THE ERROR AND THE REMEDY. 
123 
a foundation solid and firm in the present, upon which future pharmaceutists 
may build. We know full well that in all great reforms our forefathers sowed the 
seed, worked hard, and struggled long, so that their posterity might reap the 
fruit, and glory in the reward which dear-bought experience had won, even 
though the actual labourers were silent in the tomb. Something akin to this 
must it be, we submit, ere the business of a chemist and druggist can rise to the 
rank of profession. There must be an amount of self-sacrifice on the part of the 
progenitor, ere the offspring can realize its future reward. 
The writer of the article in question “ is not by any means sure that he should 
consider association with our Society any recommendation to an assistantfor, 
says he, “ I would much rather take one from a good house of business than from 
the Pharmaceutical laboratory.” Happily all are not of this opinion, and if 
“ the feeling is very general in the trade, especially where anything like a country 
business is done,” we must remind the writer that he is forgetful of one thing,— 
the laboratory was never intended to make men of business , and if students 
have not acquired business habits prior to their course of instruction there, they 
are not likely to be turned out business men from thence; it was not designed 
to give them brains , but to extend their knowledge and deepen their intelligence. 
There are u black sheep” in almost every flock, but it is not fair to hold up these 
as representatives of the bod} r . 
In every business the principal has a duty towards his apprentice, as well as 
the apprentice having a duty towards himself, and it is here that the germ of a 
business man must be made; and here, again, the fault of incompetence in the 
individual must not be laid to the charge of the Society—he alone is responsible, 
and if he does not make a man of business suitable for “an extensive country 
business,” he may be fitted for a higher calling, and thus render himself worthy 
of the Society to which he belongs ; and of this we are certain, the man who is in 
possession of knowledge has greater power and larger resources for usefulness 
than the one who has not laboured to acquire it. We would not hold up exa¬ 
minations as the test of general proficiency, but they do represent the fact that 
the student has tvorleed for what he presents himself to attain ; and after all, 
it is not the mere possession of knowledge, but its application , which is to be de¬ 
sired, and as experience does not depend altogether upon age., but upon the use 
which each makes of ascertained facts, so the value of knowledge depends upon 
its practical application in any way. That young men obtain “nothing but 
honour from their toil and outlay ” is not strictly correct; they may never, pro¬ 
bably, have become possessors of their acquired knowledge but for the stimulus 
which prospective examinations afforded them, and thus they have a decided 
gain, which is above that of ordinary honours. 
Our right to the title of Pharmaceutist “ does indeed depend upon the con¬ 
tinuance of our guinea subscription.” This is no exceptional case : societies can 
no more do without money than its individual members ; and although present 
advantages may be small to its members, its ultimate benefits will be greater. 
The question, “ will it pay?” should be forgotten, as money value or money in¬ 
terest belongs not to the Society, but to the individual. We subscribe to the 
institutions of our land, not for self-aggrandisement, but for the elevation and 
benefit of our fellow-men ; in like manner should it be ours to support our own 
Society, which has for its object the better education of young men, and their 
elevation to a higher status by-and-by. 
The suggestion of your correspondent in regard to Pharmaceutical Chemists 
and Masters of Pharmacy, is, we think, untenable ; it would lead to a more 
odious distinction than at present exists, and these Masters of Pharmacy would 
become the very men whom the writer of the article in question would hesitate 
to receive as assistants, as their very curriculum would unfit them for these 
“ large country businesses and as the public do not now discriminate between 
