r\\\: l'K()Fi;S.S10X OF i'llARAlACY. 361 



rcgi^iration 1j\ tlie x'arious I'liarmacy I'oards, hut also inden- 

 tures between the apprentice and his employers, are optional. 

 The first step in reform is to make these conT])uls(try l)y Act of 

 Parliament, in order to ensure that the training subse(juently 

 undertaken shall be efficient. I'.etore indentures are allowed to 

 be taken out, registration with the Central Board should be 

 re(|uired, and this should not be granted, until the preliminary 

 examination has been passed. The latter should be of such a 

 nature as to be easily accessible throughout the L'liion, such as 

 the Matriculation or school examinations of the University of 

 the Cai)e of Q^od Hope. No great difficulty is im[)osed in pre- 

 scri1)ing these examinations, owing to the fact that good schools 

 nciw exist in every part of the Union. ( )f the tests mentioned, 

 the Matriculation examination is to be preferred, as it is the 

 usualh' accepted entrance to all other professions; but the diffi- 

 cult\ . ofttimes experienced, of obtaining recruits has sometimes 

 led to a relaxation of standard in thi^ respect, which for the 

 sake of the profession it is ho])ed will cease to obtain. 



If registration be granted before the preliminary test has 

 been successfull}- attained, a condition by no means rare hitherto, 

 a division of lalH)ur is caused with its usual attendant evil con- 

 sequences. Several cases of this Icind have come under the 

 author's notice an<l the experiences i)rove conclusively the un- 

 wisdom of the ])ermi'l. 



Indentures once obtained, the apprentice commences his 

 work in the pharniac\' for such i)eriods of time per day as may 

 be arbitrarily fixed by his employer, consonant with the laws 

 in force in the province or Union. I<"ree(l from the thraldom 

 of school life, he forgets for the moment the jiath that lies 

 before him, and even when he does allow himself to think of 

 it, four years, to his inexperienced vision, sjiells an ocean of 

 time as allowance for its preparation. Ilis dail)' work is sulj- 

 ject to considerable variations from the strictly commercial to 

 the strictly pharmaceutical, and also, whether it be in town or 

 country. More often than otherwise it is of such a nature that 

 he does not derive that amount of assistance from it which is 

 likelv to be of any considerable value in preparing him for his 

 final examination. 



As at ])resent constituted, there is only one test in this 

 country, and at this all the subjects considered necessary for 

 proficiency in professional practice have to be presented. It 

 is in this respect more than in any other that reform is most 

 desirable and necessary. In the paper already ([uoted, the 

 desirability for this was mentioned, and subsequent experience 

 has since abundantly confirmed the views there presented 

 namely, the conduct of the examination in two stages. Hie first 

 to be allowed after the lapse of one or two years of indentures, 

 and the second a I the end of the ])eriod. There is in most ciyi- 



