September 28,1872.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
257 
Sir,—In that part of Mr. Schaclit’s address which 
apparently refers to me, I am puzzled by the following- 
statement: “It is not the same” (as the Government 
system), “ but the principle is identical with it; and 1 am 
quite willing to admit that I owe everything to the sugges¬ 
tions which that scheme has given.” “Not the same,” yet 
identical. “Not the same,” yet everything copied from it. 
Different, yet identical! How funny! I should rather 
think that if it is “identical with the Government system,” 
and if he owes everything to it, that it certainly is the 
Government scheme; must be it, and cannot be anything 
•else. Mr. Schacht further states that the scheme has “stood 
.the test of many years’ trial at the hands of the Government 
authorities.” To have spoken fully and fairly he ought to 
have mentioned the growlings the Government has received 
during the same time; but, I fear, Mr. Schacht’s tendency is 
to describe the bright side of a picture. 
Were the eighteen-penny book worth the money I should 
.immediately get it; but as I know its contents, I prefer not 
do open my purse. % 
The next paragraph I am sorry to see. I do not know 
whether Mr. Schacht is disposed to treat me with silent con¬ 
tempt or not, and I do not know why he should mention 
-anything of “ the anonymous charges.” (?) Although I 
write anonymously, it is not that I am ashamed of my 
name. I do so because my first letter was signed anony¬ 
mously, and then I did not think I should be obliged to write 
more than that letter. I regret not putting my name to my 
first letter, because I disqualified myself from reading a 
.paper on the subject to the British Association ; but I have 
consoled myself that I may still be allowed to use my pen in 
the Journal. “The scheme of the Government has only 
just escaped a collapse.” This I still stick to. At the time 
I wrote, that the chemistry classes were foremost in my 
mind, whence proceeded all the growlings and dissatisfaction; 
-and if I had said “the chemical section of the department 
has all but had a collapse,” I should have better expressed 
my meaning. 
The next sentence, “ That every one who knows anything 
about it is disgusted, pupils and teachers alike,” was corro¬ 
borated by the newspapers a few weeks ago. Perhaps Mr. 
Schacht would very gladly keep this corroboration in the back¬ 
ground. “ At Brighton the Science Department got a very 
severe handling,” and again, Dr. Wood stated “ that the less , 
teachers and pupils had to do with the Government the 
better.” This, sir, was before the British Association. I am 
sorry I was not there. I should vastly have enjoyed the 
■sight of Mr. Schacht stepping into that company of experienced 
men with his paper. 
In stating “ there is this year one-sixth the number of 
students there was in recent years,” I referred to the students 
•of chemistry classes; if Mr. Schacht’s point be carried he will 
•teach chemistry chiefly, not physical geography or human 1 
physiology, etc. Why, then, should he show statistics of 
these subjects, or of alt the subjects together, and not of those 
he wishes to teach ? Will Mr. Schacht confine his remarks to i 
the chemical students ? It is they who have growled and 
who have diminished in numbers ; not any others. 
Now, I will tell Mr. Schacht that I am a teacher of science 
teachers; that I have trained more than thirty teachers, and 
that all of us, three years since, were fully employed. Last 
session, how r ever, instead of their being about forty classes 
and hundreds of students, there was only one teacher, one 
•class, and about twenty students, in a thickly-populated dis¬ 
trict of nearly half a million of people. If the same feeling 
pervaded the w T hole body of teachers as those under my 
wing—which I have no doubt of, for I am one of 200 science 
teachers still “ on strike ”—it amounted practically to a col¬ 
lapse, for chemistry at any rate. 
Mr. Schacht is a very funny arguer. “ I am not a de¬ 
fender of the Government scheme at al 1 ,” says he; yet he 
sticks to it tenaciously, and will hear nothing against it. A ■ 
practical teacher, who can speak of all the objections, is, in 
his eyes, of less importance than the ‘Blue Book’ “got up” 
to appease “ My Lords.” A writer with sound reasons at 
his back, who w T as accidentally drawn into the debate, but 
■who unfortunately signed his first letter anonymously, is “ to 
ibe left alone.” Under the circumstauces, sir, I consider that ! 
neither I nor my anonymous charges (?) ought to be left j 
alone. I have a right, I believe, to express my views, to ask 
Mr. Schacht any question as to w r liy he does this thing or 
the other, and also a right to expect him fully to answer me ; 
and if he be a lover of truth, if he desire a full and fair criti¬ 
cism, he will welcome me and my anonymous charges (?) 
and not “leave me or them alone.” 
