The chemist and druggist, 15. September 1859
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wishes, and in which will be chronicled, in an uniform size, properly indexed, &c., the announcements of all the leading Wholesale Houses, the fluctuations of the Markets, and Novelties, while still worthy the name and suited to the season. The Chemist and Druggist will be published in the middle of every Month, and lays claim to many features peculiar to itself. Amongst others, it w^ill be supplied only to Annual Subscribers, who must be members of the Trade ; single copies, except as specimens, not being issued. This arrangement will enable Manufacturers to quote in its pages their best terms, a special index of which will be given. No Advertisements except those bearing on the interests op Chemists and Druggists will be admitted ; therefore every page, whether it contains original, or adver- tisement matter, will be of interest to the man of business. For the convenience of Foreign, Provincial, and other Advertisers not having London agencies, an arrangement has been entered into with Messrs. Morgan Brothers, who will undertake, if required, the sale of any articles advertised in our columns. It only remains for us to add, that the price at which Ave shall supply our Journal, post-free, is 2s. 6d. per annum—a mere registration fee, placing it within reach of all, and scarcely covering the outlay for postage and wrappers; our object being to secure a circulation among the entire body of Chemists and Druggists at home and abroad. As an earnest of our decision to spare neither trouble nor expense in our attempts to realise this object, we may state that our outlay on the present number over and above any income derived from it exceeds £400. For our future guidance we earnestly solicit the suggestions of the Trade, either in the form of private letters, or, better still, for insertion in that portion of our columns devoted to Cor- respondence. We shall also be happy to receive any articles of a character likely to be 'useful or interesting to our readers. (FRENCH MANNERS. The comparative morality of England and France is a fruitful topic of dispute betu'ccn the inhabitants of the respective countries. Certain it is that what we consider subjects too peculiar to mention, obtain in France the greatest publicity; witness the following advertisement, extracted from " L'Indicateur des Chemins de Fer," the French Bradshayr, and made the text of an article in a late number of the " Saturday Ileview." The italics are ours:— f Maison d'Accouciiement, dirgee par Madame Robert, Ex-Sagc-Femme-eii-Chef a la Maternite de Laon.— Cctte Maison, situee au milieu d'un vaste Jardin clos de murs; et dans nne localite pen i'requenfee des environs de Paris, oflfre toutes les garanties de discretion desirables, et se recommando par sa bonne tenue et sa moralite.— I On y trouve a des prix moderes des (Jliambres elegantes et confoitables.—Salle de bains. Piano, liibliotbeque, 1 Journaux, etc. etc. Des Pavilions et un Jardin particulier sont a la disposition d'nnc darac qui desircrait rester scnlc.—On sc cbargc du pl<<ceme?it des enfants.—Nourriccs, Layettes. L'cxi'erieneo que Madame Robert a acquisc durant 17 ans, dans sa profession, et son titre de Profcsscur d'accouehements, par arrete de S. E. 1c Ministre de l'lnstruction publique, sont un sur garant des soins eclaires f que Ton recoit chez elle.—Pour tuns renseignemcnts, s'adresser a M. Robert, Medecine Accoucheur, Hue et He Saint-Louis, 27, a Paris, car, par reserve, on ne donnc l'adressc de l'etablisscment qu'autant qu'il est necessaire. Some of the advertisements admitted into our more necessitous periodicals in England arc no doubt disgraceful enough, but at least they do not offer facilities for vice. Conceive the state of indignation into which the English public mind would fall if Bradshaiv were to come I out with an advertisement offering a seclusion "with all the guarantees of discretion," but in " a locality for precaution's sake concealed, where illegitimate children might be safely, secretly, and luxuriously brought into the world, and afterwards comfortably got rid of. There is a , volume of significance in the claim of bonne tenue et moralite' for such a place. The openness of the offer, and the impudence of the claim, in themselves reveal the depth to which French public opinion has sunk in these matters. It is not that they furnish any exact measure of the prevalence of the offence which the advertisement proposes to shelter, but they do accurately indicate the depravity of the code of morals popularly received ; and a disease in the public opinion of a nation is a far more dangerous malady, and a far more certain sign of rapid moral decay, than any length, however great, of a mere calendar of crimes. A healthy public i opinion co-existing with individual laxity shows that the community is still struggling to shake I off the disease that has fastened on it; but when the public opinion itself is infected, the j struggle is at an end. "When the light that is in them is darkness, enlightenment seems almost hopeless. When vice has ceased to offer its homage to virtue, virtue must be weak indeed. About the extent of individual profligacy in the two capitals discussion is useless, because proof is impossible ; but we cannot be mistaken in the far more important fact, that the public opinion of England on matters of morality is far as yet from having sunk to the level of France.