Warburton,  the  public  were  to  be  furnished  with  qualified
practitioners  in  every  department,  and  ample  means  provided
for  distinguishing  between  those  who  possessed  the  requisite
proficiency  and  others ;  but  no  penalties  were  to  be  inflicted
on  persons  who  presumed  to  practise  without  a  qualification,  it


78  ALLEGED    ABUSE    OP    PRIVILEGE.
being  considered  that  the  public  are  responsible  for  the  results
of  patronizing  such  persons.
The  machinery  of  the  plan  proposed  by  Mr.  Warburton  for
registering  medical  and  pharmaceutical  practitioners  was  so
complicated,  and  the  provisions  of  the  bill  so  unsatisfactory
to  those  who  advocated  the  restraint  of  unqualified  practi-
tioners, and  who  constituted  the  bulk  of  the  "Medical
Reformers,"  that  the  bill  was  withdrawn  at  an  early  stage  :
those  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  work  divided  themselves
into  two  or  three  parties,  and  other  bills  were  prepared  which
were  destined  to  share  a  similar  fate.  But  before  entering
on  the  notice  of  these  bills,  it  may  be  as  well  to  advert  to  the
operation  of  the  Apothecaries'  Act,  in  reference  to  Chemists
and  Druggists.  In  the  evidence  of  Mr.  Nussey,  in  the  Par-
liamentary  Committee,  June  9,  1836,  the  following  statements
were  elicited  : —

34.  The  Act  of  1815  reserves  to  Chemists  and  Druggists
whatsoever  privileges   they  possessed   at  the   time  the   bill
passed  ;  among  which  they  reckon  the  privilege  of  prescribing
and  dispensing  in  their  own  shops  :  does  not  this  privilege
occasion  medicine  to  be  practised  by  a  number  of  persons  who
have  not  received   any   regular  medical  education  ? — Most
undoubtedly.
