432 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [November 23,1871. 
high, position which several of our students have taken. 
During the present year 1 we are able to supplement the 
two courses of lectures on Organic and Inorganic Che¬ 
mistry by Mr. Coomber, and the course of lectures on 
Botany by Mr. Leipner, by what, I cannot but say, I 
think of equal value and importance. I refer to the 
course of lessons on the Chemistry, Botany, and Materia 
Medica of the Pharmacopoeia, which has so kindly been 
undertaken by your late President, Mr. W. W. Stoddart. 
I should feel that I was utterly failing in my duty if 
I did not express the. deep obligation we are all under to 
one of our best and kindest friends, and I must ask 
those of our students who are availing themselves of 
Mr. Stoddart’s most able and voluntary services, to re¬ 
ward him in the way which I am sure he will deem the 
best and most congenial, namely, by a patient , diligent 
and earnest attention to his valuable instructions. 
We have all felt the interest that has attached to the 
public monthly lectures given during the past session; 
they have been worthy of a scientific society, and in 
every way successful; and I am pleased to tell you that 
several of the gentlemen who assisted us last year (in¬ 
cluding Dr. Tilclen) have again yielded to the winsome 
wiles of our honorary secretary, and we may look for¬ 
ward with pleasure to another opportunity of sitting at 
their feet to learn. 
Now, gentlemen, I must unwillingly turn to the other 
side of the picture and point out what wc feel are some 
of the failings of the past, doing so only that I may 
.stimulate each one of us to help to remove them in the 
future. And the first difficulty which meets us, one 
very serious in its aspect, is the large proportion of 
students who fail to pass the Preliminary examination. 
An immediate remedy for this is out of our power, 
but to those pupils who have suffered from a defective 
early training—possibly and probably from no fault of 
their own—I would say, put your shoulders to the wheel 
nt once, and do not rest contented until you have fairly 
crossed the bridge and acquired that which you can 
readily attain if you are in earnest in seeking it. And 
as to those of us who are employers, it is clearly no part 
of our duty to turn schoolmasters; with the materials 
wo now have we must do the best we can. I cannot but 
think it will be the bounden duty of everj r pharmacist in 
future absolutely to refuse to accept any pupil who is not 
able when he is apprenticed to pass, or who has not 
passed, this examination. 
It must not be supposed that we, as pharmacists, are 
singular in this matter, the same complaint is made by 
the examiners for all the professions and for the Civil 
Service; and it is perfectly astounding to find the num¬ 
ber of candidates presenting themselves whose arithmetic 
is a dreamy chaos, and whose spelling might be either 
AVelsh or Chinese, but is certainly not English. 
It is to be hoped that the golden age is dawning, and 
that the first streaks of day, ushered in by the Educa¬ 
tion Bill, will by-and-by open out into a noon of bright 
and sunny light for all. 
Passing on, I consider we have in the past failed to 
some extent in calling out and sustaining the personal 
interest of the students in our work, and I think this, in 
great part, arises from the want of a museum and 
library. Time and money can alone remedy this, and 
the subject is now occupying the very earnest attention 
•of the Council; and, with the hearty and practical sup¬ 
port of all our brethren, we hope, at no distant day, to 
have a school of pharmacy in Bristol, possessing a mu¬ 
seum and library worthy of the chief city of the west. 
I should like to see attached to it a reading-room of our 
own, open every day, comfortable , cheerful and attractive , 
where all could meet and obtain, by mutual contact and 
pleasant intercourse, that personal interest and acquaint¬ 
ance which is the surest remedy for all jealousies and 
disagreements. 
Another source of regret, which we venture to hope 
may pass away in the future, has been alluded to in the 
admirable report drawn up by Mr. Schacht, and pub¬ 
lished in the Pharmaceutical Journal in July last 
namely, the deficiency of practical papers supplied b> 
members at the evening meetings for discussion. 
I think this may be, and ought to be remedied 
and I would venture to suggest the plan which I ob 
serve has been adopted by the Philadelphia College a 
Pharmacy,—“The appointment of a small committee 
whose duty it shall be to propose subjects for discussioi 
whenever there is a lack of material contributed bf 
members.” There are many of our members who have 
been conspicuous by their silence, and many others wh> 
have been equally conspicuous by their absence , and I 
would urge upon both classes to relieve the cares of the 
Council by their friendly and frequent aid and presence. 
I fear, ladies and gentlemen, you will think I am in i 
grumbling humour, but you know that an Englishman 
is essentially a “ growling animal,” and if you will per¬ 
mit me one more growl, I will have done with this part 
of my subject. This time I complain for others ; for those 
whose interest and training we have at heart, and for 
whose especial benefit we form our various local associa¬ 
tions and schools. 
“ I have no time,” is the not altogether unreasonable 
wail of assistants and apprentices alike; and it must be 
conceded that in many instances, the bane of our busi¬ 
ness, the great hindrance to progress and to study, is 
the long, and, as I believe, the needlessly long hours ot 
labour. 
No rule can possibly be laid down for uniform closing, 
and many difficulties lie in our way; nevertheless, I am 
disposed to think that much remains to be done, and that 
with an earnest and united effort, the hour of closing 
may be fixed at a point at which all the strength and 
energy of the human frame are not absolutely exhausted. 
I venture to suggest that our Hon. Secretary should call 
an early meeting of our members specially to consider 
this subject, and, if possible, to come to some resolution 
which shall relieve our pupils and assistants a little 
earlier than is generally the custom at present. I do 
not consider that in the majority of cases, any of our 
establishments need be kept open after eight o’clock, and 
that in very many the workers may be, and ought to be 
relieved an hour earlier than this. 
I have thus endeavoured to review the past history of 
our Society, and you must all feel with me that the 
balance is largely on the side of progress, and that we 
have cause for congratulation that in so short a time so 
much has been accomplished. Let me say to our stu¬ 
dents : throw your hearts into your work; do not be 
satisfied with the acquirement of just as little knowledge 
as will enable you to scrape through your examinations. 
You have a noble calling, and the widest range of science 
lies before you. In every shady glen and mossy bank 
there are fascinations for your minds; all nature is at 
your feet, every clime contributes something to your 
material for study and research; nothing is hidden from 
the earnest seeker in the mines in which you labour’; 
every leaf and stem has lessons for you; it is yours to 
test every principle at work in the marvellous world of 
chemistry. Day by day opens up some fresh revelations, 
the line between organic and inorganic chemistry grows 
thinner and thinner, and the dreams of alchemy are as 
nothing compared with the possibilities which are yours, 
and it may be safely said that there is no profession 
which tempts to so many “ fair fields and pastures new” 
as that in which you are engaged. 
Of one thing let me warn you—there is danger in the 
very perfection of your training—danger in the know¬ 
ledge you seek to gain, and which I hope you will ra¬ 
pidly acquire. Do not, I pray you, let the extent of 
your acquirements, or the breadth of your education, 
make you afraid of honest and humble toil. 
This is the rock upon which many a fair ship has been 
hopelessly wrecked and gone to pieces. There is a dig¬ 
nity in labour consistent with the very highest acquire- 
