258 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [September 28,1872. 
Sir.—1 have read with very much interest the various ar¬ 
ticles and letters which have appeared lately in the Journal 
on the above subject, and should have been well satisfied to 
have left the question in the hands of those able men who 
have taken it up, and are fully capable of carrying it to a 
successful issue; but the paper read by Professor Attfield ; 
at the late meeting of the Pharmaceutical Conference has ; 
raised some fresh points which are worthy of discussion, and 
a few remarks from a student’s point of view may not be al¬ 
together out of place if you can find room for them in your 
next week’s number. 
The Professor has drawn a gloomy picture indeed of the 
present state of pharmaceutical education; and from his 
stand-point I can see that it may be hopeless,_ inasmuch as 
he would have every pharmacist to be prodigiously clever; 
but I maintain that though there may have been fewer pro¬ 
digies of genius developed of late years, there, has certainly 
been a larger amount of knowledge more widely diffused 
among the great bulk of employed assistants. They have 
awaked to the fact that they are no longer mere machines cap¬ 
able of grinding out so many pills per diem, but arc in the ma¬ 
jority of cases earnestly striving to gain that intelligent infor¬ 
mation with regard to the drugs they are every day handling, 
which they feel is required of them. And if, in isolated cases, 
resort is had to a “coach” to get them through the examina¬ 
tions, though I would condemn it in a man of average ability 
as damaging to that spirit of self-reliance which is the great 
secret of success, still it is often advantageous (to prevent 
waste of energy and constant diminution of the chances of 
success) to be directed just into those particular channels of 
information wherewith our present enlightened Board of 
Examiners think it necessary that the thirsty student of 
pharmacy shoidd be refreshed. 
In sober earnest the remedy for undue “ cramming ” lies 
with the examiners, in so varying the questions which they 
put to the students as to make it impossible for one set to 
“get up” those which have been put to their predecessors in 
the examination room. And here I would just wish to have 
a definition of this “ cramming ” which seems to be Professor 
Attfield’s nightmare. If it' is a fact that those who under¬ 
take to prepare youths for examination, manage to obtain 
knowledge of what questions are likely to be put, and only 
instruct their pupils in the answers to these in the shortest 
time possible, then I am fully prepared to join the Professor 
in wholesale condemnation of such dishonest conduct. But 
if the epithet be applied to the endeavour to store the mind 
with those facts from the Pharmacopoeia and other sources, 
which (in addition to satisfying the Board of Examiners) 
will be useful to the student in after life, then I maintain 
that this form of “ cramming ” is commendable even though 
it may result in the outstripping of a lazy student of consi¬ 
derable genius by an industrious one of somewhat low’er 
ability. And if, in the few weeks preeeeding the examina¬ 
tion, the young pharmaceutist’s mind is frequently too well 
charged with information to retain it all for a very lengthened 
period, still a large amount of useful knowledge is stored up 
for future use ; and the effort of mind is good for the student 
himself, especially if he is afterwards called upon to undergo 
any competitive examinations, in which the man with the 
best-trained memory is almost sure to bear the palm. 
I must protest strongly against any artificial test being 
put to students as to their having attended any lengthened 
period at a recognized school of pharmacy. Eor, though I 
fully appreciate the advantages to be gained from association 
with other earnest minds under proper and efficient guid¬ 
ance, and would heartily recommend such a course to those 
who, having completed their apprenticeship, and passed the 
Minor examination, are not content to remain mere under¬ 
graduates, blit aspire to taking their degree in pharmacy by 
passing the Major with credit, still the fact must be borne 
in mind that there are many who in after years will become 
the backbone of the Society who are not able at that period 
to afford the necessary outlay of money, and still less, at a 
later period, of the necessary time, to secure such a privilege. 
