THE AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY. 
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him the bottle containing laudanum, saying she supposed he had taken the rest. 
Should have been with deceased not later than 12 o’clock on Friday night to 
save his life. Deceased had been under his treatment before, and had had 
sleeping draughts, but not lately. Was of opinion that death was caused by an 
excessive dose of laudanum. The jury found “ that the deceased died from the 
effects of an overdose of laudanum, administered by himself accidentally, to 
alleviate suffering and induce sleep.” 
At Moonta, on 18th May, Mr. H. W. W. Guest, chemist, was charged 
before Messrs. Wilkinson and Jones, at the Police Court, with indecent assault 
on a child aged 15 years, named Maud Polkinghorne. After a sitting of five 
hours and a half the bench thought that, the evidence being of a most con- 
flicting character, there was no probability of a conviction, and, after a short 
consultation, the case was dismissed. 
The syllabus of the Intercolonial Pharmaceutical Conference, to be held in 
Melbourne during October next, reached here on 17th May, and promises much 
in the interests of pharmacy. The resolutions to be brought before the delegates 
all touch upon vital points. Here there is absolutely no means whereby the 
pharmaceutical tyro can obtain any adequate knowledge of technical chemistry. 
The Hew Zealand Pharmacy Board hold examinations every six months, and 
some half a dozen candidates present themselves. Of this number perhaps a third 
get their certificates. This is not as it should be. However, the reason is not far 
to seek. When no definite course of study is prescribed, the student has to 
obtain his knowledge from private teaching, or, if far removed from a large centre, 
private study. In both cases he does himself an injustice. In the case of his 
obtaining the assistance of a teacher, the fee charged will be such that, unless he 
is a Croesus among apprentices, his means will not stand for any length of time 
the drain upon his purse. In the second case, where he reads by himself, if he 
does what in his eyes is honest work, he will burden his memory with much 
parrot knowledge, which will enable him to pass well, but fail entirely in 
making him a chemist. The result is, in the first case, that the examiners have 
but one course left open to them — viz., to refer the student to his studies for a 
longer or shorter period, as the exigencies of the case may seem to require ; and 
in the second case the qualified man himself will suffer, as it will take much 
time and labour after obtaining his certificate to utilise his course of restricted 
reading. As to a preliminary examination. Here it is a matter of fact that 
young men present themselves for examination whose knowledge of Latin and 
English is so rudimentary that, however good the papers might be as far as 
technical knowledge went, the form in which they are done is so abominably bad 
that the Board have no option left in the matter. It therefore becomes very evident 
that, writing in the interests of Hew Zealand youth, a Preliminary Examination is a 
thing to be desired. In the matter of apprenticeship, this would appear to be 
unnecessary. It undoubtedly binds many to a calling for which they have absolutely 
no aptitude, and makes the life of master and apprentice, in many cases, almost 
unendurable. The only plea for apprenticeship that can be urged with any 
show of reason is that the youth is “ learning the business,” but this is 
scarcely valid. In the old days embryo surgeons were apprenticed, but the 
profession have, for the most part, recognised what a farce the whole thing was. 
Ho doubt it was appropriate enough in the days of the barber surgeons, when 
there was a certain amount of technical skill required, which could only be 
