172 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[August 33, 1872. 
chemist, that he may study pharmacy and become a man 
of business.. .The difficulties in finding and selecting - a 
suitable position are at once experienced. The men who 
in every respect are competent to instruct and guide, 
decline the responsibility. To this particular fact I 
desire to call especial attention, for unless the will and 
the power are more linked together, the difficulties of 
the future will be aggravated. 
In the instructive though brief debate on tins matter 
at our meeting last year, Mr. Mackay gave us a most 
lucid and interesting sketch of the Scottish system; Dr. 
Edwards furnished some valuable details in respect to 
the Canadian plan. Reference also was made to the 
views on apprenticeship held by my friend Mr. Giles. 
That those opinions respectively were argued with ability, 
it is sufficient to mention the names of the authors ; yet 
I venture to think that neither of the systems will accli¬ 
matize on English soil. 
I am disposed further to believe that our English 
method of placing a youth for a term of three or four 
years under the direct supervision of a practical phar¬ 
maceutist and within his family circle, is an immense 
advantage. 
The system of boarding out is open to the grave ob¬ 
jection of failing to secure anything like moral control. 
Parental influence at the age of 16 or 17 should be sus¬ 
tained and continued by the wise and thoughtful dis¬ 
cipline of a well-ordered household; every wise man 
desires as much for his son. I must, therefore, regard 
as chimerical a scheme which altogether dispenses with 
these safe-guards, and plunges a lad at the most critical 
period of life in the midst of temptations, deprived of 
those aids which in reviewing our own past we must 
admit to have been valuable. 
The additional cost of a pharmaceutical education so 
acquired, must also be regarded as no trifling difficulty; 
a cost vastly disproportions d to the net result which 
can be possibly secured either of social status or moneyed 
competency—a cost as great as that of a profession with¬ 
out its status, but with a pecuniary reward below that of 
the average of drapers and grocers. 
That the position of a pharmaceutical chemist in this 
country is an advancing one and destined still further 
to. improve by that process of natural selection esta¬ 
blished by. educational tests, I most gladly recognize. 
Put no estimate, however sanguine, of the lot of the 
ordinary provincial chemist can warrant an outlay of 
£250 to £300 on his apprenticeship. 
The obstacles, in the way of adopting the Scottish 
system of attending classes are so blended with another 
subject that it may be better stated under the considera- 
oi the last ethic of pharmacy to which I desire to ad¬ 
vert on the present occasion. 
Provincial Education .—It is only necessary to point to 
the % oluminous correspondence and frequent debate on 
thrs question.to demonstrate the interest and importance 
attaching to. it. That something ought to be done, and 
that something must be done, is a widely-spread convic¬ 
tion.. Put what, and how ? There’s the rub. Quot 
homines tot opiniones. 
The nebulous condition of the thing at length bids 
fan to assume definite and substantial proportions under 
the masterly and comprehensive treatment of Mr. 
fechacht, who has thus laid us under fresh obligation for 
the services he has. rendered to pharmacy, and so iusti- 
U m o the high position his name commanded at the re¬ 
cent election of Council. 
To the analysis of his scheme Mr. Schacht invites the 
fullest inquiry, and in this respect it would seem he is 
not likely to be. disappointed. A special feature in it is 
the multiplication of local centres of instruction—the 
creation of schools of pharmacy subsidized by the Phar¬ 
maceutical Society on the important basis of payment 
on results. This plan is decentralizing as it affects 
Bloomsbury Square, and centralizing within a given, but 
limited, radius of the local centre. 
It is possible that the enlarged demand in future for 
technical education may render the formation of these 
provincial schools a matter of necessity ; but I confess 
I should view with regret any action which would lessen 
the influence of our admirable school in London. Let 
us take care that the heart beats vigorously, the extre¬ 
mities must then of necessity be ministered unto. 
Our central institution has done, and is doing, good 
work. Not simply have we a long list of honoured 
names—household words amongst us—who were in¬ 
debted to its curriculum for the foundation of their scien¬ 
tific attainments, but we have scattered over every por¬ 
tion of the kingdom, and well-nigh of the world, men 
who are conducting their business with scientific intelli¬ 
gence and accuracy, who likewise will tell you that 
they look back with with grateful feelings to the time 
spent at the Square. 
If needs be, and the possibilities of the case admit, 
let us try and increase the number of such agencies; 
but let us at the same time take care it is not to the de¬ 
triment of the parent institution. I do not object to the 
establishing such schools of pharmacy, but my deliberate 
and long-cherished conviction is, that such schools must 
inevitably, and that from no fault of their own, fail to 
supply the wants of the country. Let us assume as a 
mere hypothesis, that five schools have been established 
in the same number of large towns representing a cen¬ 
trally and conveniently as possible the five great divi¬ 
sions of England, north, midland, south, east and west; 
and, further, that associations are formed in other im¬ 
portant places, but of lesser populations than the afore¬ 
said centres, yet containing a sufficient number of che¬ 
mists to combine. There still remains the difficulty of 
dealing with smaller towns ; and be it remembered it is 
in these places, in the aggregate so important, is to be 
found the great bulk of our pupils. 
To attend classes at the nearest centre would be im¬ 
practicable, at least with the regularity requisite for an 
educational course. 
In the shape, therefore, of combined effort, it but re¬ 
mains to form a local association such as I attempted to 
describe at our last Conference. The history of such as¬ 
sociation when written will not be so creditable or en¬ 
couraging as could be desired; a more earnest and reso¬ 
lute spirit for work on the part of our apprentices may 
alter their complexion,—let us hope it will be so. 
Finally, I desire once move to place on record my 
settled opinion that the only real practicable solution of 
the many problems, in this transition period, connected 
with the all important matters of apprenticeship and 
provincial education, must, in the main, be found in the 
slow but certain advance in technical knowledge on our 
own part as teachers. 
That them will always be room for combined action 
there can be no doubt, and I hope to see the day when 
every considerable town will possess its flourishing asso¬ 
ciation of pharmaceutists, but let us not forget our indi¬ 
vidual responsibility. When—and not until then—the 
entire body of chemists are technically trained will these 
questions be set at rest. Patience is needed; the good 
work is progressing more surely than some of us imagine. 
May we return to our homes and separate spheres of 
action from these annual gatherings with the resolve to 
contribute our personal share to the advancement of the 
general good. 
Salisbury. 
The Conference then adjourned for a short time. 
On its reassembling shortly after two o’clock, 
Professor Attfield read as a “postscript” to his 
paper, the following letters which he had received on the 
subject of Pharmaceutical Education. 
Letter from Mr. Edward Smith, of Torquay. 
“ My dear Doctor,—At the outset let me say that I 
consider every pharmacist in the country is deeply in- 
