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THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[August 10, 1872. 
*** No notice can be taJcen of anonymous communica¬ 
tions. Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenti¬ 
cated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily 
for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. 
Provincial Education. 
Sir,—Allow mo to make a few remarks on the question of 
spending a portion of tlie funds of our Society in the pro¬ 
vinces, a subject which has been, and now is, very properly 
occupying the attention of the Council and other parties 
interested in the result. 
Certain principles have been enunciated, and more than 
one scheme proposed, in order that action may be taken and 
money grants made. 
With very few exceptions, a feeling has been expressed that 
the Society should become more an educating body, or, in 
other words, pay sums of money to lecturers in certain districts 
of the country. 
Another feature, apparently gaining favour, is that of local 
examinations, competition for prizes, and payment for results. 
Believing that it is alike the duty and privilege for all who 
are interested in the well-being of the Society to offer opinions 
or make suggestions, I beg to submit the following, premising 
that, being alone responsible, I trust, however much I may 
disagree with others on some points, I will receive credit 
for honestly stating my views in regard to the advancement 
of young pharmacists at present existing, and even looking 
forward to those of the future. 
I therefore at once affirm that as a Society we ought not 
to pay lecturers, or even supplement salaries by payment to 
teachers. We are not in a state of pauperism, and I fail 
to see the necessity of spending money in that direction. No 
college, so far as I know, pays its professors with the view 
of enabling students to attend classes at a low or reduced rate, 
and if we are to be placed and kept in our proper position, I 
think that all who join our ranks ought to be able to pay 
a fan* sum for the knowledge they derive in the lecture-room 
or the laboratory. It is true there are endowed professorial 
chairs, but the funds necessary for such endowments have 
not been drawn from the pockets of past or present pupils, 
but have been obtained from different sources altogether. 
I do not therefore think that even in London there should 
be paid teachers,—in order that those wishing to attend such 
prelections might do so, at a price far below what the teaching 
is really worth. More than one has remarked that our school 
as at present existing, has been, and really is, supported more 
by young men fi'om the country than from London and the 
neighbourhood. Still so far from such a statement weakening 
my argument, I conceive it rather strengthens it. Take the 
number of young pharmacists in England, Scotland and 
Wales, and think how exceptional is the case of students 
appearing to study at Bloomsbury Square. We have in the 
metropolis a museum, library, laboratory, and lecture-room. 
Of these we may be fairly proud. I cannot see why the 
Council should not appoint professors, one for chemistry and 
pharmacy, one for botany and one for materia medica, and 
another for practical chemistry and pharmacy, giving to 
each the name and free use of rooms, museum and 
apparatus. But by all means allow these gentlemen to 
charge a fair remunerative fee for their tickets of attendance. 
Surely the labourer is worthy of his hire here as elsewhere. 
But I go further, and suggest that the opportunity now 
proposed, coupled with the recommendation of the Society, 
might induce a system of teaching so much superior to that 
carried out elsewhere in the same branches, that students ought 
to be attracted to the benches in Bloomsbury Square, in pre¬ 
ference to going anywhere else. I also believe that the present 
system of sessional teaching might be improved. At present 
the period is ten months/commencing in October and finishing 
the end of July. Now I ask would one hour a day for chemistry 
and pharmacy, and the same for botany and Materia Medica, 
extending over five months, not be an improvement over the 
present system ? Indeed, if required, two courses instead 
of one might be accomplished each year. If this were done, 
it becomes a question as to how many more might be able to 
arrange for a five months’ residence in London, who find it 
impossible to extend their stay during the present lengthened 
term of ten months. 
Our present professors are, in their various departments, 
clever and highly scientific men, and, from the time they 
have held their position, may be said to hold vested interests. 
In this case, it might be left to the Council to determine 
whether past services ought to be recognized, and if so, to 
what extent and in what form such recognition might be 
made. 
It will be at once evident that I object to the money pay¬ 
ment of teachers in London or out of it. But I would be 
willing to extend to the provinces the same privileges, but on 
a smaller scale, which our London friends are supposed to 
enjoy. I would be glad that our Society assisted in paying 
for a place of meeting, museum, library, and even apparatus, 
if the circumstances of the district warranted such a grant. 
Local effort might form a guide as to the money to be given, 
while such a system would bring within its scope the smallest 
town or village where a few of our members were in earnest 
in carrying out the good work. 
We ought never to forget that we as pharmacists differ in 
many respects from the requirements of those who study at 
universities. The Pharmaceutical Society does not exact 
attendance in certain classes and for certain periods. The 
young man in the country, who by reading, study, and appli¬ 
cation fits himself for examination, is just as certain to pass, 
the Board of Examiners in London or Edinburgh, as the- 
candidate wdio may have studied in the larger towns, or even 
in London itself. A case in point occurred here this spring, 
where a young man from a town in the far Highlands, not 
only passed his Major examination, but did so in Honours, 
while he had never attended a single lecture of any kind in 
his life. This I had from his own lips. 
What the operation and result of local examinations may- 
be is doubtful; but I think they deserve a fair trial, as it is 
a healthy thing to make it an open competition where prizes- 
are to be gained. Medals or books otght, I think, to be 
awarded; but in no case should money be competed for, as 
has been proposed. 
The question of lessening examination fees and annual 
subscriptions has been opened up; but I have a strong feel¬ 
ing that such a proceeding w'ould at the present time be pre¬ 
mature. The time may come when such a course might be 
deemed advisable for the interests of the Society; but a 
change such as this w r ould require very great consideration, 
before a step so serious could be safely taken. 
I feel certain that every existing chemist and druggist' 
would do the right thing if he determined not to bind an 
apprentice till he had passed his Preliminary examination. 
He would also be doing an equally just and right thing 
if he gave the same apprentice time and opportunity to 
attend classes on chemistry, materia medica and botany, or- 
where such did not exist, to give him time to carry on his 
studies in these sciences. In such cases, library and museum 
-would be excellent adjuncts to those young men; and by the 
aid of ordinary perseverance and study, be the means of 
frequently enabling many of them either at the termination 
of their apprenticeship, or very soon after, to pass the Minor 
examination with some degree of satisfaction to their masters 
and themselves. 
In conclusion, I would simply add that if the Council shall 
so arrange that grants of money are to be spent in pay¬ 
ing lecturers, then it will be felt in many places that they 
have been unjustly dealt with, while past experience has 
proved the fact that, -when the admission to excellent scien¬ 
tific lectures has been reduced to a minimum, few have been 
found to take advantage of the opportunity so offered, the 
paucity of attendances, I am sorry to say, being attributable 
either to disinclination on the part of the students themselves, 
or to the employers declining to give the requisite time. 
John Mackat. 
Edinburgh, July 31s£, 1872. 
Sir,—It is to the dogged perseverance of the British soldier- 
that we are indebted for the names of victories w r hich shine 
so resplendently on the pages of our country’s history. It 
was the same dogged perseverance which wrung from the lips 
of the great Napoleon the exclamation that a British soldier 
never knows when he is defeated. I desire to be animated 
with something of the same spirit, that I may be able to con¬ 
tinue the discussion of Provincial Pharmaceutical Education, 
and to do my share towards bringing it to a successful termi¬ 
nation. In my previous letters to you I have endeavoured 
to prove that it is the duty of the Pharmaceutical Society to. 
