ANNUAL MEETING. 
773 
Latin Grammar or Csesar’s Commentaries, he would be much more likely to fall asleep 
than to learu much. He did not think the examination was at all too hard for a lad 
who had just left school; but when a young man had been four or five years engaged 
in such work as he had described, he would very likely have forgotten much of what 
he had learnt, and this circumstance should be taken into consideration, and such young 
men be allowed to pass with a very moderate knowledge of Latin; he would, therefore, 
suggest that the local Secretaries should be allowed to state on the examination papers 
something about the young men ; for he believed the examiners in London did not 
know either their ages or circumstances; he had had upwards of twenty of this class of 
persons before him, about half of whom had been rejected ; whereas he was quite certain 
that if he had been the examiner, some of them, at any rate, would have passed, for they 
had quite sufficient knowledge of Latin for the ordinary purposes of business. 
Mr. Ince said he should like to ask, really for the sake of information, what sort of 
preliminary examination was suggested, because it was an extremely difficult question 
to answer. There was really no considerable amount of Latin required ; and he should 
like to know what was the real opinion of the members upon this point. 
Mr. Breton said he thought this matter might be very properly left with the Council. 
If a man who had been in the profession three years could not pass the Modified exami¬ 
nation, he was not fit to mix in ordinary society. The work which had been spoken of 
by one gentleman was only fit for porters, and ought not to be performed by a learned 
body of man. 
Mr. Urwick thought the Council ought to make the Preliminary examination as 
stringent as possible for lads of fifteen or sixteen, who had just left school; and if they 
could not pass, let them be shut out of the Society, but he did think that, in some 
cases, a little indulgence should be shown to the class of persons who had been men¬ 
tioned, who had entered the business with no idea of having to pass such an examina¬ 
tion, or having such a test imposed upon them. He believed, however, that leniency 
had been shown to this class by the institution of the Modified examination; whether or 
not that should still be kept open any longer, he thought, might be left to the Council. 
Mr. Horton (Liverpool) said as a member of the Society, who had passed all the 
examinations, he could say that mixing cow-drinks and horse-balls, and such-like opera¬ 
tions had never done him any harm, or prevented him qualifying himself for becoming 
a member of the Society. He looked upon the Modified examination as a mere nothing, 
and if men could not pass that, they ought not to be admitted. 
Mr. Jameson said all he asked was, that the Modified examination should be extended 
to meet the case of the young men he had spoken of, 
Mr. Balkwill (Plymouth) said perhaps they were all a little impatient for the day 
when none but thoroughly qualified men should be in the business; but, at the same time, 
he thought some consideration should be shown for those who had entered it a few years 
ago, who were not so thoroughly up to the mark as they should be. They must look a 
little at those who had had few or no opportunities for studying Latin, and there were 
many such, some in town, but more in country places, and if these lads were now to be 
called upon to study Latin, so as to be able to read any three or four chance sentences 
from Csesar, they would have to go back again to their schoolbooks entirely. He thought 
it would be a good plan if in the examination of such lads, who had been in the trade 
some little time, the Latin sentences chosen should be those which were in ordinary use 
in connection with prescriptions, such as were to be found in the old London Pharma¬ 
copoeia. In that way their attention would be drawn to that -which would be practically 
useful, and not diverted from that which was connected with their business to that which 
belonged to a liberal education. 
Mr. Chapman (Chipping Ongar) said one gentleman had said that certain things were 
only porter’s work, but he feared he had little sympathy with the country trade. He 
(Mr. Chapman) was the son of a London druggist, and knew what the London trade was, 
but he also knew what it was to conduct a druggist’s business in the country ; and even at 
the present time he was obliged to do a great deal of porter’s work, and to work hard for 
comparatively small pay. With reference to the Modified examination, he would plead 
for its extension; and he knew a young man at that moment who had been five years 
actively engaged in the trade, and who would go in for such an examination, if it were 
open to him, but he felt that the more stringent Preliminary examination, as now con¬ 
ducted, would completely shut him out. He thought such men might have a little 
