July 20, 1372.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 57 
I confess I have felt no inclination to join in the clamour 
for help which has been raised by or on behalt ot those who 
are called (I fear too often unworthily called) the students of 
the present day; and I must say I feel a great contempt for 
those who, having passed their examinations, are jealous of 
■there being advantages provided tor others which they did 
mot enjoy, or enjoyed only at a much greater cost. 
Me can only hope to come to a satisfactory conclusion 
when these petty considerations give way to a broad and 
liberal spirit, and when students evince that earnest and in¬ 
dependent manliness which would be ashamed to complain of 
difficulties which are not now anything like so great as those 
which have been passed through by the better part of the 
pharmacists of the present day. . . 
The report on provincial education which appears in the 
Journal for November, 1870, page 389, has certainly not 
been equalled for wisdom, justice, and breadth of view .by 
•anything you have published since, unless I make exception 
in favour of Mr. Reynolds’ remarks at the meeting in Leeds, 
reported in the Journal for March, 1872, page 751. It ap¬ 
peal’s to me that an impartial critic could scarcely examine 
the former with subsequent proposals and not come to the 
conclusion that the project as developed by Mr. Reynolds was 
the most statesmanlike, and was wcH worthy of a fair trial. 
It can scarcely be urged with any fairness that the Act 
making examinations compulsory has taken by surprise any 
■engaged in pharmacy, seeing that it was only the consumma¬ 
tion of the struggle carried on by our Society for nearly 
thirty years, and latterly very freely discussed by.outsiders 
as well as members of the Society. But, even if this is to be 
granted, it is only those who have been so blind, and now 
find that they must pass the Minor examination,, who have 
the faintest claim upon the Society to lighten their burden; 
and as they will naturally cease to exist in the course of a 
few years, the Society should not be expected to promote 
education at less than its legitimate cost for more than a 
brief period. To provide the student with lectures or in¬ 
struction of any kind for a payment which is not remunera¬ 
tive to the teacher is to pauperize the student and retard the 
advancement which should take place in the status of the 
pharmacist. 
Now that the qualification is fixed, the next thing should 
be to experience such a demand lor education in pharmacy as 
would naturally lead to the supply being provided, by those 
who are competent and willing to sell their services. jNo 
school can be considered satisfactory which is not self-sup¬ 
porting, and on this point only have provincials a ground ot 
complaint againt the central institution, the lectures, cost¬ 
ing £600, are only met by fees amounting to £200. 
The lecture fees at Bloomsbury Square ought to be raised 
■till they cover the stipends paid to the lecturers. I think 
Is. per lecture could not be regarded as too much for stu¬ 
dents to pay, and if the instruction they require cannot be 
purchased for that, it only remains lor them to pay so much 
more. And, on the other hand, if the lectures aie not w oith 
as much as they cost, why continue them ? That students 
are prepared to pay liberally for instruction which they can 
appreciate, is evident from the fees paid in the laboratory. I 
believe it only requires a trial to prove that the students 
■would willingly pay such fees as would make the lectures 
self-supporting in London. And as to lectures.in the pio- 
vinces, I think it would require much discrimination and 
judgment, and a careful examination of the meiits of .each 
provincial institution, to know which were, worthy ot the 
support which it would be creditable and judicious of the 
parent body to give. A clear prospect of permanence and 
efficiency should be the first consideration, and the next 
should be a class of students each paying at least Is. per lec¬ 
ture. If these fees did not provide remuneration to the lec¬ 
turer to the extent of 21s. per lecture free of necessary 
expenses, I think the Society would do wisely in making up 
the deficiency. , , , . . „ . . 
In the report presented by Mr. Scuacht, the third ot his 
Ul principles ” appears to contain some ambiguity and the 
root of discord. It appears to me that justice is to an ex- 
eeedingly small extent involved in the question. The s u- 
dent class have contributed little or nothing to the surplus 
.£2000, and cannot be said to have any claim upon it. It t e 
Council were to pay handsomely to Durham, in support ot, 
-education there, that would not involve any injustice towards | 
the students in Newcastle; they would still get all they pay 
for, and would be at liberty to buy their instruction in the 
best market. If it involved injustice at all, it would be I 
towards those who, having contributed considerably towards 
the Society on the understanding that its object was “ to 
advance chemistry and pharmacy and promote a uniform 
education among those practising the same, and who might 
consider that this object was not best carried out by esta¬ 
blishing a school in Durham. It is not justice so much as 
policy which demands our consideration, and the question is 
simply, taking a comprehensive view of the matter, what is 
best to be done with the surplus income of the Society ? 
