September 16,1871.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
233 
Conference, that the system which Scotland had adopted 
had not only been longer in existence, hut had worked 
so admirably that he felt sure their friends in the South 
would he going in the right direction if they were to 
take a leaf from their book. Some years ago, before 
the Preliminary Examination was adopted, it was ar¬ 
ranged that no youth should be taken by any chemist 
or druggist—at all events by no Member of the Pharma¬ 
ceutical Society—unless his parents or guardians agreed 
to pay fees for his attendance on certain classes; the 
master, on the other hand, becoming bound to furnish 
him time for attending these classes. The system followed 
and still pursued was this. A fairly educated youth about 
to be apprenticed to a druggist was told, not that the 
period was to be three or four, but five years. The ex¬ 
ceptional cases of three or four years arose generally 
from a lad being pretty far advanced—say seventeen or 
eighteen years old,—in which case it was no uncommon 
thing to shorten the period. Five years might there¬ 
fore be considered the usual term. Now, during these 
five years the lad was not kept by his master, but re¬ 
ceived a salary of £10 per annum. The lad thus appren¬ 
ticed went to the business as a rule at 9 a.m., but if he 
had opened the shop at an earlier hour, he then got per¬ 
mission to go homo to breakfast for a suitable time. 
Those who came with their breakfast got an hour and 
a half for dinner, and if this was early in the forenoon, 
then a few minutes were allowed in the afternoon for 
the apprentice to get refreshments. Such a plan had 
existed and worked in the most satisfactory manner for 
a very lengthened period. He might say, however, in 
regard to the Preliminary Examination, that he thought 
it now well understood by the leading pharmacists 
throughout Scotland that in the case of a young man 
applying to become an apprentice, in addition to the 
master giving time, it had become the rule that that 
young man must pass the Preliminary examination. No¬ 
thing had been so satisfactory as the determination that 
no young man should now be allowed to enter the Phar¬ 
maceutical Society unless he had passed that examination. 
He said this all the more strongly, because he had kept 
a register for situations for young men for many years, 
thus obliging employers who might want assistants. 
The young men were required to write a letter, stating 
their capabilities and the kind of situation sought for; 
and he told them frankly that the letters they wrote 
would be shown to inquirers, they had therefore every 
opportunity to be careful in their style of writing, as 
well as in their grammar and orthography. The Confer¬ 
ence would be astonished if they saw the letters now and 
again put into his hands by men who had served the re¬ 
gular apprenticeship of three, four or five years to drug¬ 
gists. Such a state of things must end. By exacting the 
Society’s examinations, they prevented the possibility of 
young men being allowed to apply for situations for 
which they were incapable. Many of them did not know 
the mere ordinary rudiments of the English language. 
It was a state of things which ought not to exist, con¬ 
sidering the position which pharmacy now occupies. 
He concluded by strongly recommending the Scotch 
system to the consideration of their English brethren. 
Dr. Edwards said he was not ahle to say that Canada 
represented the advanced guard, but it had assumed a 
very similar position to that of Scotland in this matter. 
The term of apprenticeship did not generally exceed 
four years, and the salary ranged from £10 the first 
year, £20 the second, £30 the third, and £40 the fourth. 
Four years, he believed, was the ordinary term, but 
very frequently three years were considered sufficient; 
and, as in Scotland, the apprentices did not reside in the 
house. The principal often resided in the country, or 
in another part of the city from the place where his shop 
or store was situated. He had experienced some of the 
difficulties which Mr. Schacht had suggested with re¬ 
gard to the social relationships of apprentices. The 
yvant would be better met by the apprentices residing in 
such families as were acquainted with their parents, or 
in such circumstances as parents might think proper to 
place them. He thought an agreement was better than 
the old system of indentures, and he was surprised 
when he read over some of the restrictions, such as not 
playing cards, not being allowed to smoke, nor to go out 
of the house without the master's permission. These 
were things which were curious, and belonged to old 
habits and customs. It was important for the Con¬ 
ference to keep in view that they had to provide men 
for the future. They could not over-estimate tho im¬ 
portance of this, looking to the demand there would be 
from foreign countries. One important point they should 
not lose sight of was a thorough knowledge of book¬ 
keeping ; and in the matter of stock-taking, some che¬ 
mists were very much at a loss indeed. These were 
matters to which it was important that attention should 
be directed. 
Mr. Atkins said he remembered reading a paper by 
Mr. Giles in the Pharmaceutical Journal, in which he ■ 
advocated some system of boarding out. He (Mr. 
Atkins) could not say he had brought his mind entirely 
to agree wuth Mr. Giles’s proposal. He could see the 
very great advantage, but also the disadvantage, of the 
proposed system. He feared the difficulty pointed out 
by Mr. Schacht would be enhanced were that plan 
carried out. That was in regard to the moral training. 
As to the provinces, Mr. Mackay’s system would suit 
admirably for Glasgow and Edinburgh, and towns 
where classes could be obtained, but in other places it 
would not do. 
The following papers were taken as read, owing to» 
want of time:— 
The Preparation oe Liouor Bismuthi. 
BY C. H. WOOD, F.C.S. 
For the last two years I have frequently resorted to a 
process for the preparation of a liquor bismuthi, which i 
would, I think, constitute a good process for a future 
Pharmacopoeia, because, while it is very simple and is 
easily performed, it yields a product quite free from 
nitrate of ammonia, and eliminates all the impurities of 
metallic bismuth. 
To proceed by this method, I first obtain pure anhy¬ 
drous oxide of bismuth. A weighed quantity of this 
oxide is then digested with a mixture of citrate of am¬ 
monia and citric acid in strong solution for fifteen or 
twenty minutes at near the boiling temperature, after - 
which a slight excess of ammonia is added, and the solu¬ 
tion diluted to the required volume. The mixture of 
citrate of ammonia and citric acid rapidly and com¬ 
pletely converts the anhydrous oxide into citrate of bis¬ 
muth, which the ammonia afterwards added instantly 
dissolves. 
The oxide of bismuth is best prepared from the sub¬ 
nitrate of commerce. A pound of the subnitrate is 
boiled for a few minutes with four pints of liq. potassae, 
then washed by decantation and dried in a stove or 
water-bath. It forms a dull lemon-yellow powder, which 
is anhydrous and perfectly definite in composition, being 
represented by the formula Bi 2 0 3 . 100 parts of the 
subnitrate yield from 81 to 82 of oxide. 
Instead of boiling the basic nitrate with the potash, 
digestion in an earthenware jar with frequent stirring for 
an hour or two may be resorted to. Care should be taken 
to employ liq. potassae free from carbonate. As the oxide 
subsides with great rapidity, it is perfectly -washed with 
ease and quickness by decantation. I have always found 
commercial subnitrate of bismuth to be quite free from 
copper, and any traces of arsenic or antimony which it 
might contain would be completely removed by the 
potash; consequently the oxide of bismuth must neces-- 
sarily be of great purity. „ 
The following formula is adapted to the preparation oi 
