10 
^,THE CHEMIST AND DRUGGIST OF AUSTRALASIA. 
Jax. 1, 1887. 
but owing to pressure of other business, discussion on this 
point was postponed. 
A letter was read by the President from the Eev. Whitmore 
Carr (tutor to those apprentices who have already passed the 
X)reliminary examinatioii of this Society, and those now study- 
ing), in which that gentleman notified that “during the current 
year, fifteen students had studied, three had passed the exam- 
ination ; two had discontinued their work ; and ten were now 
studying ; the results had been good.'’ The President felt 
sure the Society was well satisfied with the above, and trusted 
apprentices residing in the country districts would avail them- 
selves of Mr. Carr’s tuition by means of the j)Ost, as was fre- 
quently done in England. 
The President hereupon called on Mr. Hill to read his paper 
entitled, “ The Birth and Progress of Pharmacy Acts.” The 
latter gentleman was, on rising, greeted with applause, and 
secured the close attention of his audience for a considerable 
time. At the conclusion of the paper a short discussion fol- 
lowed, in which the President, Vice-president, Messrs. Long, 
G. A. Parker, Poole, and White took j^art ; after which, on 
the proposition of the Vice-president, seconded by Mr. Parry, 
Mr. Hill was accorded a very hearty vote of thanks for his 
interesting paper. 
The Treasurer (Mr. Poole) presented a financial statement, 
which showed receipts £118 13s, expenses £51 2s. 2d., thus 
leaving a very fair balance in the Treasurer’s hands. 
Meeting then terminated. 
Adelaide, December 20. 
The Pharmaceutical Society has had a busy month. The 
last general monthly meeting possessed attractions which 
neither of its predecessors could lay claim to. 1 refer more 
particularly to the inauguration of the idea of drawing toge- 
ther its members by means of instructive and interesting 
papers on subjects intimately connected with the drug trade. 
The meeting was attended by about two dozen members and 
associates ; and I think one may fairly surmise that the 
majority were stimulated to attend by the advertisements 
■which had appeared in the “ dailies” for a few days announc- 
ing the reading of a paper by Mr. C. S. Hill on the “Birth 
and Progress of Pharmacy Acts.” On all sides one has heard 
the highest appreciation of Mr. Hill’s effort, and as a mark of 
the same may he taken the attentive hearing and vote of 
thanks which Mr. Hill was accorded. The paper dealt in 
detail more especially with the Pharmacy Act of Great 
Britain, and the rise of the chemist and druggist of to-day 
from the old body of apothecaries ; the paper dated in its re- 
ferences from the eighteenth century until almost to the pre- 
sent time, and very clearly impressed the hearers with the 
fact that before chemists and druggists obtained the recogni- 
tion which they, to a certain extent, enjoy nowadays at home, 
they had to persevere and overcome many difficulties. 
An animated discussion followed, exception being taken by 
some members to one or two remarks made by Mr. Hill, more 
particulary to the views expressed on the question of exam- 
inations for registration. While fully favoring the passing of 
examinations, and in fact urging the compulsory passing of 
the same by means of the “ Pharmacy Act,” Mr. Plill drew 
attention to the tendency there is nowadays of making the 
examinations more stringent year after year, and was of 
opinion that a too scientific training is not altogether a good 
thing, the latter was frequently placing altogether on one 
side the commercial, which in these days is not at all desira- 
ble : many members coincided with Mr. Hill’s views, while 
others were inclined to disagree, but by far the larger portion 
were amongst the former. 
The last portion of Mr. Hill’s embodied the report of 
lecommittee a})pointed some months back to enquire into 
^heworkings of Pharmacy Acts, and in presenting this, Mr. 
Hill, as the mouthpiece of the committee, strongly advocated 
the obtaining of an Act for South Australia, and expressed 
approval of the Act in force in Quebec, Canada, as being 
almost all that is required to x^rotect both chemists and the 
Xmblic. 
PiiELiMixAp.'Y Ex-Uiinatiox. — The half-yearly examination 
took place at the Society’s room on December 15, six candi- 
dates presented themselves. The President (Mr. Harrison) 
and Secretary (Mr. W. J. Main) were present during the three 
hours (7 p.m. to 10 p.m.) of the examination. The following 
gentlemen i^assed J. E. Coudrey, W. Eisk, F. W. Snook. 
The following were the questions set for the examination : — 
PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
PllELIMINARY EXAMINATION, DeC. 1880. 
Latin. 
1. Translate into English two, at least, of the following passages : — 
A. — Quo xjroeUo snblati Helvetii, quod quingentis tantum inultitu- 
clinem cquitum propulerant, audacius suhsistere nonnunquain et novis- 
sime agmine proelio nostros lacessere coepeiuint. Caesar suos a proelia 
continebat, ac satis liabebat in praesentia hostein rapinis, i:iabulation- 
ibuspopulationibusque prohibie. Ita dies circiter quindecim iter fece- 
riint, uti inter novissiniuin hostium agmen ct nostnnn ijrimum non 
amplius quinis aut senis millibus passuum interesset.” 
