December 23,1871.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
501 
THE EDUCATION OF PHARMACISTS. 
EY ONE OF THE FRATERNITY. 
The Board of Examiners has just presented to the 
Council a report, relating to the Preliminary Exami¬ 
nation, that reveals a very deplorable state of affairs. 
We learn from it that an average exceeding 35 per 
cent, of the youths who presented themselves at four 
examinations held by the Board failed to exhibit 
evidence of having received any education what¬ 
ever. Those who have been curious enough to look 
over the questions which have been published, will 
have seen what a very slender stock of erudition 
will enable a youth to get his certificate. In fact, 
so slight is the acquaintance with each subject 
which is expected, that one might be inclined to fall 
out seriously with the Board upon the matter, were 
it not for the fact that there still remains a residuum 
of that class, for whom there is so much clamour for 
sympathy, on the ground that they had already 
entered upon the business at the time of the pass¬ 
ing of the Pharmacy Act. 
It is inconceivable that there should be any doubt 
about the advisability of a preliminary examination. 
Those who have the best possible opportunity of 
judging, namely teachers and examiners, know full 
well that all the difficulties which arise in subsequent 
examinations spring from imperfect elementary 
school training. More than this, masters also must 
be blind indeed if they do not see every day that 
their best assistants are those who possess, not 
merely a superficial acquaintance with the details of 
their business, but a good general education,—who 
can write a good hand, cast accounts and keep the 
books neatly, dispense smartly and intelligently, and 
show to their customers a ready knowledge of what¬ 
ever questions may be proposed to them. 
Take the subject of Latin, for an instance. A pre¬ 
scription comes in for pills to be taken “ liac et crastina 
nocte.” The assistant is alone, and the result of 
his feeble knowledge of Latin is that the patient is 
told to “ take these to-morrow nightso either 
missing one dose of the two that he ought to have, 
or getting twice as much as he should do to-morrow. 
This is an instance of what has actually occurred, and 
the same kind of thing happens day after day. To 
say no more about the necessity of a little classical 
knowledge to all pharmacists, because it is self- 
evident, it is impossible to refrain from pitying the 
student who begins to work at botany, or any other 
branch of natural history, without some slight ac¬ 
quaintance with both Latin and Greek. 
English grammar and composition are down in 
the synopsis issued by the Examiners. Justly so, 
and, in the opinion of many people, they ought to 
take first rank. But while confessing to a strong 
leaning in the same direction, it must be admitted 
that every candidate ought to be required to show a 
certain familiarity with standard English literature, 
for with all due respect to Messrs. Lindley Murray 
and Co., it is only from that source that a knowledge 
of English grammar and composition can be usefully 
derived. It is not to be expected that boys of 10 to 
20 should be able to handle the pen of Macaulay, 
or display the elegance of Charles Lamb, but they 
ought all to be able to write a -decent letter in a 
decent hand, and describe in an intelligible and 
connected style what they may have seen, or what 
they think about a given subject. It can surely be 
no advantage to a man who wishes to inspire liis 
Third Series, No. 78. 
customers with a respect for wdiat he conceives to 
be Iris superior scientific attainments, if he commu¬ 
nicates with them in vulgar or ungrammatical lan¬ 
guage, with a carelessness of aspirates or neglect of 
common syntax rules. He is more likely to get a 
name the reverse of that to which he aspires. 
Those possessing some considerable experience 
as teachers, would say that for students of chemistry 
there is no more desirable accomplishment than a 
modicum of mathematics, nor one that is more com¬ 
monly wanting. In this respect the writer’s experi¬ 
ence differs from that of the Examiners, whose re¬ 
port asserts that arithmetic is nearly always well 
done at the examinations. It would be a shame 
indeed if it were not. The greater part of the ques¬ 
tions set are so trivial, that a sharp child of ten years 
would do the whole easily. But the complaint to 
be made is that while three-fourths of existing 
students of pharmacy cannot manage simple rule of 
three, about the same proportion have no acquaint¬ 
ance with such things as decimal points. To ex¬ 
pect such pupil to have any idea of the fundamental 
nature of an equation, or ever to have dreamt of the 
first rudiments of algebra, would be indeed an enor¬ 
mity. And yet at the threshold of the study of che¬ 
mistry rises up a big stumbling-block, which nearly 
all beginners blunder and hurt themselves over, 
simply because they never heard of such a thing as 
a symbol before, and have to grapple with an idea 
to them absolutely new. It is really almost too bad 
to put material of this kind into the hands of a 
teacher and say, “ Make a chemist of this boy.” 
The teacher can hardly be expected to get up much 
enthusiasm when he has to halt every now and 
then to give a lesson in arithmetic. 
Then comes the question, what is the cause of all 
this, and how can it be remedied ? 
• The answer is plain. The parents and guardians 
of these unlucky youngsters, being in most cases 
themselves ignorant people, have never seen the use 
of having their boys taught anything. A venerable 
individual who had made a considerable fortune as 
a currier, used to ask what was the good of such 
rubbish as French and drawing, because he had got 
on very well without them? That sort of thing 
was possible; times are changed since, and “ tire 
three Us” must be laid hold of if a man wants to 
live in this world. To have learnt thoroughly the 
“ ingenuas artes” not only “ emollit mores,” but 
it requires time. Those in authority who suggest 
such things as “ polishing up,” and advise a month 
or two of reading Latin grammar, are to a cer¬ 
tain extent responsible for the continuance of 
the wretched state of things to which we have 
drawn attention. If a man’s education has been 
neglected, it is impossible that he can recover the 
lost ground in a few months, it can be done only by 
patient application for a year or two. 
But it may be asked, What is all this about ? It 
is simply this—there is a great question staring the 
pharmacists of this country (and, indeed, others) in 
the face. What kind of position is the pharmaceu¬ 
tical practitioner to take in the up-springing genera¬ 
tion ? Is he to remain on a level socially with his 
next-door neighbour the oilman and the greengrocer; 
or is he to be an educated and intelligent man, not 
merely respectable and respected as a trader, but 
second only to the physician himself in professional 
dignity or social and scientific importance? This 
question remains for solution by the members of the 
