312 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[October 19, 1872. 
Rati alluded, Rut ratlier tRat education must Re made 
self-supporting; tRat while tRe London scRool existed 
under tRe control of tRe Society, tlie scRool as a scRool 
sRould Re made to pay. His own feeling was tRat all 
scRools sRould Re made to pay in future, and tRat 
tRose wRo intended to enter into tRe Rusiness of che- 
mist and druggist sRould Re prepared to pay for their 
education just in tRe same way as tRey paid for tReir 
schooling and apprentice fees. He tRougRt a necessity 
Rad been shown for assistance up to a certain point, from 
the fact that the whole thing wanted further develop¬ 
ment, and that for some years they would not Rave the 
standard of preliminary education so high as it would be 
ultimately. 
Mr. Giles suggested that the words “ assisted by its 
funds ” be omitted from the resolution, and then they 
could all assent to it. 
Mr. W. Stoddart seconded the resolution, as Re thought 
it must be self-evident that it was the duty of tlie Phar¬ 
maceutical Society to help education in every way 
possible. The time however had not come for the adop¬ 
tion of any particular scheme; but one of two things 
must take place,—either the adoption of some such 
scheme as Mr. Schacht’s, which embraced every locality 
and circumstance, or one dependent on the requirements 
and circumstances of those requesting aid. If every 
place was like Bristol, wfith large classes and plenty of 
students, there would be no difficulty. But if they took 
the outlying districts where there were only two or three 
young men, it would be as difficult for them to come to 
Bristol as to go to London. Then, again, there was 
more value attached to going to London than to Bristol. 
Most young men would prefer going to London, because 
there was more value attached to an education there. 
Where they had a class of fifty students, and all passed 
well, the payment for results would be something worth 
having ; but if only a few passed, the results would be 
so small as not to be worth troubling about. In any 
scheme each application should stand on its own footing, 
ns in one case very little help might be required in 
money, while in another they would find the entire help 
of the Society was required. He did not see his way to 
the adoption of any scheme, though Mr. Schacht’s was 
the best of which he had heard. In some towns the 
-classes did not answer, and, therefore, the results would 
be very small. At the present time all they could do 
was to entertain each application on its own merits. Mr. 
.Schacht’s resolution held good for that, and no doubt 
'the Pharmaceutical Society would tacitly admit the 
principle and help them. He knew as a fact that if they 
. applied for a subsidy they would get it, because they 
were helping themselves; but the Society would do a 
wrong thing to say “yes” to applications from places 
where they never tried to help themselves. But to help 
those who helped themselves was just what the Pharma¬ 
ceutical Society did, and they could not be expected to go 
further at present. There was a danger of making the 
way too easy, against which acting in the light of trus¬ 
tees they should guard. They should improve as much 
as they could, and not go back to the state from which 
they were endeavouring to raise pharmacy. If they 
made the way easy by lowering the fees, they would be 
doing an injustice to those coming after them. They 
should raise, the status of the profession, if they wished 
to leave behind them a better state of things than they 
had in their own time. He did not understand Mr. 
Schacht’s allusion to Mr. Keynolds’ scheme as a multi¬ 
plication of Bloomsbury Squares, as both schemes pro¬ 
posed to better the status, though he did not think it 
would be politic to say positively that any scheme should 
be adopted for future guidance. That did not debar him 
from seconding, with great pleasure, the proposition of 
Mr. Schacht, because he believed that the Pharmaceuti¬ 
cal Society would help any scheme for the development 
.of pharmaceutical education in the provinces. 
Mr. Taplin said he had drawn up a statement which 
he intended sending to the Pharmaceutical Journal, and 
which he would read to the meeting. It would be diffi¬ 
cult to disagree with Mr. Schacht’s resolution, although 
his friend Mr. Giles had been clever enough to find some 
objection in it, and he (Mr. Taplin) intended to move a 
resolution that would put things in a more practical 
shape. The Pharmaceutical Society had been in ex¬ 
istence for nearly the third of a century, and it was pretty 
well time that they had ready something like a scheme 
for the development of compulsory education. He would 
first of all read the statement, and then move a resolu¬ 
tion :— 
“ Pharmaceutical education is a question of absorbing 
interest to those engaged in the honourable, responsible 
and laborious occupation of a chemist and druggist, and 
of no small consequence whether realized or not to the 
public generally. For more than 30 years efforts have 
been made as is well known, to improve the qualifica¬ 
tions and thereby the status of this important sec¬ 
tion of the commercial community, which resulted 
some three or four years ago in an Act of Parliament, 
rendering that compulsory which had hitherto been 
voluntary. By this means the Pharmaceutical Society 
obtained an engine of mighty power, but which, after 
five - or six-and-twenty years’ preparation, and three or 
four years’ possession, the Council appear unequal to 
set in motion ; and whilst there has been a great deal 
said by authorities, reputed great and small, it appears 
very little indeed has been done, inasmuch as Blooms¬ 
bury Square remains as before education was rendered 
compulsory by Act of Parliament. Notwithstanding the 
time that has elapsed since obtaining compulsory 
powers, and the large increase of funds from annual 
subscriptions, the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society 
seem to be making a football of the question, kicking 
it from Dan to Beorsheba. It is time we have had one 
or two definite proposals: one which has met with no 
little favour has been propounded by an earnest worker 
in our midst, viz., Mr. Schacht, but which I humbly 
think is altogether insufficient for the object to be at¬ 
tained, from its want of comprehensiveness ; as well ex¬ 
pect to capture a beleaguered city by flying a kite into it, 
or obtain a crop of grain without tillage and sowing, as to 
meet the requirements of pharmaceutical education by the 
proposed process of payment by results. Another able and 
earnest worker amongst us, is Mr. Stoddart, who gave last 
season (without fee or reward) to the students of Bris¬ 
tol fifty lessons, and proposes to give another course this 
session on the same generous terms. I rather think the 
time has not arrived to take action by the Council of 
the Pharmaceutical Society, notwithstanding that young 
men cannot qualify as associates or members or go into 
business on their own account without passing the ne¬ 
cessary examinations ; and Bloomsbury Square cannot, 
according to the evidence of Professor Attfield, accommo¬ 
date more than a fifth of the number who should annually 
present themselves for examination. The latter gentle¬ 
man’s enigmatical statement that pharmaceutical edu¬ 
cation is not compulsory, is beyond my comprehension, 
and he is very loud in his condemnation of £ cram.’ 
Why, cram is the natural outcome of compulsory edu¬ 
cation, without suitable provision, as much as smuggling 
is the natural outcome of extravagant duties on im¬ 
ported goods. Do the Council propose to accumulate 
the subscriptions until Three per Cent. Consols will pay 
the cost of establishing and maintaining an efficient 
pharmaceutical college or colleges, which may be some¬ 
where in the end of the next generation ? or will they 
take the matter resolutely in hand and provide suitable 
and sufficient educational establishments for the whole 
kingdom, either in London altogether, or in London, 
Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow, or Edin¬ 
burgh ? and with, I would suggest, two annual sessions 
of four or five months’ duration, at fixed moderate 
charges—say £20 or £25, including board, lodging, and 
education;—then I think we may obtain an Act 
