JACOB

See also:

• BELL
• BELL, ALEXANDER MELVILLE (1819—1905)
• BELL, ANDREW (1753—1832)
• BELL, GEORGE JOSEPH (1770-1843)
• BELL, HENRY (1767-1830)
• BELL, HENRY GLASSFORD (1803-1874)
• JACOB BELL (1810-1859)
• BELL, JOHN (1691-178o)
• BELL, JOHN (1763-1820)
• BELL, JOHN (1797-1869)
• BELL, ROBERT (1800-1867)
• BELL, SIR CHARLES (1774—1842)

BELL (1810-1859)  , British pharmaceutical chemist, was born in London on the 5th of March 181o . On the completion of his education, he joined his father in business as a chemist in Oxford Street, and at the same time attended the chemistry lectures at the Royal Institution, and those on medicine at King's College . Always keenly alive to the interests of chemists in general, Bell conceived the idea of a society which should at once protect the interests of the trade, and improve its status, and at a public meeting held on the 15th of April 1841, it was resolved to found the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain . Bell carried his scheme through in the face of many difficulties, and further advanced the cause of pharmacy by establishing the Pharmaceutical Journal, and superintending its publication for eighteen years . The Pharmaceutical Society was incorporated by royal charter in 1843 . One of the first abuses to engage the attention of the new body was the practice of pharmacy by unqualified persons, and in 1845 Bell drew up the draft of a bill to deal with the matter, one of the provisions of which was the recognition of the Pharmaceutical Society as the governing body in all questions connected with pharmacy . For some time after this the question of pharmaceutical legislation was widely discussed . In 185o Bell successfully contested the borough of St Albans in order that he might be able to advocate his proposals for reform more effectually in parliament . In 1851 he brought forward a bill embodying these proposals . It passed its second reading, but was considerably whittled down in committee, and when eventually it became law it only partially represented its sponsor's intentions . Bell was the author of an Historical Sketch of the Progress of Pharmacy in Great Britain . He died on the 12th of June 1859 .