312 
PHARMACEUTICAL MEETING, EDINBURGH. 
who are still toiling in it, that pharmacy has been less cultivated in this country than 
almost any other branch of practical science, and that it is far behind the position which it 
ought by this time to have attained, simply on account of the paucity of labourers em¬ 
ployed in the held. The Pharmaceutical Society has done much to induce its members 
to pursue their calling upon a higher platform than that of mere commerce • but it 
is only by encouraging the youth of the profession to devote themselves ardently to their 
studies, that the Society can hope to raise a force of well-disciplined and intelligent 
labourers capable of gathering the harvest which is still waiting to be reaped. For my¬ 
self, I cordially commend you to a hearty and diligent pursuit of your calling, firmly be- 
lieving that ample honours and satisfactory emoluments await"you if you persevere 
And from the very outset, let it be the aim of each of you to attain the highest position 
which his strength and capacity can entitle him to ; for though all may not reach the 
summit, yet all who try may attain highly creditable positions, and the more that there 
are who rise above the level of mediocrity, the more honourable will be the status of every 
Pharmaceutical Chemist, 3 
But, to return from this digression, you are now to enter upon a course of scientific 
study, and you wish to know to what subjects you can most profitably devote your at- 
tention. _ T hey may be divided into two classes, namely, the essential and the non-essential. 
i ij is essential, because it enables you to recognize many substances which are 
not distinguishable by their physical characters alone, it enables you to take each sub¬ 
stance to pieces so that you may learn of what it is composed, it enables vou to foretel 
the changes that will take place when you bring together two or more substances which 
tend to an interchange of elements, it enables you to separate the active from the inert 
constituents of organic medicines, it enables you to apply antidotes in certain cases 
o poisoning, it enables you to detect the adulterations which are but too common in im- 
poi ec 1U S S 5 an enables you to perform with ease and intelligence many operations 
which would otherwise be vexatious and mysterious, and to produce articles in a useful 
and elegant form which would otherwise be clumsy and to a considerable extent inert. 
Associated with chemistry, I think that an elementary course of Physics or Natural 
1 hilosophy is also essential, whereby you would learn to perform dexterously, and with 
a minimum of force, many mechanical operations, and to comprehend many appearances, 
explain r6SUlS ’ Whlch d ° n0t fal1 within the P rovlnce of the lecturer on chemistry to 
Many is essential for it is the science that teaches you how to distinguish one medi- 
/ rom a ?. oth e r ’ how to discriminate between good and imperfect specimens 
teC i tS m hlStlC - at i° nS ;f 1 nd h i° W t0 ColIect medlcinal plants, so as to obtain them at 
the more valuable periods of their lives, and from the most suitable localities. Vegetable 
El yS t°J 0 f? mak6 i ?° U ‘\ c( iu am ted with the habits of plants, with the modes of their 
fhpWr t A 6 ™ cu ! atlon , of th eu-fluids,_ the elaboration of their juices, the production of 
mi fruits, the deposition oi their tissues, and the secretion of their active principles. 
Geographical botany shows you that plants are restricted in their distribution over the 
earth s surface by certmn iiTefragable physical laws, that climate and soil exercise an 
irresistible influence over them that plants which grow under one condition of climate 
and soil either cannot be reproduced under other circumstances, or that they may be re¬ 
produced with the same external characters, but differing in other respects from the 
p an s as giown m their native locality; so that a fruit that is obtained from a plant 
^rown under one class of circumstances may be edible and agreeable, whilst, if it be 
Sf pHmtf by a pIa , nt -, m ext f nal appearance identical, but grown in other circumstances 
hmv I' latc and SQl1 ’ it may be nauseous and even poisonous. Botany teaches you also 
V r 6 medlC1 ? 1 P 1 ? 15 , t0 the g reatest advantage, the influence of the seasons, 
the lotation of crops, and mucn other important knowledge. 
w}l Z 'Imprudence is, to a certain extent, essential, because it defines the position 
which you hold as m some respects, the guardians of the public safety. To your charge 
lllSTiT certain articles, popularly termed poisons, the indiscriminate sate of which 
o d lead to deplorable results. Medical jurisprudence, in its division of toxicology 
commerce 7 Tn i°tntf f Xte - nt the , se sub f ances ma 7 be regarded as articles of promiscuous 
l erce ’ and to .vhat pains and penalties you would be subjected by a wilful or care¬ 
less disregard of the laws relating to this department of medical police 
ran lpo!f- C °- 1S eSS< ; ntla1 ’ and J bave P la ced it last in the list of essentials, not be- 
ause it least in importance, but because it is really a digest or compendium of the 
