150 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS; 
[August .24, 1872, 
Manchester, Bristol, Bath, Liverpool, Newcastle, Norwich, 
and Birmingham, and the Editor of the Journal trusts 
that “ the time is not far distant when these and other 
branches of our Institution will he provided with some 
means of instruction for students in Pharmacy. The 
manner in which this is to he effected,” he goes on to 
say, “ requires mature consideration. It is evident that 
the number of country schools must he limited, since no 
institution of this kind could flourish without a certain 
number of pupils. The amount and description of 
assistance afforded by the Council to such measures 
must also be regulated on fair and equitable principles, 
and must be dependent on the state of the funds of the 
Society. In some places, facilities may exist for adopt¬ 
ing the lectures of a medical school, in others it may be 
found necessary to establish separate courses for our 
students. In these and other particulars, a variety of 
circumstances must be considered, and whatever plans 
are adopted, should not be decided on without the most 
mature deliberation. Our object is to establish an 
effectual and permanent system of education, in effect¬ 
ing which object, no contingency should be overlooked ; 
and whatever plans are proposed, must be considered 
with reference not merely to any particular locality, 
but to the general interests and requirements of the 
Society at large. We are not yet prepared to go into 
the details of the subject, but to allude to it on the 
present occasion in consequence of the communications 
which we have received from correspondents in the 
country; being anxious to promote pharmaceutical 
education by every means in our power, and at the same 
time to point out the necessity of considering so com¬ 
prehensive a question in all its bearings.” 
The foregoing quotation is lengthy, but I am sure that 
neither it nor the others I have given or shall give, will 
be considered out of place, for they not only illustrate 
the rise and progress of pharmaceutical education in 
this country, but have a direct bearing on the questions 
of pharmaceutical education in the provinces and in 
London, w*hich are now occupying so much of the atten¬ 
tion of the Council and members of the Pharmaceutical 
Society. 
In the Report of the Council for the year (1842-3), 
the country members are assured that the establishment 
of provincial schools and the extension of means for 
facilitating education throughout the country locally, has 
not been lost sight of; at the same time they are reminded 
that a reduction of the annual subscription from two 
guineas to one, which had been mooted, would deprive 
the Council of the means of affording pecuniary aid to 
provincial schools. The erection of a laboratory at 
Bloomsbury for the practical study of Chemistry is also 
hinted at; and thus even at this time, while the collapse ! 
of local schools is foreshadowed, such an extension of the 
metropolitan is contemplated as was destined to attract 
thither pupils from the whole country, and make it a 
provincial as well as a London school. 
On August 15th, 1843, the subject of education was 
maturely considered by the Council (1. 3. 104). “The 
Council were unanimous in the opinion that it was im¬ 
perative upon the Pharmaceutical Society to introduce 
a more regular plan of education for students in Phar¬ 
macy than had hitherto existed in this country, and to 
extend the benefits of public instruction to all places in 
which it may be found practicable; at the same time it 
was thought expedient to proceed with some degree of 
caution, and to establish schools in such towns only as 
could be expected from their population and other ad¬ 
vantages to support them creditably.” Manchester was 
at once aided by a grant of thirty guineas, which, with 
the pupils’ fees, enabled the local committee to defray 
all expenses incurred in the delivery of twelve lectures 
on chemistry, and the same number on general and < 
medical botany. As further evidence that originally 1 
there was no intention to confine pharmaceutical educa- ' 
tion to the metropolis, attention may be drawn to the 1 
, fact that grants of money purely for educational pur- 
i poses were also made in 1843 to Bath, Bristol, and 
■ Norwich, the total amount thus given tc provincial 
i schools during the year being £221. 10s. (1. 3. 236 and 
i 567). The reports from the four branch schools were 
i most encouraging, and the editor of the Journal 
, (1. 3. 197) seemed disposed to deduce therefrom an 
• argument in favour of voluntary pharmaceutical 
education, but he suspends judgment, seeing some 
■ indications that ultimately compulsory education 
: may have to be (enforced. Ultimately the Council 
announced (1. 3. 287) (their intention of awarding* 
annual grants to branch schools to the extent of one- 
fourth of the amount of annual subscriptions received 
from the town or district, and additional small grants 
towards the purchase of books and collections illustrating' 
Materia Medica. The conditions under which the- 
grants would be made, accompanied the announcement, 
“ In regulating the local privileges of each branch, the 
first consideration to be attended to is the welfare and 
improvement of the parties immediately concerned; and 
if strangers be admitted to any of these privileges, the 
terms and mode of admission should be such as to give 
members, associates and apprentices who subscribe to 
the Society, a decided advantage over others.” With 
regard to the number of such schools, it was considered 
that five or six in such localities as possessed the greatest 
facilities for their growth would produce more benefit 
than a larger number established on a scale too limited 
to be kept up with spirit (1. 3. 462). 
1844. This year, effort in the cause of voluntary 
education met with the first indications of that want of 
response on the part of those for whom it was exerted 
that seems to have attended it from that time to the 
present. Manchester deplored the indifference of her 
young men, the attendance at the London school did not 
equal the expectations of the Council, the reports from 
the other schools do not seem to have been encouraging. 
The annual subscription to the Society was also reduced, 
from two guineas to one, effectually preventing any 
further grants that might have been required for 
education in the provinces. From various parts of the 
country, however, came inquiries from learners who 
seemed anxious to devote a certain portion of their time 
entirely to study. This stimulated the Council in car¬ 
rying out their original intention of establishing in 
London such a laboratory for instruction in practical 
chemistry as should, with the courses of lectures, library,, 
etc., afford ample scope for the exertions of pupils 
during a certain number of months prior to their passing 
the examinations. A laboratory was therefore pro¬ 
vided, and a course of practical instruction arranged.. 
Thenceforward the school in the metropolis ceased to be- 
simply a metropolitan school. As a mere London 
school it probably w*ould, like the other schools, have- 
been closed for want of support, but affording educational 
occupation for students during the whole of the day, it 
attracted just a sufficient number of pupils from the 
whole area of England and Wales to warrant the 
Council in maintaining it, and from time to time 
increasing its efficiency. While still the school in 
London, it ceased to be the London school, but became 
what it has since continued to be, the School of Phar¬ 
macy for the whole of Gfreat Britain. The Pharmaceu¬ 
tical Society was thus enabled to carry out its object of 
providing means of obtaining pharmaceutical education 
for the whole of the country, though not in the manner - 
anticipated. 
1845. In this year the Council of the Society further 
develope their scheme of general pharmaceutical educa¬ 
tion. The school is alluded to as “ a national establish¬ 
ment for the cultivation of pharmacy and the education 
of chemists and druggists ” (1. 5. 145). Pharmaceutical 
education itself is also accorded a position commensurate 
with its importance, and its claims for consideration by 
the parents of pharmaceutical apprentices urged in a 
