986 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[J une 7, 1873. 
required to the various strengths and proportions of ingre¬ 
dients. In the more important preparations, however, the 
answers were good. Four apprentices competed. 
The President’s prize was awarded to Mr. O. Wallis. 
The Secretary’s prizes for the greatest aggregate num¬ 
ber of marks in the three subjects, competition limited to 
apprentices, were awarded as follows :— 
First . . . Mr. J. Cross, 450. 
Second . . . Mr. L. Bird, 420. 
Mr. James Barry then addressed the class, cautioning 
the members against trusting to superficial knowledge of 
a subject.. The examination had, he trusted, evoked a 
healthy spirit of competition, but the examination would 
be altogether insufficient by itself if home study were 
neglected. Examinations were not the end, but a means 
of taking stock of the quantity and quality of knowledge 
obtained, and it was not only the successful men who bene¬ 
fited, but each and all, if proper attention were paid to im¬ 
proving and increasing the store of knowledge. He should 
have great pleasure in helping to carry out the suggestion 
of the Council that the examinations should be repeated, 
and accordingly offered two prizes, one for assistants, the 
other for apprentices, to be competed for, leaving the ar¬ 
rangement for the Secretary and Council to decide. He 
then presented the prizes to the successful candidates. 
. Tiie Secretary read a letter from Mr. Tutton, resigning 
his post as Vice-President, on account of his leaving the 
town, and said that the prize Mr. Tutton had offered 
would be competed for in August. 
Mr. Sandall said Mr. Druce in the report mentioned 
the slight attention indigenous botany received; he should 
be much pleased to assist the Council by offering a prize 
for the best herbarium, leaving the arrangement to the 
Council, but would suggest that rules similar to those 
adopted by the Pharmaceutical Society should be chosen. 
Mr. Armitt said that perhaps an arrangement might be 
made to let the members remain out till a later hour on 
one morning in the week, so that an opportunity might be 
given to revive the botanical rambles under more auspicious 
circumstances. 
The President having thanked the principals for their 
very kind offers of assistance, mentioned the proposed 
route for the following Tuesday’s botanical ramble, and 
niter the votes of thanks to the chairman and donors of 
prizes, the meeting terminated. 
anir f ato f wmirittp. 
HOUSE OF COMMONS. 
Juries Bill. 
On Thursday, June 5, the House went into Committee 
on the Juries Bill. Clause 5, which relates to exemptions 
from the obligation to serve on Juries, was discussed at 
great length, and several additions were made to the list. 
Mr. Gathorne Hardy carried, on a division, by 70 to 55, 
the exemption of Schoolmasters of Public Schools, Pro¬ 
fessors and College Tutors resident in the Universities to 
which they belong ; and Mr. H. Palmer, with the assent 
of the Attorney-General, added to the list Officers of both 
Houses of Parliament during the Session of Parliament. 
At the Instance of Colonel Barttelot, Members of the 
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons actually in practice 
were exempted, as also were the Governor and Deputy- 
Governor of the Bank of England. This last provision 
was carried by Mr. Crawford with the support of the 
Government, against the opposition of Mr. Anderson, by 
88 to 57. On the other hand, Mr. West was beaten by 
126 to 42 in an attempt to free Borough Justices, Coun¬ 
cillors, Town Clerks, and Treasurers from service within 
the Borough and County. Mr. Alderman Lawrence failed 
by 81 to 17 to obtain an exemption for the Aldermen of 
London, and Mr. R. Fowler, who wished to reduce the age 
of exemption from seventy to sixty, was defeated by 54 to 
18. Registrars of Births, etc., Members of the Mersey 
Docks Board, and Commissioners of Income Tax were 
also proposed for exemption by Mr. Monk, Mr. Rathbone, 
and Mr. Alderman Lawrence ; but in each case the 
Committee negatived the suggestion. 
On clause 45 a proposal was made by Mr. Magniac 
which incidentally raised the question of local taxation. 
After a sharp debate, in order to avoid a division, it was 
agreed to report progress. In reply to a question, Mr. 
Gladstone said that he was afraid the measure must now 
stand over until more urgent business had been disposed 
of. 
tote. 
Botanical Companion to the British Pharmacopeia. 
By Hyman Marks, L.R.C.S.I. Dublin : Fannin and 
Co. 1873. 
Of all the branches of medical education, botany is per¬ 
haps considered by students generally to be the most dry 
and uninteresting. The majority of botanical works are 
of necessity so condensed that there is but little room in 
them for those explanatory remarks which, in a botanical 
lecture, render the subject so much more lucid and inte¬ 
resting. This condensation, is nowhere more apparent 
than in the descriptions of the Natural Orders of plants. 
The student may read over many times these scientific 
descriptions, and after poring over them until he is tired, 
frequently fail to grasp the real distinctions between one 
Order and another—distinctions which a botanist who has 
become practically acquainted with them would not fail 
to point out in a very few words. The natural conse¬ 
quence is that the whole of the descriptions given are 
often learnt by rote, and forgotten soon after the necessary 
examination is passed. 
The idea of “ supplying to students of medicine a ready 
means of acquiring the special information which hereto¬ 
fore they had much trouble and attendant loss of time in 
searching for through cumbrous works on the subject ” is 
an excellent one, and we gladly welcome any attempt to 
render botany, more especially systematic botany, less 
irksome ;to students. 
The little work before us has the advantages of being 
in a portable form, and of presenting a large amount of 
information in an easily accessible manner. A. little alter¬ 
ation in the arrangement would, however, render it much 
more easy of reference. Thus the descriptions of the 
Natural Orders are given in paragraphs which require to 
be read through when searching for any particular cha¬ 
racter. If printed in a tabular form, the character sought 
would be seen at a glance. 
# The pamphlet is divided into three sections, the first 
giving short descriptions of the characters of the classes 
and subclasses of the vegetable kingdom, and a tabulated 
list, of those Natural Orders comprised in each subclass 
which contain official plants ; the second section gives 
descriptions of the characters of all the Natural Orders 
which contains official plants ; and the third section gives 
an alphabetical arrangement, in a tabular form, of all the 
official plants, with the Linnean class and order of each, 
the Natural Order to which it belongs, and the part of the 
plant which is official. 
What may be the object in giving full definitions of such 
orders as Menispermacese, Guttiferae, Zygophyllacese, etc., 
is not very evident. Few students have the opportunities 
of studying these orders practically, and indeed a practical 
acquaintance with them is not required from medical 
students at the universities. If the space occupied by the 
descriptions of these exotic orders were used in giving a 
:ew remarks upon the best practical means of distinguish¬ 
ing one order from others to which it is nearly allied, the 
work would be rendered exceedingly useful, and a tabular 
