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THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [Nov ember 9, 1873. 
ftobrntiitl fensattas. 
GLASGOW CHEMISTS AND DRUGGISTS’ 
ASSOCIATION. 
The first meeting of the association for the present 
.session was held in Anderson’s University, on Wednes¬ 
day evening, October 30, at half-past eight o’clock ; Mr. 
Davison, President, occupied the chair. He was sup¬ 
ported on the platform hy Messrs. Frazer, Currie, Ivinnin- 
mont, Fairlie, and the lecturer of the evening, Mr. Betty, 
of London. 
The minutes of the last meeting, together with a brief 
account of work done during the recess, in connection 
with certain motions carried at the last meeting, having 
been read, the Secretary stated that he had received a 
letter from the treasurer, Mr. Young, in which he in¬ 
timated his resignation of the treasurership. It was also 
mentioned that Dr. Moffat had written to the Secretary 
expressing his regret that, owing to the pressure of pro¬ 
fessional engagements, he will he unable to render any 
assistance to the association this session. Several new 
members were then elected. 
Mr. Young’s resignation having been accepted, the 
President proposed that the Secretary should undertake 
the duties of treasurer pro tem ., which was agreed to. 
The Chairman then introduced Mr. Betty, who delivered 
the following address :— 
Mr. President and Gentlemen,—Neither as a form nor 
a precedent, hut strictly as a necessity, would I preface 
the substance of my address to you hy a word of apology 
for my appearance amongst you this evening. To he 
frank, in my readiness to accept an invitation so cordially 
given by my brethren in Glasgow, and affording me the 
opportunity of becoming personally acquainted with the 
gentlemen who would welcome me as a guest and visitor 
in Scotland, I lost sight of my incompetence for the task 
attaching to my visit. Accord me, therefore, I pray 
you all the indulgence I require at your hands. 
The question I purpose enlarging upon has been treated 
of on similar occasions to the present hy many of our 
fellow-members, whose addresses doubtless you have read, 
and whilst it is not easy to avoid the repetition of what 
has been better said, it is easy to pass unnoticed much of 
practical value; yet though the subject remains a wide 
one, it has been shorn somewhat of its former amplitude. 
It has become unnecessaiy to dwell upon the advantages 
of application to the subjects of botany, chemistry, or 
materia medica. The syllabus of our examinations 
makes the study of these subjects imperative, and 
whoever would falter in his resolve to face that issue 
may take tor himself the chiding of King Henry to 
Westmorland, “That he who hath no stomach to this 
fight, let him depart; we would not live in that 
man’s companybut I am much mistaken if you 
. are not earnestly resolved to enter the lists (shall 
I add, to excel among your compeers and compe¬ 
titors ?) and the aims of these sessional reunions are to 
give you words of encouragement, and to aid as far as 
we can your endeavours. It would be more than super¬ 
fluous were I to detain you with remarks on your pro¬ 
fessional studies in connection with the nature of your 
daily employments, after Mr. Stoddart has exhausted 
the subject. He has urged students to use their powers 
of observation, so that many a work that otherwise 
would be irksome or mechanical may excite interest, 
lead to investigation, and reveal to the mind some 
hitherto hidden secret of nature. Upon the arrange¬ 
ment of your studies I quote the original. “ There is 
one warning I am desirous to impress upon you with 
great earnestness, viz., the incalculable advantage of a 
systematic arrangement of your studies. I speak from 
experience when I say that a loose, indiscriminate man¬ 
ner of study is so much time lost. If you have ever so 
extensive a library, and dip at random into your Att- 
field, Bentley, Lindley, Fownes, and Royle, you will 
make a tenable mistake, and totally put a stop to profit¬ 
able study. Should any of you attempt to pursue so 
erroneous a course, however industrious you may be, 
you will feel extremely uncomfortable when you have to 
face the Board of Examiners. A method I have always 
found to work extremely well is to draw up a tabular 
arrangement according to circumstances. Botany for 
one day, chemistry for another, materia medica for the 
third, and stick to it. If you are prevented from enjoy¬ 
ing the half-hour allotted to Bentley, pass it over and 
work with Attfield on the appointed day, but never upset 
the arrangement. Use every spare five minutes. You 
will never know till you try what a large amount of 
work can be performed in a few odd moments. Do not 
think because you cannot have a couple of hours at a 
time that you are therefore debarred from study. Where 
there is a will there is also a way. Not one of your pre¬ 
decessors ever had the advantages you possess, the 
books you have, or the class-instruction now offered.” 
And Mr. Stoddart adds, “Don’t be without a micro¬ 
scope.” You are thus warned of your prospects when 
before the Examining Board you are thrown on the re¬ 
sults of random reading ; nor can you supplement such 
unsystematic application by spasmodic efforts at learn¬ 
ing just before “ going up.” Do not lend too ready an 
ear to captivating announcements; for recollect always 
the profitable result for you to attain is not to pass an 
examination, but to be educated up to its standard; avail 
yourselves of what assistance you can in your work, 
but expect no royal road to successful study. Consult 
rather the interesting statistics of our examinations for 
the sessions 1870-71, 1871-72. 
Total No. 
examined. 
Passed. 
Failed to 
pass. 
Per cent, of 
failures. 
Total number of examined. 
candidates. 
Of these were connected 
694 
436 
258 
37*70 
w r ith the Society’s school 
Not connected with the 
181 
130 
51 
28*17 
Society’s school . . . 
513 
306 
207 
40*30 
Conceded that the systematic teaching in a pharmaceu¬ 
tical school does aid education, and that our recognized 
school does educate, these figures prove conclusively 
that our examiners bring out the fact in the percentage 
of failures; and hence that our examinations do test a 
candidate’s real knowledge. 
And when you take into consideration the number of 
those who pass self-prepared ; of those who, though pre¬ 
pared, hesitate to face the Board without some special 
help; of those who having failed by a few points only, 
seek private instruction, the aggregate will, I am con¬ 
vinced, show you that a fair preparation is the passport 
to a pass examination. 
It would be dispiriting to our educational efforts were 
it otherwise; that, is if we had any reason to suppose 
that the efficacy of our examinations fell below that 
standard of excellence which prevails elsewhere. Many 
of us have a vivid remembrance how much examiners did 
possess of that fatal facility to discover, and that per¬ 
verse propensity to follow up what we politely call “ a 
partial knowledge of the subject.” If I am not much 
deceived by what I hear, and my experience of its 
matriculative examination, the London University may 
be said practically to set cram at defiance; that monster 
cram which many more denounce than refuse to coquet 
with, and of which in our pious horror it becomes us not 
to magnify the proportions. 
Reposing in our Board of Examiners a confidence 
shared in by the Government Assessor, I should judge it 
to be inconsistent not to resist any attempt to impose 
on your method of study conditions, such as com- 
