174 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS; 
[August 31,1872. 
ignoramus may be transformed into a chemist and drug¬ 
gist in a month is simply absurd. 
“ But your ideas are, I conceive, for the future educa¬ 
tion of our young men, far a-head of the present condi¬ 
tion of things. Excuse me saying, you point rather to 
the Pharmaceutical millennium , than to the plodding weary 
days of the ordinary dispensing chemist. In other 
words, you take the aristocratic view of the matter, ap¬ 
parently forgetting the hundreds, nay the thousands, of 
those having the will, but lacking the power to take ad¬ 
vantage of the teaching you would have all our young 
men have. That there should be, and probably always 
will be, centres in large towns, where the few, I would 
say the very few, may go and study with a satisfaction to 
themselves and a credit to us as a body, I at once admit; 
but I also think such schools should not be supported as 
centres of education by the funds of our Society. 
“Again, regarding present examinations for the Minor 
and Major, I believe that these fairly represent what 
young men ought to undergo. No candidate for the 
iormer gets through under a minimum of three hours 
close examination, while the latter extends to more than 
double that time, having the written as well as oral to 
go through. Remember that with all our desire to be¬ 
come Professionals , we still belong to trade; and, if you 
doubt my statement, go into the country and even some 
large towns and see the curious admixture of articles the 
chemist and druggist keeps, and is obliged to sell, other¬ 
wise he and his family would very possibly starve. Take 
•a glance also at the manner in which assistants as a body 
are paid. I will venture to assert that, in many instances, 
.good workmen, ordinary clerks, and even letter-carriers 
are as well it not better paid than some who are 
educated and highly responsible assistants, with the 
actions of whom life and death frequently hang in the 
balance; for we know the deadly poisons which have to 
pass through their hands. 
“Want of opportunity during an apprenticeship, and 
deficiency of funds after that has expired, will militate 
against many attending courses of lectures; and though 
it is an easy thing to say, well, such lads should not join 
us, I would ask where are you to get recruits, and from 
what sources are you to fill your ranks F Glance at the 
inducements you offer in after-life. Can you not easily 
count those who have been what the world calls success¬ 
ful { and, if so, can you not count the thousands who 
.make a living and nothing more ? 
_ “J 7 1 ! 1 ’ however, close, not without adding how much I 
.shall feel interested to read the discussion. —I remain 
jours truly, “John Mackay.” 
Better i-rom Mr. William Gilmour, op Edinburgh. 
“ 11, Elm Row, Edinburgh , 
“ dth August, 1872. 
Dear ““Before making a few remarks on ‘ Phar¬ 
maceutical Education, a proof sheet of which you so 
kindly forwarded, allow me to express the regret I feel 
in being unable to attend the meetings of the Conference 
tins year, the more especially as I think it promises to 
be one of the most important as well as interesting vet 
held. ° J 
? ,^ e ^-important question of Pharma¬ 
ceutical Education is to be brought forward, and 
brought forward in so able and practical a manner. 
Doubtless it is in every way the question of questions 
to young and old alike at the present time, for assuredly 
as contained in your paper, a thousand times wron- 
a-re they who think that compulsory examination means 
also compulsory education. 
“ I intend not to enter into that elaborate criticism of 
.your paper which you so courteously ask, for it were 
folly to attempt doing so without having more leisure 
.both to collect and write down my thoughts than I can 
well spare at present. The general question of educa- 
.fion is too important and fraught with too many difficul¬ 
ties to be lightly written or spoken about; and it is the 
general question on which I would only feel inclined to 
write about, or, indeed, as I take it, you would only have 
me reply upon, rather than cavilling at every sentence or 
statement which did not entirely dovetail with mine. I 
promise, however, if some one abler does not do so, to 
bring the subject up at one of the earliest of our scien¬ 
tific meetings here in the coming winter, when, if you 
will allow me, I will return the compliment by you of 
sending me a proof of your paper by forwarding you 
one containing a few thoughts on the same subject from 
a Scotch point of view. 
“ Now I hope you don’t think this last expression an 
unhappy one F I only mean that some of your princi¬ 
pal arguments for a compulsory education cannot and do 
not apply to Scotland since the passing of the Pharmacy 
Act, 1868. Notably is this so in your argument proving 
the deterioration not only in the character, but also in 
the extent of the knowledge taught in the chemistry 
class of the Society’s school. Here the arrangement is 
such that those who accept the Society’s conditions, not 
only for the chemistry class, but for every other— 
botany, materia medica, etc.—get the same instruction 
as those who graduate in our university, and this from 
the very nature of the arrangement; and as one of the 
! examiners I can speak confidently not only in the great 
superiority in the character of the knowledge, but also 
in the very tone of those candidates who now present 
themselves Jboth for the Minor and Major examina¬ 
tions. 
“ Did time, however, permit, I would not simply rest 
content with this assertion. I would put it yet more 
forcibly and show that it applied equally to those who 
had attended no classes at all, but simply depended on 
their own unaided exertions. Neither would I be averse 
to take you on your own ground, and debate your own 
statements regarding the point. 
_ “But not less does your argument fail in its applica¬ 
tion to Scotland, regarding ‘ cramming.’ I take it upon 
me to say that cramming—I mean the systematic pro¬ 
cedure by public crammers to which you refer—is totally 
unknown in any part of Scotland. As for private 
cramming, that is, mere mental effort on the part of the 
candidate, I cannot see that you will ever get beyond it. 
I know of no system of examination into which it does 
not enter, or no theoretical system into which it is not 
possible to enter. I am not going to put in a word of 
apology for such, but after all, is there not the possi¬ 
bility of a word of sympathy for the ‘ poor fellow ’ with 
mental beyond intellectual attainments F The former 
may be his one talent, and he has laid it out and culti¬ 
vated it to the best of his ability, and who knows but it 
may prove more valuable and be laid out to more ad¬ 
vantage both for the world and himself than the five 
talents of intellect F 
“ Now, coming more immediately to the question of 
compulsory education, holding, as I do, that the Com¬ 
pulsory Examination Act has raised the moral as well as 
intellectual tone of the young men coming forward for 
their examination, can I refuse to support the further 
movement, for compulsory education also F I answer 
this question by asking another, viz., is it expedient F 
Is it expedient to drive all our young men of promise 
and other ways from, or out of the profession F For 
this I hold is the point mainly or greatly to be con¬ 
sidered. Would a compulsory education such as you 
foreshadow not simply drive all the young men from the 
field of pharmacy F I hold it would, and for the very 
simple reason that it would not pay. Nay ! do not start 
at what may at first appear such a low, grovelling, un¬ 
worthy consideration. I may have put the point 
bluntly, but I am convinced that I have put it correctly; 
for the idea, I suspect, is thoroughly exploded now-a- 
days of following a profession from the mere love of it 
without respect also to the pecuniary consideration. 
Now, to impose further restrictions on the young men 
