696 
TWENTY-EIGHTH ANNIVERSARY 
cal bearing on ordinary business matters. Of course, young men who intended 
to qualify themselves for successfully following such a business, must become 
acquainted with a variety of technical terms, and he, consequently, always re¬ 
commended young men to study these matters, and in many cases had been 
thanked for such advice. If the candidate were not prepared in this way, when 
he presented himself, he perhaps would not understand a very simple question 
which might be put to him, and it would have to be repeated in several different 
forms before an answer could be obtained. Such a man might go away thinking 
he had been hardly used, whereas, on the other hand, his own ignorance had 
caused a serious waste of time and trouble to the examiner. There was another 
class of young men who were dissatisfied with the examination to which they 
were subjected, as being too easy, and not eliciting the information which they 
had been at the pains to acquire, and to such men as these only were difficult 
questions ever addressed, such as were far beyond the reach of the others he 
had referred to. 
Mr. Mackay, as one of the examining Board in Edinburgh, had been very 
much pleased at hearing the testimony of three gentlemen belonging to the 
examining body on the important point raised by Mr. Collins, because he knew 
that the feeling referred to did exist, and it was only by mentioning the matter, 
and having it corrected, that men’s minds would be disabused of such an error. 
The examiners in Edinburgh assimilated their practice as much as possible to 
that of their brethren in London ; and as regarded the Modified Examination, 
to which special allusion had been made, and the reading of prescriptions, all 
that was insisted upon was that the candidate should read them, at any rate, 
correctly. They must remember, however, that these were not to be the per¬ 
manent examinations of the Pharmaceutical Society. He was glad that in the 
Amended Act the objectionable word “ immediately ” had been expunged, and 
that any one who had, prior to the passing of the Act, been really engaged in 
dispensing physicians’ prescriptions, might be admitted to the Modified Exa¬ 
mination, but the time would come when this provision would no longer be in 
force, and then there would be only the Classical, Minor, and Major Examina¬ 
tions of the Pharmaceutical Society, when there would be no possibility of any 
disappointment from the cause referred to, because every young man would 
have to pass the Classical before going up to the Minor Examination. In con¬ 
clusion, he would merely add, that no one was ever rejected by the Edinburgh 
Board who gave evidence of being able to go behind a dispensing counter, and 
acquit himself there to the satisfaction of his employer and the public. 
Mr. Hasselby could bear testimony that in Yorkshire, at any rate, very few 
chemists’ assistants possessed any adequate knowledge of Latin, and they would, 
therefore, be very glad to learn, from the discussion that had taken place, that 
the examinations were not so difficult as they had supposed. He retained a 
vivid recollection of the kindness and encouragement which he met with when 
very nervously preparing to undergo his examination, which materially assisted 
him. The great drawback to acquiring knowledge in a country business was 
the very small amount of dispensing, and if this could be met in any way by 
the publication of notes and remarks in the Journal, it would be a great advan¬ 
tage. He would also suggest that there should now be a considerable increase 
in the number of local secretaries, not limiting their appointment, as at present, 
to towns which returned a Member to Parliament, or in which there were more 
than three Pharmaceutical Chemists. This was all the more necessary on ac¬ 
count of the numerous persons who were now seeking to get their names on 
the Register. He knew a case of a man who commenced life as a farm 
labourer, then became a huckster, and then kept a little grocer’s shop. He ob¬ 
tained a certificate from a surgeon, and had sent it up to be registered. Again, 
in the case of veterinary surgeons who kept an open shop, he thought some 