A Country Major Associate. 
Sir,—Yesterday I read with great pleasure the very inte¬ 
resting report of the discussion at Brighton on the all-im¬ 
portant scheme of Provincial Pharmaceutical Education. 
Certainly it is one of such magnitude that I am afraid 
nothing can ever come out of it that could in any w r ay do 
good to the future position of the Pharmaceutical Society. 
As a Local Secretary, I naturally keep a sharp look out 
for any movement that might either be beneficial or detri¬ 
mental to the Society,—and more especially—to the wdiole 
body of chemists and druggists, both metropolitan and pro¬ 
vincial. And in looking (with a provincial view) at the very 
efficient working of the Pharmacy Act, I cannot help think¬ 
ing there are many amongst us who are crying, “ What is 
this new scheme ?” I can assure you, sir, that many of us 
in this part of England feel bitterly the effects of the Phar¬ 
macy Act, not only in loss of eale, but also in the difficulty 
we have even now of getting assistants to help us to gain 
our daily bread. And what is the cause of the latter effect ? 
Simply this. Since the compulsory examinations have been 
established young men prefer taking situations in large towns 
where there are already facilities for obtaining the benefit and 
instruction of duly qualified teachers; many politely inform¬ 
ing us that “ Salary is no object!” 
But the remedy proposed for this state of affairs js, in fact, 
that which has been in a great measure our ruin, viz., schools 
in large centres. If this scheme comes to pass, we, in small 
towns, who cannot by any means support a local association, 
will be left to drudge through the daily routine of our busi¬ 
ness as well as we can by the aid of porters. 
Now, my remedy for the want of general education would 
be as follows:— 
1st. Make the Preliminary examination the first step into 
the trade by making every youth pass it before he is bound 
an apprentice. 
2nd. When the lad is out of his time compel him to pass 
the Minor, so as to qualify him as an assistant. 
3rd. Finally let him undergo the ordeal of the Major for 
his final certificate to enter business on his own account. 
For it is well known that the present standard of the Minor 
examination is by no means a qualifying test of a man s abi¬ 
lities to take up a position as a chemist and druggist. By the 
plan above given, we should be provided with a well-educated 
apprentice; assistants able to instruct the apprentices ; and, 
lastly, you would have in the trade men of scientific attain¬ 
ments who could do more by individual instruction through¬ 
out the length and breadth of the land than any 8, 10 or 20 
schools spread over England. < 
It must not be thought that I wish to deny any youth Ins 
chance of education, but let him find it himself: if he is 
able let him have his session or part of a session at Blooms- 
burv, as many of us have had in years gone by; and a better 
laboratory, museum, etc., cannot be wanted, than those now 
existing at 17, Bloomsbury Square. 
The time has not, I think at all events, yet come for us to 
do anything beyond trying to perfect our present educational 
arrangements in London and endeavouring to raise our status 
by steady industry and self-enlightenment. 
I should never have troubled you, sir, on this subject, but 
I fear that the few are legislating for the many (not in an 
improper spirit, for I believe they have the matter at heart), 
to the detriment of the smaller branches of the trade in small 
towns. It is merely u work of time; and until we get a 
larger number of examined Major men as masters in the 
trade, we should not find much rew r ard for our labours ; we 
must remember that “ Too many branches weigh down the 
tree.” 
I would also in conclusion add that, in my opinion, the 
mere good or bad attendance at lectures would be perfectly 
valueless, for I well kno-w the ridiculous farce played by man y 
at such places, not excepting our own under Professors Red¬ 
wood and Bentley. 
A Local Secretary in an Eastern County. 
September 11 th, 187'2. 