And yet many of these have bravely struggled against adverse 
circumstances, and even while engaged in active business, 
have steadily set to work in their few hours’ leisure time in 
the day, and qualified themselves for the “Major.” Shall 
we, then, by any artificial tests, throw stumbling-blocks in 
the way of intelligent industry, which the possession of a 
good degree of wealth alone can overcome ? Shall we not 
rather stimulate and encourage it in every way possible P I 
may safely appeal to Professor Attfield which class of students 
have mostly turned out best under his instruction,—those 
who have been sent by their friends well provided with cash 
to spend ad libitum, or those who have exercised some self- 
denial and saved up in order to obtain the benefit of a few 
months’ systematic training. The revelation of this fact, if it 
could be arrived at, would be interesting, and I feel sure it 
would be a sufficient answer to some of those who are inclined 
to make pharmacy a profession only open to the wealthier 
classes. Indeed, the failure of artificial tests in the medical 
profession is sufficiently demonstrated in the Professor’s own 
paper, from which I will quote a clause or two. “ The medi¬ 
cal students who support the 1 medical crammers ’ are chiefly 
those whose friends, having driven them into medicine against 
their will, have bribed them by a too full purse. These men 
take care to be present in the body at lectures, and hence 
gat their schedules signed, but at other times follow their 
own foolish ways, and at last have to seek the aid of the 
crammers.” I confess to fearing that a somewhat similar 
state of things will prevail in pharmacy if we arbitrarily 
attempt toynake it too professional. 
Then what is the remedy for the present defects ? Surely 
in endeavouring to keep out of the body altogether those 
who have no taste for science, and in endeavouring, by every 
means in our power, to’ encourage those who are bent upon 
improving themselves in their hours of leisure, and placing 
efficient means within their reach for such improvement. 
Much may be done by employers, I am confident, in this 
respect. Before taking an apprentice I would suggest some 
such questions as these— 
1. Have you any decided taste for natural history and 
chemistry, and how have you shown it in your hours of leisure 
at school ? 
2. Have you a fair knowledge of mathematics, such as. 
working simple algebraic equations, and a problem from the 
first book of Euclid? 
3. Have you passed the “ Preliminary examination ” with 
a fair knowledge of the rudiments of Latin ? 
With regard to the second of these questions, I am quite 
sure that the standard of arithmetic in the Preliminary ex¬ 
amination is too low. The questions are often such as a boy 
at the top of the low r est form of a middle-class school of the-, 
present day ought to have no difficulty in answering; and I 
have frequently noticed that, in demonstrating a chemical re¬ 
action upon the board, persons much above the school-boy 
age, who attempt to instruct others in chemistry, disregard 
in a most painful manner that simple rule that “ two sides of 
an equation should always be equal.” 
It seems to me that another important step might be gained 
by making the Minor a written examination instead of a viva 
voce as at present, with the exception of a short time for 
each student to show his familiarity with practical dispensing- 
This would prevent altogether the getting up of those catch- 
questions so frequently given by examiners of the old school, 
and would give the nervous student sufficient opportunity 
to recover his self-possession and do himself justice, whilst 
the barefaced ignoramus would be discomfited. 
Chas. Peter. 
Alexandra Hoad, Croyclon , 
September, 1872. 
Sir,—At the present time the position of the Pharmaceu¬ 
tical Society, with regard to giving aid to education, and also 
the best method of education, are being very warmly, 
almost fiercely, discussed—and it is the duty of every one con¬ 
nected with pharmacy to contribute his quota towards solving 
this difficult problem ; and certainly, since the passing of the 
Pharmacy Act in 1868, no question has been discussed which, 
so much concerns the well-being of pharmacy as these, for, 
not only are those affected who are at present in business, 
but also those w r ho will be masters at a future time. Professor 
Attfield’s paper, read before the Conference, discloses a state 
of things which is fearful to contemplate, which is a disgrace 
to every man calling himself a chemist and druggist. The 
Pharmacy Act, which was to have done so much for phar¬ 
macy, has, in this matter, done no end of harm; it has created 
a demand for counterfeit chemists; for a class of impostors, 
and has supplied it, too. How can we expect to raise the 
status of the trade, or expect the public to respect the title 
of chemist and druggist, when a system of deception and of 
falsehood is fostered amongst our ranks, and almost legalized, 
by Act of Parliament ? Clearly such a system requires to- 
be dealt with at once, and with an unsparing hand. But now 