I also must protest against tlio attempt at anything Iiko 
an approach to universality. I think nothing is so far ie- 
moved from wisdom as thus scattering our efforts. I u ould 
rather that Newcastle should be excluded from the operations 
of this scheme, on the ground of its being insufficiently im¬ 
portant, than that its school should trail out a languid and 
unhealthy existence, kept alive by sucking its parent s milk, 
when it ought to be living on the healthy food of earnest and 
numerous students. I think there is more fear of injustice 
bein" done to those who are wishful to establish schools 
upon the only permanently satisfactory basis, that of being 
self-supporting, than to any others connected vith the ques¬ 
tion, and that injustice wiil arise, first, out of the competi¬ 
tion with those who give gratuitous lectures, acja.ssvh.cn 
I am happy to think will not long come in competition with 
those who look for and work for remuneration,—and it will 
arise, secondly, out of the idea which students are like y o 
imbibe, from the recent tone of. the.discussion,, that they 
cannot be expected to pay a fair price for their mstruc- 
The objectionable features of Mr. Schacht s scheme all 
appear to result from his endeavour to be “just and univer¬ 
sal •” and I do not feel it necessary either to criticize it m 
detail or to attempt suggesting a better, so long as the 
scheme advocated by Mr. Reynolds two years ago, and which 
I consider so much superior, yet remains untned. 
Barnard S. Proctor. 
11, Grey Street, Newcastle , 
July 1 6th, 1872. 
Sir —The subject of provincial pharmaceutical education 
aas for many years occupied the attention of our. leading 
men. Long before the Minor and Major examinations be¬ 
came the legal tests of qualification for occupying, the posi¬ 
tion of Chemist or Druggist and Pharmaceutist, efforts 
were made by various associations of chemists and druggists 
in our large towns to provide means by which apprentices 
and assistants might raise themselves to the standard re¬ 
quired for the efficient discharge of the duties devolving 
upon them, and for afterwards occupying a much higher 
position as pharmaceutists than their predecessors had done. 
These efforts took the direction, in the first, p ace, of meetings 
for the discussion of subjects connected with pharmacy. 
Afterwards they extended to courses of ectures on chemistry, 
botany, materia medica, or pharmacy, the formation ot luna¬ 
cies, collection of museums, and other means. The results, 
however, as regards lectures, were discouraging; few availed 
themselves of the opportunity afforded (sometimes at a nomi¬ 
nal cost); and pecuniary loss was the almost invariable con¬ 
clusion of each attempt. , , 
When, however, the attainment of such a standard became 
compulsory before commencing business, it might have been 
expected that young mm would hive gladly madeuse ot eiciy 
means at their disposal for the acquisition of knowledge, and 
that whenever provincial associations m large iow^ rna' 
arrangements for the delivery of lectures by thorou hly 
qualified gentlemen, on such subjects as chemistry, 
materia medica and pharmacy, the classes would have been 
well attended, the students eagerly in earnest m mastering 
the subjects brought before them, and the results satisfactory 
and encouraging to the managers. Has this been the ease ? 
Let those who have been connected with such movements 
and the reports, which, from time to time, appeal in the 
Journal of their proceedings return the answer, which will, I 
believe be in almost, if not quite, every case, JN o. it s 
being so, and there being no other school o£ p P ^ LoSloT th'l 
of the name in this country than the one in Lond , 
want of such schools being on all hands admitted and t 
necessity for them becoming daily more urgent, the question 
presents’ itself, what is to bo done? Many crude suggestions 
have been made on this point, most o v ^ m 
it for granted that a sufficient expenditure ot money w Ut 
secure the end in view. 
