'Otfober 7, 1871.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
2S9 
because, as Iris colleague (Dr. Redwood) liad said, 
all could not be successful, he would now make a 
few remarks as to the prize examination. He was 
most gratified to say that, so far as his experience 
was concerned, the competition was altogether unpre¬ 
cedented. No less than thirteen candidates pre¬ 
sented themselves to compete for honorary distinc¬ 
tions ; and in order to show the great merit of those 
who competed, no less than nine gentlemen had, 
through Iris recommendation, been selected for 
honours by the Council. To give some idea of what 
those honours were, and to show that these gentle¬ 
men 'well deserved them, he would just state briefly 
what the rules of this Society were in relation to the 
award of these distinctions. No one was entitled to 
the silver medal unless he obtained over four-fifths 
•of the marks,—that was, at least 80 marks out of 
100 ; no one was recommended for the bronze medal 
•or an honorary certificate unless he obtained three- 
fourths of the marks; and the certificate of merit 
was not awarded unless three-fifths of the marks had 
-been gained. Those, therefore, who were not pre¬ 
viously familiar with the examination in this Society 
would be able to form a true estimate of the distinc¬ 
tions which those students had obtained whose 
names he would read to them, and who would come 
forward to receive the prizes from the President. To 
all and every one he could say that they most tho¬ 
roughly deserved the several distinctions to which 
■they had become entitled. The first prize was the 
Silver Council Medal, which had been given to one 
who had already appeared before them to receive 
•file Silver Medal in Chemistry and Pharmacy— 
Henry Churchill. The Bronze Medal was obtained 
by one who had well sustained the credit of that 
school, running very near to the Silver Medal list, 
and who bore a well-known name—Horace Daven¬ 
port. Those who had obtained certificates of honour 
were Alexander Wood and Walter Benjamin Cole; 
-and those who had obtained certificates of merit 
were Charles Arthur Overton, George Bult Francis, 
'Thomas Iredale, Herbert Charles Webb, and Charles 
.Alexander Blake. 
The questions for examination were :— 
Botany and Materia Medica. 
BOTANY. 
Hours : Ten till One. 
1. Describe the general properties and structure of the 
■■cell-wall, and distinguish between parenchymatous and 
prosencliymatous cells. 
2. Describe the structure of aerial leaves, and mention 
in what respect they differ from submersed leaves. Also 
Hate the distinctive characters between the leaves of 
Monocotyledonous and Dicotyledonous leaves. 
3. Define the following :—Rhizome, tuber, parasite, 
•epiphyte, conduplicate, rcclinate, spadix, cyme, follicle, 
legume, pome, siliqua. 
4. What is the seed ? Describe its structure and 
mode of germination, and state the differences between 
"the germination of the seeds of Monocotyledonous and 
Acotyledonous plants. 
o. Give the essential characters of the following 
Natural Orders, and enumerate the officinal plants which 
the}- respectively contain:— Crucifercc , Umbelliferce, Atro- 
jjaarC) Gentianaccce, Iridaccce and Lilia cecs. 
MATERIA MEDICA. 
Horn’s: Two till Five. 
1. Describe the method by which opium is obtained. 
-"State the characters of good opium, and mention the 
preparations in the British Pharmacopoeia into which it 
enters as an ingredient. 
2. How is aloes obtained in the greatest purity ? De¬ 
scribe the distinctive characteristics of socotrine, hepatic 
and Barbadoes aloes. 
3. What are the botanical and geographical sources of 
myrrh ? Describe the physical and chemical character¬ 
istics of good myrrh, and enumerate the preparations in 
the British Pharmacopoeia into -which it enters as an in¬ 
gredient. 
4. What are the characters of the ordinary East Indian, 
Tinnivelly and Alexandrian kinds of senna ? Mention 
their botanical and geographical sources, the substances 
usually employed to adulterate them, and the means of 
detecting such adulterations. 
5. What are the botanical and geographical sources of 
the officinal and Sa vanilla kinds of rhatany ? Show how 
they may be distinguished from each other; and mention 
the active constituents, medicinal properties and officinal 
preparations of rhatany. 
The various prizes and certificates having been 
awarded to these gentlemen by the President, who 
accompanied them in most cases with suitable words 
of congratulation and encouragement, Professor 
Attfield made the following report on the class of 
Practical Chemistry:— 
Professor Attfield said that he had nothing but 
good to report of the class of practical chemistiy. 
To say this much was really to speak in high terms 
of praise of the students. For whereas Iris colleagues 
and teachers of lecture-classes generally could cer¬ 
tify to the bodily presence and the outward behaviour 
of their pupils, and to the amount of knowledge pos¬ 
sessed by a certain proportion at the end of a session, 
he and teachers of laboratory classes generally could 
testify, not only in these respects, but from daily and 
hourly observation, to the degree of ability and zeal 
displayed by every student. During the past year 
they have lived and laboured in the laboratory on 
the most perfect terms of harmony with each other. 
He himself, as well as his assistants, Dr. Tilden and 
Mr. Moss, had at all times found the students most 
ready to receive direct and indirect instruction, and 
willing, nay, anxious, to submit to periodical ex¬ 
amination ; instruction had thus been stimulated by 
examination, and examination by instruction, and 
the product had been, they trusted, a commensurate 
amount of education. And amongst the members of 
the class themselves, that free interchange of thought, 
mutual help, and frequent conversational testing of 
each other’s progress, which is only possible to stu¬ 
dents working together under the same roof for a 
considerable period, had largely contributed to the 
general proficiency of each and all. The result had 
been that of the laboratory-students who during the 
year presented themselves before the Board of Ex¬ 
aminers as candidates for the minor title of Chemist 
and Druf/r/ist, or the major title of Pharmaceutical 
Chemist , fewer than ever were plucked. Indeed, as 
a rule, he did not admit the possibility of a labora¬ 
tory-student being rejected. There were, of course, 
exceptions to this rule. Unavoidable circumstances 
occasionally obliged a man prematurely to go up for 
examination; that man was surprised it he suc¬ 
ceeded. Every year or two a student was met with 
in Vvdiom idleness and vice had drowned every trace 
of self-respect; when such failed to be sent back it 
would be time for the Council to pluck the Examiners. 
'With these exceptions failure in the “ Minor ’ or 
“ Major” was most unusual on the part of a labora¬ 
tory student. During the past session the entries m 
