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In his famous dictum, the 16th century physician and alchemist Paracelsus declared that “Alle ding sind gifft und nichts ohn gifft,” “Everything is a poison and nothing is not a poison,” by which he implied that it was always possible to have too much of a good thing. Today, in contrast, we typically regard poisons as substances that can cause harm in small quantities. However, the 1868 Pharmacy Act, “An Act to regulate the Sale of Poisons, and alter and amend the Pharmacy Act 1852,” took more of a Paracelsian approach, including as it did in its schedule, its list of proscribed poisons, both opiates and chloroform, constituents, along with prussic acid, of formulations known as chlorodynes, which had caused many cases of poisoning. The aim of the act was not merely to protect the public but also to afford a new breed of chemists and druggists and pharmaceutical chemists the right to a monopoly on the dispensing of medicines, while at the same time protecting others, such a ....