] 24 
HIE ERROR AND THE REMEDY. 
members and non-members, the difficulty of discrimination would be then in¬ 
creased, and without advantage to either. Besides, this would be an unfair 
“ try backyou would then recognize two grades, members and masters, with¬ 
out considering the rights of unexamined Associates and Registered Appren¬ 
tices ; these of course must be examined, and become masters. 
Some of us are inclined still to stick to our old opinions; we have a great 
aversion to too many masters , for they seldom all think and act in harmony to¬ 
gether. 
We must have an examining body in the event of any future compulsory 
legislation ; we already have one in existence, and ivhy should it not form the 
nucleus upon which the legislature may base its operation ? Existing interests 
would in such a case be protected without doubt, and we think it quite well to 
wait a little longer , till matters are more ripe, for still more decided steps. 
There are two things which we shall do well to avoid, viz. internal dissension 
and external strife. Each one should fearlessly state his own opinion upon any 
subject at issue, and be careful in so doing, that he neither misrepresents the 
motives of the Society, nor underrates its privileges. Opinions will be criticized 
and arguments tested ; each should be prepared to hear it in a friendly spirit, 
and not be thwarted by adverse sentiments until the weight of reason brings 
conviction. 
The idea that we who are members, examined or otherwise, are better qua¬ 
lified and more intelligent than those who are non-members, should not be tole¬ 
rated, but looked upon as an injustice to many ; for we know that there are 
amongst them men of thorough scientific worth, and good men of business too, 
whose capabilities are equal, nay, in some cases vastly superior , to those who bear 
the name of Pharmaceutical Chemist. 
The time has not yet arrived for strictly professional honours, another genera¬ 
tion may witness the hoped-for result; for the present it is ours to wait, to add 
to the long list of experience, and bequeath to those who shall follow us as solid 
and firm a foundation as it is possible for them to build upon ; they in their 
turn will look back upon the ancestral line, and remember that their achieve¬ 
ments are due to the steady, self-denying purpose of those who now sleep in the 
dust 
Yours faithfully, 
Cheltenham , August , 18G3. G. G. Hornsby. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
Sir,—On page 52 of the August number of the Journal I learn with much plea¬ 
sure that the Pharmaceutical Society “ has laboured anxiously, earnestly, and not 
unsuccessfully for upwards of twenty years in promoting the education and wel¬ 
fare of the chemists and druggists of Great Britain.” Further on in the same 
Journal (page 68), I am informed of “the lamentable failure of our Society to 
accomplish the objects for which it was founded.” The w r riter of the latter para¬ 
graph heads his communication “ The Error and the Remedy,” and offers some 
hints for improvement, thrown out, as he states, for the purpose of ventilating 
the subject. There are no doubt many who will reply to these “hints” with 
greater effect than myself. Nevertheless, as a Major Associate of the Society, I 
should be glad to have a voice in the matter if you will permit me to say a word 
or two on the other side. 
If any error has been committed, it does not, I think, consist in “ trying to 
obtain a full-fledged, vigorous Society all at once,” but rather in placing this 
Society in a wrong, and therefore an unfavourable light. - Overlooking entirely 
“the objects for which it was founded,” we have been too much accustomed to 
