The Sun.
London, England, 1829-06-27 00:00:00

STAMP-OFFICE.-INFORMATIONS

TO THE EDI ma OF TIIE SUN.

giving space in your excellent Journal
to the following, you will, be conferring an essential
public service, as well as individual obligation:—
It is well known that the great body of the Met-
cal Profession carry on their avocation in public
shops, and that they divide with the chemists and
druggists the retail of drugs, chemicals, and patent
medicines. For the sale of the latter a licence from
the Stamp-office is necessary, and must be renewed
yearly, by paying 2/. Now, Sir, as this liberal land
has no law to prevent quackery, nor ever will, since
the health of his Majesty's liege subjects is of small
importance when put -in competition with the im-
mense revenue derived from stamps to patent medi-
cines, the list of these medicines has been swelled
out, and a catalogue of them would astonish all,
however much devoted to quackery; and it is likely,
provided disease does not take more rapid strides
that the catalogue of quack puffery and humbug will
exceed to an immense extent the number of ailments
in Cullen's Nosology. There are about 553 articles
of patent medicines with which I am familiar, and
of these the consumption daily is enormous, and it
is imperative that not one of these articles may be
vended without a stamp proportioned to its price,
viz., for Is. a stamp of lid.; 2s. 6d., 3d.; 45., CI,
and so on ; au omission in affixing a stamp
renders the party offending liable to a pc-
. natty of 10/. Now, this is all very well as regards
patent medicines, for if the public mind in these
marching times of intellectuality, does not improve
in physical knowledge in an equal ratio to the other
sciences, why, they must still continue to swallow
the nostrums of the quack, and if the stamp duty
were treble the amount of what it now is, so much
the better for the coffers of the State; but this law
of stamping has latterly become greatly perverted.
Articles sold are now obliged to lam, stamped
on which originally the law was never intended
to bear, and the thing has become most try-
ingly vexatious and obnoxious to the retailer
of drugs and chemical.% Thus, for instance, a
man of the name of Henry obtained a patent for
making " aromatic vinegar," which is sold in bottles
at 2s. 9d., and this article must bear a 3d. stamp.
The Dispensatories published under the authority
of the Royal College of Physicians of London,
Edinburgh, and Dublin, authorize an article to be ,
made called aromatic spirit of vinegar, or concen

trawl spirit of vinegar, which is kept in every
shop, arid retailed from three pennyworth and up-
wards. Now, because there is a patent article
called " Henry's Aromatic Vinegar," no retail ven-
der of drugs must sell any quantity of this article,
aromatic spirit of vinegar, that is not Henry's, with-
out affixing a stamp to the phial it is put into, un-
der the penalty of 101.; so that if a lady fainting in
the streets, and her vinegarette chances to want
replenishing with this very choice article, you must,
notwithstanding her delicate situation, after you
have filled her gold or silver receptacle, fast bind it

by a stamp, and she must continqe her fainting t

such time as bcr attendants arc enabled to disengage

this now legal addition to the vinegirette. Thus,
Mr. Editor, by a most adroit quibble, a species of
annoyance is created and an advantage taken, which

the law never intended, by a set of sharpers,
who gain a livelihood by making these pitiful de-

_ .
tections, and laying informations at the office of Mr,
Timm; solicitor of stamps, immediately upon which]

_ .
an Exchequer writ is issued in all the majesty and
pomp of office, " at the suit of his Majesty's At-
totney-General, by information," ordering you to
appear by attorney before the Barons of the Court
of Exchequer on such a day, and in nowise omit,
under the penalty of 100/., to be levied on your
goods and chattels; but this is rarely if ever carried
into effect, the usual course being to petition the
Honourable Commissioners of Stamps for a mitiga-
tion of penalty, which is invariably complied with,
and these gentlemen in their leniency are mercifully
pleased to be so moderate, that they direct Mr.Timm
tote!! you, that "if you pay into hisoffice, within so
many days, the sum of four pounds lawful money

of this realm, it will prevent all further proceedings
to recover the full penalty and costs." This
the poor offenders are glad to do, none being
hardy enough to stand the brunt of an action,
because it is well known how these things go in the
Court of Exchequer. Having sold Aromatic Vine-
gar for fourteen years, some thou4ands of times, I
was totally ignorant that by so doing I was acting
wrong, according to the technicalities of law. I

should as soon have• thought that I was equally
liable for selling a few pennyworth of calcined mag-
nesia unstamped, beeathe there is also a quack medi-

eine called " Henry's Calcined Magnesia." The
one case is equally as just as the other; and feeling
as I do for ail my fellow sufferers, whom I know to
be numerous, but who probably fear the ordeal of
. .

appearing before the publie,—in their name and my
own, through the medium of the press, I recommend
all ►vho retail drugs to be extremely circumspect,
not only as regards the sale of Aromatic Vinegar,
but many other articles also. For myself I may
loudly complain, after continued repetitions of these

Vexatious penaltie,. I\o less than three times have I

been compelled, within the last three years, to pay,
first 51. and two subsequent ones of 41. each for

selling some trumpery pennyworth of lozenges.
Rom the interpretation which Honourable Commis-

sioners give of the law, Apothecaries must not sell

or recommend a saline draught without a stamp to
any poor soul sweating under the influence of a ver-
tical sun, without miming the risk of an information

for selling soda water, as the following remarkable
clause in the Act will fully verify, and its accommo-
dation has been highly beneficial to that class of re-
spectable persons called " Informers :"—" All

waters, and all artificial mineral waters, impregnated
with soda or mineral alkali, or with carbonic acid

gas, and all compositions in a liquid or solid state to

be used for the purpose of compounding, or making
any of the said waters."

Having now stated the annoyances which Re-
ailers of Drugs arc exposed to, I think it will be

seen how necessary it is for all whom it may con-
cern t& unite their efforts in devising or seeking
some remedy for so grievous a state of the law as
that relating to the sale of drugs, since its perversion
has led to so much annoyance and serious incon-

venience.—l remain, M. Editor, yours most re-
spectfully,

CHAS. SNITCH.

Brydges-ttreet, Covent-garden.

Captain BASIL HALL'S Travels in North
America, in Three Vols., is this day publi.hed by Suur—
KIN and 111AnsuALL, Stationers'-court. The volume of
Etchings, by Captain HALL, in a few days.

The letters from Vienna attach great import-
ance to the unexpected visit of the SULTAN to the eminent
English merchant, Mr. BLACK (of the house of 'EMAIL,
BLACK, and Co.), at Constantinople. It is stated that it
is the first time the SULTAN ever deigned to visit a mer-
chant.. The conference lasted for several hours, during.
which the SULTAN converted in the most condescending
manner.