September 7,1372,] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
197 
whether before entering the business they have claims 
upon us or not. That question of our corporate relations 
to this question of education appears to me not to have 
received the attention which it deserves. I think it 
would be a mistake if we were here to discuss the finan¬ 
cial affairs of Bloomsbury Square at great length. That 
would be decidedly out of place. At the same time we 
know that we are intimately related in our individual 
capacity with that institution, and we can speak of 
scarcely any question affecting pharmacy without involv¬ 
ing the position and relations of Bloomsbury Square. In 
saying this I am saying that which is highly eulogistic 
of that institution. I deny that the institution at 
Bloomsbury Square has ever charged itself with the 
task, or is properly chargeable with the task, of 
providing the education of future pharmacists. And, 
I not only say that it is not properly chargeable with it 
but I say that it is utterly impotent to discharge such an 
obligation. At the same time it can do much in the 
way of co-operation, and much in the way of sym¬ 
pathy and encouragement. I am the man who made 
the foolish blunder of supposing that the scheme 
which Mr. Schacht propounded had some connection 
with the Government institutions for the promotion of 
science; and therefore I was specially delighted to hear 
the good advice independently offered' by Professor 
Poster that we should adopt that education which is 
sown throughout the land in diverse establishments. 
Professor Foster: I did not mean that exclusively. I 
meant that for general teaching. 
Mr. Giles : AVell, it appears to me that that is the best 
.source of pure scientific teaching which is extant; and is 
within our reach, and has been made available for us, 
and that generally throughout the country. We should 
rely upon that, but we cannot rely upon it for the com¬ 
plete education which we find in Bloomsbury Square, 
and which I hope we shall find before long elsewhere. 
Now I have been delighted to hear observations in the 
papers and from previous speakers as to the propriety of 
■establishing certain other leading schools of pharmacy ; 
and I do think that, having regard to the financial posi¬ 
tion of Bloomsbury Square, the time has arrived when 
we should think of establishing a school of pharmacy in 
North Britain. I think that is the place where we should 
■commence; and I consider that in contemplating an ex¬ 
tension of a system of pharmaceutical education it would 
be unwise to proceed per saltum , and that we should pro¬ 
ceed more gradually, not committing ourselves to any 
risks and disastrous expense. By observing this we 
should test the amount of demand for pharmaceutical 
education which is existing about the country, and we 
should then see whether the want of students at Blooms¬ 
bury Square is caused partly as a matter of locality, and 
through the difficulty of youths finding homes in London 
which may be remote from their own homes, and whether 
they might not be more conveniently accommodated in a 
centre nearer themselves. The result of that experi¬ 
ment would certainly influence us in our future proceed¬ 
ings. We should be able to judge whether it was de¬ 
sirable to establish a school in the Midland counties or 
elsewhere. But I think we should certainly foster or 
encourage some means for preliminary scientific educa¬ 
tion, and I do think, as I have thought ever since our 
experience in Bristol has taught me so, that the schools 
of science and art founded by the Government are most 
available means for our purpose. Although that in¬ 
struction has not been specifically referred to, yet I find 
that Mr. Schacht has admitted that his recommendations 
are largely influenced by his experience in Bristol. I 
think I understood that, and there we certainly have 
acted upon those opportunities. We have availed our¬ 
selves of them, and however encouraging our experience 
there may have been, certainly it depends upon the 
facilities which these institutions have afforded us. I 
think that is as much as we could wisely do now instead 
•of at once undertaking a national system of' education 
throughout the length and breadth of the country. I 
think that the time has probably arrived when we may 
contemplate the institution of another important school 
of pharmacy, but I think we should make a mistake if 
we undertook to start at once, in centres not metropoli¬ 
tan, extensive schools of pharmacy at all like that in 
Bloomsbury Square, or at all capable of affording such a 
high standard of education. 
Mr. Reynolds : Mr. President and gentlemen, you 
■would feel it more unnatural were I not to wish to claim 
your indulgence for two or three minutes, than that I 
should now rise. The task of defending what was 
brought forward in 1870 as a proposition for meeting the 
wants which we all acknowledge would be in very bad 
hands were it left to me alone to defend what was then 
done. The able testimony of such experienced educators 
as Mr. Proctor and other gentlemen has been given in 
favour of what was then brought forward. I may state 
that the scheme of 1870 is by no means to be regarded 
as the work of myself or of one individual, for a great 
deal of consultation took place amongst the members 
of the Provincial Education Committee, and it is the 
contribution of various persons ; so that whilst for a 
matter of convenience I would not protest against my 
name having been connected with it, it is only just 
that that this explanation should be given. I do hope 
that very great good will result from our devotion of to¬ 
day to this subject. I think that we can see our way some¬ 
what more clearly than we did when Professor Attfield 
introduced the matter by his paper in which two salient 
points were brought before us, and we had the alter¬ 
native of whether our Board of Examiners should be relied 
on for checking this system ©f cram, or whether we 
should be compelled to go to the other serious alterna¬ 
tive of requiring schedules of attendance on lectures. 
I dare say that the opinion in this room is almost unani¬ 
mous that we need not take that latter alternative, and 
that we have both the disposition on the part of the 
Board of Examiners and also the power in their hands 
to do a great deal towards what we all wish to be done. 
There are one or two things to be noticed in connection 
with setting up any additional schemes of education, or I 
may say aiding them, because it is a question of aiding 
rather than of initiating these schools. The question 
whether this is to be a permanent thing or not ought not 
to be shirked by the present Council nor by anybody con¬ 
cerned. In 1870 we did not hesitate to give a dhect ex¬ 
pression of our opinion that the transitional condition of 
the students who had beencaughtin 1868 in an unprepared 
condition justified the help which was given; and this is 
consistent with the feeling which I believe is general m 
this meeting—that we ought not permanently to tax the 
existing body of chemists and druggists in order to bring 
up those who are to supply their ranks. Now, Mr. 
Schacht concluded with the challenge to those who pre¬ 
ferred the scheme of 18/0 to his own, to show vhy it 
was better that money should be given to a few places 
rather than that it should be distributed and produce 
more good. I will say that there is nothing remarkable 
in the fact that many persons should think that the 
more concentrated use of that money would do the 
greater good. AVe know that we are acting in a moiu 
conservative spirit. AA e are following the. example 
which was laid down by a previous generation when 
they established one school in Bloomsbury Square ; and 
we have been satisfied as long as that has seemed sufficient 
for our requirements. But it is a revolutionary change 
to endeavour to spread the aid in a very diffuse manner 
over the country, and although it is not a task which I 
am anxious to go deeply into, I must take exception to 
Mr. Schacht’s scheme that it does not carry out what the 
phrase t( payment for results ” would indicate. Now, Mr. 
Schacht would give sums of money to schools that were 
able to send up students who could pass in chemistry 
and in botany. AVell, these are two subjects, and one ot 
the examiners told us that no loss than six subjects aie 
