dispense the medicine without first obtaining the doctor's consent in writing. Nor is this all. The German pharmacist is forbidden to repeat a prescription containing any of the following ingredients unless it bears on each occasion the renewed signature, and date, of a doctor :-Chloral Hydrate, Chloral Formamide, Morphine, Heroin, Cocaine or their salts, preparations of Ethylene, Amylene Hydrate, Paraldehyde, Sulphonal, Trional, Urethane or Veronal. It will be observed that this prohibition includes all the wellknown habit-forming drugs, the unchecked use of which is thus effectively prevented.

In Austria the list of preparations which may not be sold without a prescription is included in the official pharmacopoeia. This country goes even further than Germany, as it also includes, inter alia, that useful and very popular purgative, aloes and extract of aloes, in addition to bismuth subsalicylate and subgallate, formaldehyde and iodoform. Hungary goes a step further and forbids the sale without a prescription of ammonium and potassium bromide, sodium and potassium iodide, and does not permit copies of prescriptions calling for a preparation enumerated in the list to be dispensed unless signed by the doctor.

The Russian restrictions correspond in the main with those in force in Germany, as it is forbidden to sell any preparation which, according to the instructions contained. in the pharmacopoeia, must be kept under lock and key or apart from other products and marked in a distinctive It must also be remembered that when the Russian Medical Board grants permission for a foreign product to be introduced, it also decides whether it may be sold only upon production of a prescription, or without this restriction.

manner.

In the foregoing, a brief résumé has been given of the restrictions which surround the sale of certain potent drugs on the Continent, and it is apparent that the legislation on

this subject is considerably stricter than is the case at home. The object of the legislator has been to prevent, as far as it is possible in dealing with human beings who often wilfully disregard measures enacted for their benefit, a person from acquiring through ignorance a habit for a certain drug, or from indulging indiscriminately in the use of potent remedies which may have disastrous effects on the health of the individual if not taken with proper precautions. It now remains to be seen what effect these restrictions have on the sale of compounded medicines placed on the market ready for use, and recommended by their manufacturers for the treatment or cure of certain diseases and afflictions to which flesh is heir.

As already mentioned, the German pharmacist is responsible for the proper application of the laws regarding the sale of medicines, therefore in the case of a patent medicine he must assure himself that it does not contain any drug included in the list of preparations which may not be sold without a prescription. For this reason, no preparation placed on the market containing even a small amount of opium, calomel, or chloroform, to give but a few examples, may be sold except the purchaser is able to produce a qualified medical man's prescription.

As regards the sale of patent medicines not containing potent drugs, it is generally acknowledged in Germany that the existing laws are far from satisfactory. There are numerous regulations in force of a more or less local character, enacted by the governments of the different States, or by the police authorities, designed to repress this "evil." Recognising that advertisement is the foundation of the sale of such preparations, most of these enactments are directed against the advertisements of preparations classed

"secret remedies"; in some cases the publishers of newspapers are warned against accepting such advertisements, or the exact formula of the preparation has to be

disclosed. An attempt has been made to regulate the subject on a uniform basis throughout the whole of the Empire by means of a decree issued by the Federal Council in 1907. A list of 153 patent medicines was drawn up, 30 of which may only be sold upon a prescription, regardless of the fact that they may contain quite innocuous constituents. In the case of all of these preparations it is forbidden to print on the label of the container or to distribute in any way any printed matter containing recommendations, testimonials, or expressions of thanks from persons supposed to have been cured by the use of the remedy, as well as any statements ascribing a healing or prophylactic action to the preparation. Further, it is forbidden to publicly advertise the preparations enumerated in this list in any manner whatsoever. British and American patent medicines are also represented in this list―e. g., Beecham's Pills, Elliman's Universal Embrocation (but not the embrocation for horses), Mother Seigel's Syrup and Pills, Blair's Gout and Rheumatic Pills, and Pink Pills.

The Imperial Government introduced in the Reichstag a few years ago a Bill dealing with the whole subject of quackery and the sale of patent medicines, but it was withdrawn before the discussion in Committee was brought to a conclusion. One of the provisions of this Bill included the creation of a central body, to be attached to the Federal Council, and which would be empowered with the duty of sanctioning the sale to the public of all preparations. This was to be the supreme instance against whose decision there would be no appeal, and extremely heavy penalties, including imprisonment in addition to fines, were provided for persons selling "secret remedies" the sale of which had been forbidden, as well as for publishers who infringed any of the rules regarding the advertising of such products.

It may be of interest to mention in connection with the above that the health authorities of several of the larger German towns have for years actively co-operated with the authorities in trying to suppress one of the worse features of modern enterprise. As soon as it is found that the manufacturer of a certain nostrum is bringing his preparation to the notice of the people in the town, an official "warning" is published in the daily newspapers. This takes the form of a communication disclosing the exact composition of the remedy, its cost and the real therapeutic effect of the ingredients, with a few general words of advice suitable to the case. In this way it is sought to enlighten the public about the true nature and value of the nostrums that are being brought to their notice by unscrupulous persons.

As regards the sale of "patent medicines" in some other countries, it is interesting to note that even the Great Republic has found it necessary to legislate in the interests of the health and pockets of her citizens and safeguard both against the effects likely to follow from over great confidence in the specifications of the advertisement writer with a boundless imagination in the matter of therapeutic properties. In the United States, according to the Food and Drug Act of 1907, compounded preparations containing alcohol, opium, morphine, cocaine, acetanilide, chloral hydrate or chloroform, inter alia, must bear on the label a statement of the quantity or proportion of any of these drugs therein contained. If the label bears any false or misleading statements regarding the preparation or its ingredients, the article is deemed to be misbranded, and the maximum penalty provided for transgressions against this Act is a fine of five hundred dollars, or one year's imprisonment, or both. It is significant to note that shortly after the passage of this Act the statements printed on the labels of several American patent medicines were considerably mitigated-for instance, instead of the word "cure" the

expression "remedy" was substituted. In this connection it is worth noting that in the case of American nostrums exploited in this country the printed matter distributed in Great Britain contains all the extravagant claims which passed unchallenged before the passage of the Act in question-a subtle acknowledgment of the absence in our Isles of a law compelling the label "to tell the truth" in the case of patent medicines.

In Austria and in Russia, before any compounded preparation may be placed on the market, permission must first be obtained from the Board of Health, and the manufacturer is compelled to give full particulars regarding the mode of preparation, cost, &c., of his product. These statements are verified in the Government laboratory, whereupon permission is granted, or refused, to market the article, with a statement to the effect that it is either to be sold only upon the production of a qualified practitioner's prescription, or that it may be sold without this restriction. Foreign firms wishing to place their medicines on the Austrian market must be legally represented by a qualified Austrian pharmacist in business in that country, who has to bear full responsibility personally in case of irregularities in the sale of the preparation being brought to the notice of the authorities.

It is certainly one of the foremost duties of the State to safeguard the health of the citizen by taking the necessary steps to prevent unscrupulous individuals from trading upon his infirmities, real or imagined, and also to protect him from himself by placing certain wise restrictions on the sale of such drugs as are likely to prove injurious to health if injudiciously employed. Foreign countries have gone considerably farther than Great Britain in this respect, and it is particularly significant to note that one of the last to find it imperative in the interests of its citizens to follow suit. and impose restrictions on the sale of certain habit-forming