeping up precisely the same discipline as that
which we found to answer so well in the three
Arctic expeditions in which I have served. The
vessel is now in the hands of Messrs. Hall, Aber-
deen, for the purpose of being fortified, by means
of doubling, extra hold beams, stringers, luc., to
enable her to withstand ice-pressure ; and upwards
of 100 men are at work upon her. All Arctic men
agree in pronouncing her the best adapted vessel
ever selected for Arctic service. From her sharp
midship section she will rise to ice-pressure, which
would crush in the sides of a wall-sided vessel: Her
speed under steam, when deep, is expected to be
six knots.
" She Will carry five weeks' fuel for full speed,
and two and a half years' provisions—being enough
to last us for a second winter, should we unavoid-
ably be detained. I believe I have nothing more
to add, except to say that the volunteer offers of
'service from officers, seamen, and landsmen, are
very numerous ; and as I have already secured the
very best of materiel,' so hope also to be fortu-
nate with the 'personel' of the expedition.
"Thus, having all the means, I'gladly accept the
responsibility ; and no efforts on my part shall be
wanting to secure the accomplishment of an object
so earnestly desired by the great and good of all
nations.

" Believe me to be, dear sir, faihfully yours,
"F. L. M'CLINTOCK.
"To S. R. Graves, Esq., 9, Baltic-buildings,
Redcross-street, Liverpool."