366 
LOCAL EXAMINATIONS. 
It is my opinion tliat until the relations between employer and employes are 
altered, and we receive a treatment more thoughtful and considerate than that 
which is the present characteristic of the business,—till that time things will re¬ 
main in their present state, as the initiative must commence with the masters, and 
we shall gladly show ourselves willing to accept the advantages offered, and to 
make an adequate return for them ; but for men to expect that we can work the 
whole of the day, study for an hour, go to bed, and go through the same routine 
day after day, is monstrous, and shows a want of knowledge of human nature of 
which any sensible man ought to be ashamed. I am thankful that I have not 
quite become a mere machine, a result to which the present system is rapidly 
driving us. I remain, Sir, very obediently yours, 
Frank Yincer. 
SevenoaJcs , Dec. 10, 1864. 
LOCAL EXAMINATIONS. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
Sir,—The letter of Mr. lleynolds on Local Examinations, in the Journal for 
January, is so important in its suggestions and bearings, that it should be no¬ 
ticed approvingly by all who have the interests of our Society at heart. The 
period through which we are now passing is one pregnant with importance to 
our trade, and demanding from our Council a wise, firm, and discriminating 
course. With the efforts of the United Society on the one hand, and the Me¬ 
dical Council on the other, with a new Session of Parliament immediately be¬ 
fore us, and the issue of a national Pharmacopoeia, there is need of great pru¬ 
dence and discretion also on the part of pharmaceutical chemists ; and on those 
combined, will, I believe, mainly depend the issue whether there shall result 
from it that position and status for the chemist which the importance of his 
calling deserves, or whether we shall go further back towards that free trade 
in drugs in which some seem so much to delight. It behoves the Pharma¬ 
ceutical Society to strengthen its position in every possible way, and to secure, 
in view of the coming struggle, the greatest accession of numbers ; and one of 
the most efficient means to secure this end would be, I believe, the institution of 
local examinations. 
Probably the experience of many will bear out that of my own, that having 
by the diligent improvement of the little time at the disposal of our apprentice 
or assistant prepared for the examinations, having had no help from teachers or 
schools, it appeared a most formidable undertaking to go up to London and 
face the Board of Examiners there; and had a local examination been available 
nearer at hand, how much trouble it would have saved us, and how much 
sooper should we have put our knowledge to the test. And I believe that there 
are many now who, if the examinations were brought nearer home, would be 
glad to attempt them, and who would thus become fully identified with our 
Society, instead of being lost to us as they are now. Of the best means of car¬ 
rying out these examinations, men of greater experience than myself in such 
matters should speak. I am disposed to think that, at the outset at least, an 
arrangement for the Minor Examination would suffice, and for this surely men 
could be found willing and able to undertake the office of examiners, with the 
sanction of the London Board ; or if, as Mr. Reynolds prefers, both examina¬ 
tions should be made “ Local” at once, the system of examination papers would 
meet the case: if such an arrangement is found sufficient for university de¬ 
grees, for masters’ certificates, for middle-class examinations, surely it may be 
adapted to the requirements of the Pharmaceutical Society. If those who 
