760 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[March 22, 1873. 
called “ the seat of learning,” and in which are many 
enthusiastic disciples of the pestle and mortar; hut why is 
it not taken more advantage of ? 
At first it may be thought that the young men are not of 
a studious or diligent temperament, but on looking more 
carefully into the facts of the case, we find the true reason. 
Till the beginning of this year, only a few shops were shut 
at eight o’clock, while the great majority were open till ten 
or half-past ten o’clock. Even take the favoured few who 
shut at that preposterously early hour (?) eight o’clock, 
and see what opportunities were afforded to assistants and 
apprentices to cultivate their minds or to take advantage of 
the reading-room. 
After working from nine in the morning till eight o’clock 
at night, they go home tired and weary, and sit down to 
puzzle out the intricacies of the artificial alkaloids, or 
perhaps a difficult chapter in Caesar, Scoresby-Jackson, 
or Bentley. A large number of them are attending classes, 
and how can they prepare themselves for class or other 
examinations, and spend even a short time in the Society’s 
rooms ? 
There are remedies for everything, and if the masters 
would show that they were anxious for the welfare of their 
employes, by either allowing some of them away every day 
for an hour to the rooms, or by giving each one a half¬ 
holiday once a fortnight, I am sure there would be a better 
attendance. Even if the masters went themselves, it would 
be a great inducement; but I am afraid that they are still 
more seldom there than their assistants. 
We have been hitherto looking at the bright side of the 
question, but if we turn to the other side, we find that by 
far the larger number of shops are open till nine o’clock; 
in these, a half day is never thought of. How, then, can 
young men ever be expected to enter our profession (?), 
when they have examinations to pass, no time to prepare 
for them, and after all a paltry £50 per annum. Our trade 
is the only one which has examinations to pass, and yet its 
business hours rival those of the public-house or tavern, 
while drapers, booksellers, etc., close their shops at seven 
o’clock on weekdays and fcur o’clock on Saturdays. Let 
us, then, be up and doing, so that at least one ray of hope 
may be left for the chemist’s apprentice. 
Edinburgh, March 14t7i, 1873. A Prexty Cuss. 
Pharmaceutical Women. 
Sir,—Will you allow a small space to enable one who, 
though not a pharmaceutist, is a regular reader of your 
Journal, to state the impression conveyed to his mind by 
the recent discussion in your columns. The continued 
exclusion of women from the profession has been defended 
on three grounds: first, that it will introduce a new 
element into the already too crowded field of competition; 
second, that women are not competent to perform the 
duties of pharmaceutical chemists; third, that if com¬ 
petent, it i3 still undesirable that they should do so. The 
first ground—although I have been surprised to see it 
taken up by some of your correspondents—is surely not 
one that can be seriously held. Have Englishmen so lost 
their sense of chivalry and of regard for women, that we 
must fall back on the old barbaric maxim, that— 
“ They should take who have the power, 
And they should keep who can 
that in order to increase or maintain our own incomes we 
must exclude from all share in the emoluments of the pro¬ 
fession the weaker half of the nation ? This argument is 
revolting to every honorable mind, and I, for one, sincerely 
thank Mr. Balkwill for entering his protest against it; and 
I would strongly advise your correspondents “M.P.S.” 
and “ H. L.,” unless they want to raise a furore in favour 
of women pharmaceutists, to abstain from using such argu¬ 
ments in future. The second ground of objection is scarcely 
more tenable, seeing the road to the profession is guarded 
by adequate examinations. If women are unable to pass 
these examinations, it is needless to forbid them to try; if 
any are able, it is unjust. We presume that every man, 
whatever his other qualities, who is able to pass these 
examinations, is fit to be a pharmaceutical c hemist; what 
right have we to say that sex shall be the only disqualifica¬ 
tion for an otherwise qualified person ? The only ground 
of objection, then, that can be seriously argued is the third. 
