December 23,1871.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS, 
511 
U!)c |1fjmiutceittic;t[ |o«rnaI. 
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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1S71. 
Communications for this Journal, and books for review, etc., 
should be addressed to the Editor, 17, Bloomsbury Square. 
Instructions from Members and Associates respecting the 
transmission of the Journal should be sent to Elias Brem- 
ridge, Secretary, 17, Bloomsbury Square. TV. C . 
Advertisements to Messrs. Churchill, New'Burlington 
Street, London, TV. Envelopes indorsed u Pharm. Journ.’ 
APPRENTICESHIP AND THE PRELIMINARY 
EXAMINATION. 
Few tilings are more difficult than to maintain the 
interest of a discussion in which the arguments all 
proceed from one side. Even that accomplished 
controversialist, Mrs. Caudle, who so well under¬ 
stood the art of relieving her matrimonial opponent 
from the cares of a reply by keeping her own tongue 
continually going in the frequent reiteration of what 
she had to say, was often mortified to find that the 
only result of such one-sided eloquence was, that 
Mr. Caudle —slept! There may be a danger of a 
similar effect upon our readers from a recurrence at 
so short an interval to the subject of Apprenticeship 
and the Preliminary examination. But our apology 
is to be found in the recently published Report of 
the Board of Examiners on the Preliminary exa¬ 
minations conducted by them during the past year, 
together with the additional testimony of an expe¬ 
rienced teacher to the same effect in our columns this 
week, telling of such absolute ignorance in some of 
the candidates, and such lack of sound education 
in others, that one wonders how they came to waste 
their time and money in presenting themselves for 
examination. 
The most serious aspect of the evil is that many 
of these incapables are already connected with the 
business by ties of apprenticeship. That a youth 
should have been bound to a calling, and have 
devoted more or less time to it, before finding him¬ 
self unable to pass the first test of his fitness for 
entering it, is a pitiable occurrence, and one that 
promises ill for his success in satisfying the require¬ 
ments of the law before he can practise it with profit 
or credit to himself. To such youths, however, the 
greatest goodwill has been shown by pharmaceutists 
throughout the country, and if they are as ready to 
help themselves as the different Associations appear 
to be willing to aid them, a few years’ hard work 
will greatly improve their position. 
What shall be done with regard to apprentices in 
the future ? It is on the practical answer given to 
this question that the future status of pharmaceutists 
will depend. And here the interests of the public, the 
employer, and the candidate for apprenticeship are 
at one. That it should be possible for the dispensing 
of prescriptions to be entrusted to persons capable 
of giving such grotesque renderings of the Latin 
directions as those instanced in the Examiners’ Re¬ 
port, is not a very comforting fact for the public, who 
are liable to be poisoned, or the employer who may 
be ruined in payment of damages. It may be sup¬ 
posed that the instances were exceptional; such, how¬ 
ever, is probably not the case. We are ourselves in 
almost daily receipt of communications from this 
class of persons, which, from the evident utter ina¬ 
bility of the writers to comprehend the rudiments of 
Latin, English, chemistry, or anything else, are per¬ 
fectly bewildering and impossible to understand. 
But what should be the answer to the question we. 
have put ? Respecting this, there is in theory per¬ 
fect unanimity, namely, that no apprentice should be 
indentured before he has passed the Preliminary 
examination. This answer has now received the 
official endorsement of the Board of Examiners in 
presenting, and of the Council in receiving, the re¬ 
commendation contained in the Report. Such being 
the case, we hope the practice will be in accord; 
and that, although there will doubtless be exceptions 
through an injudicious inability to say “ No,” or a- 
too eager hankering after a premium, it will hence¬ 
forth be the rule for pharmaceutists to ensure, as- 
far as possible, good and intelligent service from 
their apprentices by requiring them to have passed 
this preliminary test with credit. 
MINERAL SPRINGS IN JAPAN. 
A few interesting particulars relative to some 
mineral springs in Japan are given by Mr. Troup, 
in his account of a short tour made by him in that 
country, which has recently been issued as a Parlia¬ 
mentary paper. He says that the sulphur springs, 
at Numajiri, in the province of Iwaskiro, present 
probably a phenomenon that could not be found in 
any other part of the world. The springs, which 
are approached by a somewhat difficult mountain 
road, are several in number, and combine to form 
what is literally a mountain stream of hot sulphur- 
water. The breadth of the stream may be stated as 
from two to three yards, though in running over a 
stony bed it spreads out in some places over a 
greater space. Immediately below the springs a 
rich deposit of yellow mud is formed; but in the; 
main stream the deposit assumes more of a greenish 
tinge. Several miles below the springs, after the 
stream has mingled with other mountain streams, 
with which it runs into the lake of Inawashiro, the 
water still retains a very perceptible sulphurous 
smell and taste. 
At Oshiwo, in the same province, there are two 
salt springs of tepid water. The manufacture of 
salt is there carried on by simply evaporating the 
spring water in pans placed over wood fires. The 
salt so obtained is much whiter than the ordinary 
Japanese salt, being nearly equal in colour to 
