THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [February 8, 1873. 
(>33 
eidod that they should he put separately, in order that 
the question of admitting females to connection with the 
Society might be voted upon separately. 
Mr. Schaciit inquired if any ladies had ever been ad¬ 
mitted to tie Society heretofore. 
The Secretary replied in the negative. 
Mr. Hampson moved and Mr. Mackay seconded the 
election of the following as apprentices or students of 
the Society:—• 
Hart, Alice Marion.London. 
Minshull, Rose Coombes.London. 
Stammwitz, Louisa.Wandsworth. 
Mr. Sandford moved the following amendment:— 
“ That Alice Marion Hart, Louisa Stammwitz, and 
Rose Coombes Minshull be not elected apprentices 
or students of the Society.” 
He said the step now proposed was a very important one, 
and in refusing the privilege, the Council would not be in 
any way shutting ladies out from the business of a chemist 
and druggist. He should be sorry to prevent any lady 
devoting herself to any trade or calling which she desired 
to follow, but the Society was founded by men and for 
men, and this was altogether an innovation. There had 
always been an objection to receiving ladies as members, 
but if they were once admitted as apprentices, they 
would naturally go on to full membership. He had as 
much respect for the ladies as any one, and should not 
have voted with the majority had he been present at 
the last Council, when it was decided not to allow them 
to compete for the Sessional prizes. Having admitted 
them to the lectures, ho thought they should be allowed 
to compete for any prizes which were offered to the stu¬ 
dents of the class, though not those offered to associates. 
Mr. Betty seconded the amendment. He would not 
detain the Council by repeating the arguments he had 
formerly used, though he thought they all applied with 
redoubled force on the present occasion. The question 
was whether they should continue to be a society of men, 
or whether the female element should be introduced. It 
would not be competent to them to pass this amend¬ 
ment if it went in any way contrary to the intention of 
the Act of Parliament, but he did not believe this was 
the case. The 16th clause of the Act, which provided 
for executors carrying on the business of a deceased 
chemist and druggist for the benefit of his widow, to 
his mind showed clearly that Parliament never contem¬ 
plated the case of such, a business being carried on for 
the benefit of a widower, on the demise of a female 
pharmacist. There were many little matters which he 
need not advert to more particularly, which seemed to 
render it undesirable that ladies should be encouraged 
to enter the business, and as the admission of ladies as 
apprentices would lead to their attending the evening 
meetings, and ultimately perhaps to their appearance 
at the Council-table, he thought it best to interpose and 
check at the very outset what he considered a move 
in the wrong direction. 
Mr. Savage could not conceive the object of the oppo¬ 
sition to the admission of the ladies who now applied for 
election. It was quite a mistake to suppose that they 
would be inundated with ladies; the few who "would 
come amongst them were exceptional, and might well 
receive exceptional privileges. The clause in the Act 
which Mr. Betty had referred to would justify him in 
supporting the admission of ladies, because it was one of 
the most anomalous clauses in the statute; and it was 
evidently a great mistake, as it was there enacted that 
ladies should be precluded from carrying on the business, 
if they were capable of doing so, after the death of their 
husbands. If ladies had the moral courage to imdergo 
an examination and to obtain the qualification which 
was granted, irrespective of sex, they ought to be 
allowed to go through the whole curriculum, and be 
encouraged in so doing. 
Mr. Williams said Mr. Betty’s argument, founded on 
the Act of Parliament, had really nothing to do with the 
question. It was not whether these ladies would be¬ 
come pharmaceutical chemists, which they might do 
already, but whether they should become connected 
with the Society. There was no doubt this was the first 
step to admitting ladies to membership, because they 
would naturally proceed from studentship to associate- 
ship, and then to full membership. The question was 
so serious and important that he should like it deferred 
for further consideration. 
Mr Ur wick thought the matter had better be settled 
at once. If it really were the will of the majority of 
the Society that ladies should be members of the Council, 
he should be quite willing to see them elected. But it 
should also be remembered that it would appear by the 
Report of the last Preliminary examination that, in re¬ 
fusing to elect these ladies, they would be rejecting the 
very flower of the intellect which attended, for it ap¬ 
peared that one of these ladies was at the top of the 
list. 
Mr. Betty explained that he quoted the 16th clause of 
the Act of 1868 simply to show that in not admitting 
ladies the Council would be in accord with the intention 
of the Legislature at the passing of the Act, as there 
was no provision made for them in it. 
Mr. Hampson said when this subject was brought 
forward at the last Council, he was told that these ladies- 
were in a measure out of order in applying to compete 
for the prizes, because they had not passed the examina¬ 
tion which would make them eligible. Now he was told 
that that was of no effect at all. He did not see the 
necessity for considering the matter any further; he 
simply wanted the matter treated from a common-sense 
point of view. The Act permitted ladies to become 
pharmaceutical chemists, and therefore Mr. Betty’s 
argument on that head, as far as he could see, came to 
nothing. If they "were permitted to become chemists 
and druggists, surely they should be encouraged to be¬ 
come students in every sense of the word. 
Mr. Sutton said when this question first came up, he 
was rather opposed to the admission of ladies in any 
way to the business, but his views had undergone a 
change, and he thought it really was a question for 
serious consideration whether the occupation of dis¬ 
pensing was not one which they ought to be encouraged 
to follow. For his own part, he believed that many 
young men were not nearly so careful, cleanly, and 
methodical in their habits as properly trained young 
women ; and for his own part, he should feel no objection 
on principle to the introduction of them into the trade. 
It was admitted they might attend the lectures, and 
having done that, he thought this further step should 
not be denied to them. 
Mr. Schacht remarked that a distinction had been 
drawn by Mr. Sandford between excluding ladies from 
the legal qualification to earn their livelihood as chemists 
and any claim they might have to become members of 
the Society, thereby contending that the Society was of 
a private nature, and had a perfect right to regulate its 
own affairs according to the "wishes or even whims of its 
members. He could hardly take that view of the caso 
at present, for they were not now simply a private so¬ 
ciety; since the passing of the last Act they were a 
society which had imperial powers, and if it were of ad¬ 
vantage, as it w r as generally considered, to any member 
of the trade to become a member of the Society, 
it was certainly putting such persons under a dis¬ 
ability if they -were refused the privilege. The Coun¬ 
cil, in his view, had a certain trust imposed upon them 
which they had no right to exercise selfishly, but were 
bound to do so with the largest liberality possible. 
Anything which excluded a lady from the same advan¬ 
tages which the Society offered to men was a disability 
placed upon them on account of a natural accident 
which might as well be applied to men having hair of a 
