Note 124 — 3. OF THE SOCIETY OF APOTHECARIES.[120]

This proviso was not necessary, for the Charter could in no way alter the authority given by an Act of Parliament.

Certain Apothecaries, and with some reason, object to this power; for as the Apothecaries Company have erected an extensive establishment for the sale and preparation of drugs and medicines, the private Apothecaries deem it unjust, that their competitors in Trade should be made the judges of the quality of the very articles in which both deal; the public, on the contrary, derive considerable benefit from the circumstance, as the lynx-eyed jealousy of rivals is added to other inducements of the public body to do its duty, and of the private individuals to expose their errors if they deviate from it: under such circumstances however the Society of Apothecaries ought not to have an absolute power of condemnation; an appeal should be allowed to the Censors of the College of Physicians, or some other authority competent to the decision of such cases.