23S 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[October 5, 1872. 
the loss of £842, leaving a net loss of only £344. Be¬ 
sides that he thought they might count on a portion of 
this loss being made up by an increase in the number of 
candidates. He had not taken into account those who 
passed the Modified examination; because as it was 
only a temporary affair he did not propose any altera¬ 
tion with regard to them. He was more anxious, how¬ 
ever, with regard to the portion of his resolution which 
gave all candidates passing the Preliminary the option 
of passing the Major or a modification of it at once,_with¬ 
out the necessity of passing the Minor also, than he was 
with regard to the reduction of the fees, because he was 
satisfied that in many cases young men who were really 
qualified to pass, did not do so from a dislike to passing 
these repeated examinations. Only the previous month 
one of his most efficient assistants left the trade altogether 
on the double ground of the fees he would be required to 
pay, and the necessity of undergoing an examination, 
especially preliminary, at the hands of men, some of 
whom might be his juniors in point of age and expe¬ 
rience. it did not at all follow that a reduction of the 
fees necessitated a reduction in the standard of educa¬ 
tion, nor did he think, as had been suggested by some 
correspondents in the Journal, that it would have the 
effect of introducing a race of paupers into their ranks. 
Mr. Schaciit said he should be glad to second Mr. 
Frazer’s motion, but he thought the time would very 
shortly come when it would be desirable that the whole 
subject of the examinations and examination fees should 
be reconsidered. From what he had recently heard, he 
believed that a report was being drawn up by the 
Board of Examiners, which would, ere long, be pre¬ 
sented to the Council; and he would rather suggest to 
Mr. Frazer the desirability of letting this subject, which 
was a very large one, be referred, as he indeed sug¬ 
gested, to a special committee ; that it should stand over 
altogether until the report he had referred to was re¬ 
ceived from the examiners, so that the whole matter 
might be considered together. 
Mr. Frazer said he had no objection to this course. 
Mr. Mackay thought the time had not yet come for 
any such alteration as was suggested; at any rate, it 
had better stand over until the examiners’ report came 
forward. 
Mr. Frazer said he should be quite content with 
this course, especially as he had no doubt that in the 
meantime it would be ventilated in the columns of the 
Journal, as had been the case with the education ques¬ 
tion. Indeed, had it not been for that question looming 
in the future, he should have been prepared with a 
much more radical proposal with regard to the fees. 
The President said it was not unlikely that the ex¬ 
aminers would agree upon their report in the course of 
the present month. 
Mr. Williams said he believed that instead of a re¬ 
duction in the fees for examinations, an increase would 
have to be made. 
Mr. Urwick said the great evil seemed to be that so 
many persons who passed the Minor acted upon the 
maxim of “Rest and be thankful;’’ and therefore the 
question was, whether they should not make the Minor 
examination more strict and more practical, making the 
Major examination more an honorary one. 
Lady Students. 
Mr. Hampson moved according to notice:— 
“ That ladies be admitted to attend the lectures and 
the laboratory of the Pharmaceutical Society.” 
He said, ten years ago a resolution was passed at the 
Council to the effect that lady students were not to be 
admitted to the lectures; but as it was not recorded in 
any of the transactions, many of the members were 
probably unacquainted with it. In 1862, perhaps the 
admission of lady students to the classes and laboratory 
might appear a step fraught with great danger, and 
tending^to revolution; but in the present day, in remem¬ 
brance of the social and educational changes that had 
taken place, he could not for a moment assume that the 
present Council, elected on a much broader basis, would 
endorse the decision of their predecessors, which was, 
in fact, most arbitrary, unjust and impolitic. The 
doors were closed against lady students during the at¬ 
tendance of Miss G-arrett; but he understood that the 
professors, who were well able to form an opinion on 
this question, uttered no cry of complaint or alarm, and 
that the presence of the lady, who since then had risen 
to a more distinguished position, produced no inconve¬ 
nience whatever, but on the contrary, had a salutary 
influence on the order and decorum observed by the 
classes. By the Pharmacy Act, 1868, ladies were ad¬ 
mitted to the examinations, and were legally qualified 
to practise pharmacy; and two ladies had already 
passed the Modified examination with considerable 
credit. The introduction of the word “ person ” in the 
Act of Parliament showed clearly to his mind that the 
framers of the Act did not intend to shut out lady stu¬ 
dents, and therefore it was manifestly an arbitrary pro¬ 
ceeding and diametrically opposed to the spirit of the 
Act of Parliament to exclude any person of respectability 
on account of sex from the instruction necessary to 
enable her to pass the examination. No doubt it was 
difficult for some persons to leave the well-beaten groove 
of custom in this or in other matters ; but unless there 
were some solid reasons for denying admission to lady 
students, he thought they were bound to afford them the 
same facilities as gentlemen. Since giving notice of 
the resolution, he had endeavoured to discover any such 
reasons, but had failed to do so. As to the notion that 
it was dangerous and unwise to have a mixed instruc¬ 
tion in any college, he thought that was unworthy of 
being discussed. Indeed, he was in favour of mixed 
education from the earliest age continuing through the 
whole process of national and scientific education. He 
admitted there was a feeling against female education 
in these kind of matters, but so there was against their 
wuiting books, and doing a variety of other things which 
they were now accustomed to do to the advantage of 
themselves and the community at large ; and in these 
days of relentless competition he, for one, would not 
stand in the way of opening out any path by which a 
woman might obtain an honest livelihood. 
Mr. Brown seconded the motion, saying he could see 
no possible harm which could result from its adoption. 
He certainly considered that ladies were put in an ano¬ 
malous position with regard to the interpretation put 
upon one provision of the Act, since, in case of the hus¬ 
band’s death, they were recommended to sell their busi¬ 
ness as quickly as possible, because they were not able to 
carry it on. If they were allowed to attend the lectures, 
this unfortunate state of things might, in some cases, be 
remedied; and he might add that he had known two in¬ 
stances in which a business, which had not prospered 
very well under the care of the husband, had thriven 
much better when conducted by the widow. It was 
quite possible that in the case of medical and anatomical 
lectures there might be considerations rendering it un¬ 
desirable that the two sexes should attend such instruc¬ 
tion together; but, with regard to botany and materia 
medica, there was nothing of that kind, and seeing that 
it would enable a man to train up his daughter, if he 
thought fit, to take a part in his business, he thought it 
only just that a needless restriction should be removed. 
Mr. Williams said he should be glad to support the 
resolution if it were confined to attendance at lectures, 
as he did not think it would be wise just now to include 
the attendance in the laboratory. 
Mr. Hampson said he believed the laboratory course 
was the most important, and he was quite sure that if 
any ladies attended it, they would conduct themselves 
properly, and no harm would ensue. 
Mr. Hills said the permission could be rescinded in 
twelve months if it were not found to act satisfactorily. 