B. — Duni haec in colloquis geruntur, Caesari nuntiaiitum est equites 
Ariovistipropius tuiniilum aceedere et ad nostras adeqiiitare, lapides 
telaque in nostros conjicere. Caesar loquendi finem facit, seque ad suos 
recepit suisque imperavit, ne quod omnino telum in hostes rejicerent. 
G. — Helvetian! jam per angustias et fines Sequanorum suas copias 
transduxerant, et in Aeduorum fines pervenerant eorumque agros popu- 
labantur. Aedui, quum se suaque ad iis defendere non possent, legates 
ad Caesarem mittunt rogatuin auxilium : Ita se omiii tempore de populo 
Romano ineritos esse, ut paene in conspectu exercitus nostri agri vas- 
tari, liberi eorum in servitutem abduci, oppida expugnari non debueriiit. 
ti. Decline: — Agmine, copias, exercitus and give genders. 
3. What is the subject of “ meritos esse ?” Explain this construction 
and state when it occurs ? 
4. Give the perfect, supine, and infinitive present, of mittunt, debuerint, 
trans-duxerant, possent. 
5. Translate into Latin :—(l) Orgetorix is chosen to carry out those 
things. (2) That fact was told the Helvetii by a spy. (3) All things 
being prepared for the setting out they fix the day. (4) On the next 
day at daybreak. 
English. 
1. Write the following nouns in the plural number: — Lady, loaf, hoofy 
staff, ox, ass, focus, money, genus, crisis. 
2. What is the distinction between “strong” and “weak” conjuga- 
tions of verbs ? Write the first person of the past tense, and the perfect 
participle of each of the following verbs, and assign each to its respective 
conjugation (strong or weak) : — Smite, rise, raise, lie, lay, order, begin, 
mix. 
3. Explain the functions respectively of the adverb conjugation and 
preposition. Write three short sentences each containing onp: of the 
above jiarts of speech. 
4. Write down two of the “ordinal numeral adjectives” and say 
whether they belong to the Quantitative or Demonstrative class of 
adjectives. 
5. Write a short composition upon any one of the following subjects: — 
Teetulpa. A shipwreck. The advantages of National Industrial Exhi- 
bitions. A description of some place. 
Arithmetic. 
The working of these examples must be written out in full. 
1. Find the value of ^ ^ ^ ^fi 
2. A person who possessed three-eighths of a mine sold two-thirds of 
his share for £2520 : find the value seven-eighths of the whole mine. 
3. Find the cube of '5 (fourth place of decimals). 
4. A litre contains 1'76077 pints ; express the caxiacity of a kilolitre 
in gallons and decimal parts of a gallon. 
5. A gram is 13.4323487 grains ; express in pounds and decimal parts 
of a pound avoird. a kilogram and a half (to sixth place of decimals.) 
6. A mixture is made of 6 gallons of spirit at 12s. 6d. per gallon, 4 gal- 
lons at 18s. 9d., and 10 gallons at 22s. 8d. ; what is the value of a gallon 
of it ? 
While writing of the x^reliminary examination, I would draw 
the attention of our country apprentices to the _ suggestion 
thrown out by the President at the last meeting of the 
Society, viz., To avail themselves of the Bev. W. Carr’s 
tuition by means of a “postal system’' of studying for the 
examination ; many students in the old country rely solely 
upon a system of this kind to help them through the examina- 
tion, and the results prove its successful application. The 
Rev. Whitmore Carr’s address is Charles-street, Norwood, 
8.A. 
Coux'ciL Nomixatioxs. — N ominations for next year’s Council 
should, according to byelaw, have been received “on or before 
December 9,” not later, but by that date no nominations bad 
been received. This, at first sight, appears strange, but per- 
sonally, I see only one solution to the lack of noininations, 
viz., that the members of the Society are so well satisfied with 
the work done during the year by the present Council and 
officers that they are not disposed to bring forward 
candidates in opposition to those now occupying the Coun- 
cil seats. I have heard it whispered that this con- 
jecture is the correct one; if it is, the present Council should 
feel gratified by the continued confidence it maintains. Bye- 
law No. 31 states: — “The Council and officers shall hold 
office until such time as their successors are appointed the 
latter not being forthcoming, it seems likely that this year’s 
Council will retain its position for the ensuing year. Bye-law 
29 gives the Council power to nominate as many persons as 
may be necessary to fill up the list of vacancies. 
Interxatioxal Conferexce. — T he proposal to hold a con- 
ference of this description in our city next year — at the time 
when we hope to he celebrating the dual events, viz., the 
“ Queen’s Jubilee,” also the Jubilee of South Australia — which 
was originated in the last number of “ The Chemist andDru(^^ 
