November 1G, 1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
393 
the provincial town and city druggist combined tea, 
tobacco, oils, paints, colours, and in some cases were seed 
merchants. Some of these combinations exist now in the 
northern counties, and a young man coming south finds 
that he has a new trade to learn, less physical and more 
mental .energy is required; but w T hen an assistant has 
graduated in the two kinds of trade, and become master 
of each, he is usually a valuable assistant. I would here 
remark the importance of a knowledge of the kind of 
trade mentioned to rightly estimate the recent agitation 
of the poison question. It is a serious matter to those 
chemists who live in agricultural or manufacturing dis¬ 
tricts, to have additional duties imposed upon them, and 
anything like registration of poisons at certain seasons of 
the year would necessitate an additional assistant on 
market day, when usually as much business is done as 
on all the other days put together. We who live in the 
south know nothing of the bustle and confusion arising 
from multiplicity of orders given and required to be 
executed on market day ; we must therefore look chari¬ 
tably on some of the shortcomings of our country friends ; 
and whilst public security against unnecessaryrisk should 
be guarded against, we ought carefully to avoid imposing 
burdens that w r ould be honoured in the breach rather 
than in the observance. Legislative enactments can never 
supersede individual responsibility, and no greater in¬ 
centive to proper precaution will be found equal to self- 
interest. By a single accident (to which the most careful 
of us are liable) might follow the loss of business and 
reputation. One of the greatest safeguards will be found 
in our educational status, and I would here call attention 
to some important alterations contemplated to come 
into force in October of next year, and to remind 
my young friends that they must, if they desire 
to avail themselves of the present mode of pre¬ 
paring for the Minor examination, make the best use 
they can of the ten months before them, for after 
then a new order of things will prevail. On the even¬ 
ing of Tuesday last I attended a meeting of the General 
Purposes Committee in Bloomsbury Square, when a de¬ 
putation of five members of the Examining Board met 
us, and Mr. Carteighe, as their exponent, went most 
fully into the proposed change, whereby the Minor after 
this year will become the principal practical examina¬ 
tion. It will stand thus:—“Candidates for this (the 
Minor) examination must have passed the first or Pre¬ 
liminary examination, and must produce certificates of 
having attained the full age of 21 years, and of having 
been employed for three years by a pharmaceutical chemist 
or a chemist and druggist, in dispensing and compound¬ 
ing prescriptions.” I tried to alter the proposal about 
age, thinking it more satisfactory that a youth should be 
able to pass his principal examination whilst appren¬ 
tice, but this was^overruled by my colleagues, and made 
to dovetail w r ith the Bell scholarships, which for the 
future will exclude those who have passed their Minor, 
and are under 21 years of age. This is much more 
equitable than the previous arrangements, which placed 
the ordinary candidate at a disadvantage, having 
to compete w T ith an examined man. The Committee 
having arranged with Mr. Parkhurst to give 
you a course of ten lectures, I do hope that 
the efforts of the committee to promote the interests 
of the association will be appreciated, and that the classes 
wall be numerously attended. Nothing tends so much to 
depress the energies of a lecturer or teacher as an empty 
room; let the seats be well occupied and the audience 
attentive, and a good result is sure to follow. I have 
already adverted to the views entertained by Professor 
Attfield on provincial pharmaceutical education, and the 
anxiety manifested by him at the alarming extent to which 
<! cram ” prevails; but few of us could anticipate the fact, 
as stated by Mr. Andrews in a letter which appears in 
the Journal of Nov. 2nd, that for the last four years no less 
than B30 each year have passed the Examiners’ Board by 
“cram.” Some persons will be disposed to say that 
there must be some defect in the mode of the examina¬ 
tion, or so large a number could not elude detection, but 
only let such persons consider the limited time—say 
twenty minutes or half an hour at most—which each 
examiner can detain a candidate, and, of necessity, to 
ascertain the relative merits of each by asking the same 
questions, termed, by Mr. Carteighe, “ stock questions,” 
you will at once perceive the difficulties which beset the 
question, and, to judge the examiners fairly, all these 
things should be considered. Men who pass by such 
means as a month’s preparation can never feel perfectly 
satisfied ; and I do hope that none of our Brighton young 
men will sully the prestige of our town by a back-door 
entrance whilst the front portals of Bloomsbury Square 
are wide open, and ready to welcome legitimate effort 
and honest work with the enduring title of M.P.S. I 
cannot conclude this address without mentioning the 
kindness of our friend Mr. Hills in presenting through 
the secretaries of the Conference the portraits of Jacob 
Bell, Wm. Allen and Dr. Pereira, men whom we have 
reason to be proud of, and whose virtues may we emu¬ 
late ! We must not omit to express our gratitude to the 
executive of the Conference for their handsome and valu¬ 
able gift of suitable books (to be selected by ourselves) 
to the value of £10. Last Sunday I had the privilege 
of hearing an excellent sermon preached from the words 
“ Beginning at Jerusalem,” a most suggestive text—the 
apostles starting from the place where they were best known 
on their universal mission of mercy. So let us say to 
the young men beginning at Brighton, avail yourselves 
of the advantages of this association, and wherever your 
future lot may be cast, let your character and conduct 
reflect credit on the Brighton Association of Pharmacy. , 
The paper was listened to with the greatest attention 
and its conclusion was greeted with applause. Mr. 
Savage said he should be glad to hear the remarks any 
member might have to make. 
A short discussion then ensued, and a vote ot thanks 
to Mr. Savage for his able and interesting paper brought 
the proceedings to a close. 
mmttags nf SnwMc Satieties. 
CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 
The first meeting of the season was held on Thursday, 
7th November, 1872. In the absence of Dr. Frankland 
the chair was taken by Professor Williamson, F.R.S., 
vice-president. The meeting was well attended, and 
after the termination of the usual business several in¬ 
teresting papers wereread. Two by Mr. E. C. C. Stanford, 
F.C.S. ; the one, “ The Action of Charcoal on Organic 
Nitrogen,” being an account of his experiments to ascer¬ 
tain the value of a method of deodorizing and _ utilizing 
fish offal and other offensive matters, by mixing them 
with charcoal; the other “On Iona Pebbles. A com¬ 
munication entitled “ Mincralogical Notices, by I ro- 
fessor Storey-Maskelyne and Dr. Flight, was then read by 
the former, giving a short description of several minerals 
mostly new or from fresh localities. Mr. J. R. A. New- 
lands gave a brief explanation of “A Means oi Irevem- 
in°’ Explosions in Coal Mines,” which the author pro¬ 
poses to effect by erecting air-tight chambers over the 
upcast and downcast shafts, and forcing air through the 
workings by powerful air pumps or ventilating fans. 
There were also papers “ On the Specific Heat 
of Occluded Hydrogen,” by W. C. Roberts, F.C.S., 
and C. R. A. Wright, D-So., “d ‘ °% a0 ™ 
bable Reactions that yielded Negative Results, by 
Dr C R A. Wright. The meeting finally adjourned 
until Thursday, 21st, when a paper “ On Anthraflavic 
Acid” will be read by Mr. W. H. I erkm, 1 .R.S., e L . 
During the evening a beautiful specimen of bromocam- 
phor was exhibited by Mr. Williams, of the firm of Hop- 
kin and Williams, who stated that it wastised medicinally 
as a nerve sedative in such diseases as delirium tremens. 