Monopolies of all kinds are opposed to the genius of the 
English constitution; but if the opponents of the admission 
of women to the profession can show that grave social or 
political evils will result from persons otherwise qualified, 
being allowed to practise pharmacy because they are 
females, their arguments must deserve the fullest con¬ 
sideration. At present I have met with none such, either 
in your columns or elsewhere. It is not proposed, as far 
as I am aware, to lower the standard of examination in 
order to let in women ; and the argument of “H. L.” on 
the ground of prescriptions for the cure of noisome dis¬ 
eases, falls to the ground as long as we employ female 
nurses in jpur hospitals and applaud the labours of a 
Florence Nightingale. Until such arguments are presented 
to me in a far more forcible way than they have been at 
present, I must heartily wish success to those who are 
endeavouring to break down these barriers, and to enable 
women to enter those fields of usefulness for which they 
themselves believe they have a vocation. 
London, hlarch 1 / tli, Outsider. 
Sir, As tne question of woman’s rights in general, and 
her pharmaceutical rights in particular, have long been, 
and are likely yet to be, abundantly discussed, with more 
benefit, perhaps, to the printer than to the interesting 
object herself, I beg leave to request the favour of your 
publication of my reflections thereon, in her own best 
interests. 
Sober-minded men ask themselves the cause of the rest¬ 
less agitation and unsatisfied hankering after the fruit of 
forbidden knowledge, which stamp the female tastes of the 
present day. We. remember that our mothers “ cared for 
none of these thingsand yet they succeeded in life 
precisely where their daughters have failed. They under¬ 
stood the secret of woman’s influence and success, and 
they were content to work it out at home, to their own 
honour, and to the comfort of those about them. Their 
daughters despise their ways, and they reap a reward 
accordingly in blighted hopes. These offer poor encourage¬ 
ment to young men to select them for partners in life, and 
m their vexation they dare their opposition as competitors 
in business. Defeat is, of course, the foregone issue. 
If woman would only devote herself to that which is, 
above all else, woman’s speciality, the art of making man 
happy and home comfortable, then the old demand for her 
would be revived; her faculties would find their true, 
ample,_ and congenial sphere; and her reward would be 
great in this life, and, it may be, in that also which is to 
come. If, on the other hand, she will venture beyond her 
depth, then both the substance and the shadow of her 
happiness will be alike lost to her. 
30, Condmit Street, Bond Street. 
Thomas Saunders. 
An Old Girl 13 thanked for her communication, but 
we think sufficient space has already been given to our 
rhyming friends. 
A. G.— We do not know that any reaction would take 
place under the circumstances. 
G. T. Green. —Christison’s work on Poisons, or Taylor’s 
Medical Jurisprudence.’ 
J- U—(1) The Latin portion of the Preliminary Exami¬ 
nation includes translation into English of a paragraph 
from the first book of Caesar (‘De Bello Gallico’), or a 
passage from each of the following works: Pereira’s ‘ Se¬ 
lects e Prescripts,’ and the last edition (Latin) of the 
c London Pharmacopoeia.’ ” (2) The regulation concerning 
the metric system of weights and measures comes into 
force on the 1st October, 1874. 
T. B. —“Cinnabar of Antimony” is a synonym of Mer¬ 
curic Sulphide. 
Sunday. Closing.—“An Assistant” writes complaining of 
the practice adopted by some chemists and druggists of 
keeping the door-shutter down on Sunday and a light 
burning in the shop during the evening of that day, as one 
justified neither by poverty nor necessity. He asks whe¬ 
ther^ steps cannct be taken to enforce Sunday closing. 
TL. B .—The plan you mention might answer the purpose, 
but for several reasons it would be inadmissible. 
Communications, Letters, etc., have been received from 
Mr. Andrews, Mr. Pocklington, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Webb, 
Mr. De Lancy (Paris), Mr. Mumbray, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Jack- 
son, “Combustion,” ‘ Clodhopper,” “Glycerine.” 
