258 
INDUCEMENTS TO STUDY. 
for men to seek such a title? Would they devote the time and incur the 
expense involved in preparing for the examination on passing which the title 
would be granted ; and, especially, would they do this, while there was another, 
a lower, and more easily acquired title, legally recognized as indicating a suffi¬ 
cient qualification ? 
In answering these questions it is necessary to consider what the incentives to 
study, and the inducements to seek a title of distinction are in cases such as the 
one here contemplated. Under any circumstances the acquirement of a title by 
examination involves some amount of study, of time devoted to the work of 
preparation, and of labour in getting up the requisite knowledge; and, al¬ 
though in one case there may be a much larger demand on these than in 
another, the question constantly recurring to the mind of the candidate will be, 
Is the result worth attaining after all ? The more perfectly the test can be 
made to indicate the qualification, the more fully the qualification meets the 
requirements of the duties to be performed, and the more forcibly the public 
can be made to appreciate the value of the knowledge represented in the 
acquired title, so much the stronger will be the inducement to its acquirement. 
It is not the easily-acquired title that is most sought after, but that which is 
most highly thought of by competent judges, and which indicates the greatest 
amount of talent and of labour bestowed in its acquirement. What value 
would be attached to a title the acquirement of which involved no necessity for 
study or previous preparation ? Is not the value of the prize to a great extent 
proportional to the difficulty of its attainment ? This is seen to be the case 
with reference to academical degrees, for wherever they are easy of attainment 
they are but little thought of ; while those which can only be acquired by dint 
of much study are eagerly sought after. The University of London is rapidly 
rising in estimation in consequence of the strictness of its examinations, and the 
soundness of the qualifications implied in its degrees. 
With reference to the examinations of the Pharmaceutical Society, we 
believe, as in other cases, that the more completely they are made thorough tests 
of the qualifications required for the duties to be performed, the more they will 
rise in public estimation, and the greater will be the number of persons seeking 
to pass them. It is not by lowering, but rather by raising the standard of 
qualification in those to whom the title of Pharmaceutical Chemist is granted 
that the number of candidates will be increased, and men induced, by systematic 
study, to prepare themselves for the ordeal. 
If the Minor examination should be considered to imply an amount of know¬ 
ledge sufficient to qualify men for the general duties involved in the practice of 
pharmacy,—if it should be adopted as the legal standard beyond which the Le¬ 
gislature may hesitate to go, in passing a restrictive measure, for fear of unduly 
restricting the means of providing for the wants of the public,—it will be 
necessary in the interests of pharmacy, and with a view to the advancement of 
this branch of medical science, that the inducements to study should be suffi¬ 
cient to ensure among a class of pharmaceutists a deeper and more extended 
cultivation of pharmaceutical knowledge than the legal standard would require. 
To ensure the accomplishment of this object, the higher or Major examination 
should be made sufficiently strict and comprehensive in its requirements to ren¬ 
der the title conferred upon those who pass it worthy of their ambition. If 
this examination be made a good and ample test of a high degree of proficiency, 
if it be applied with unflinching and unvarying strictness, so that none but 
men of high pharmaceutical attainments should ever pass it,—we feel assured 
that the title it confers would be more than ever sought after, and that the de¬ 
sire of obtaining this title would become a powerful inducement to study. 
