May 4,1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS 
881 
PHARMACY IN AUSTRIA.* 
BY THOMAS GREENISH, E.C.S. 
Emerging from Saxon Switzerland on tlie borders 
of Bohemia, I recrossed the Elbe, and, after a day 
spent on the banks of this charming river, found 
myself in the fine old city of Prague. Here it was 
that I was first brought into contact with Austrian 
pharmacy, but as the whole of Austria is under one 
set of political laws for regulating the practice of 
pharmacy, as well as under one Arzneitaxe and one 
pharmacopoeia, I shall defer my notice of the subject 
until I get to Vienna. In speaking of North Ger¬ 
many, I remarked that the pharmacies were in ex¬ 
ternal appearance little more than private houses; 
but in the cities of Austria that I visited the case 
was different. 
Most of the pharmacies in Prague had imposing 
plate-glass fronts, but no danger signal hung over 
the door, neither did a coloured carboy throw its glare 
into the street; the windows were kept studiousE 
clear of everything but a few slips of porcelain, on 
which were the names of preparations much in de¬ 
mand, or proprietary articles, among which Liebig’s 
Fleisch Extract occupied a prominent place. There 
is in this city a Pharmaceutical Societ} r for Bohemia, 
which meets once a month; but it is as yet in its 
infancy, and possesses only a very small library. 
Membership is purely voluntary. In Prague there 
are 1G pharmacies to 180,000 inhabitants. 
From Prague I passed on to Vienna. There, the 
pharmaceutical establishments are for the most part 
elegant, having windows of plate-glass scrupulously 
free from all obsolete symbols. One curious feature 
both in Prague and Vienna is the general use of 
signs attached to pharmacies, such as prevailed with 
shops in general in old London; thus—“ Apotheke 
zum Goldenen Hirschen” (Golden Stag). From one 
generation to another the sign remains the same, 
however often the business may have changed its 
proprietor; probably this custom may be advan¬ 
tageous to a business during successive changes. 
In Vienna, and also in each of the chief cities of 
Austria, there exists a pharmacists’ Gremium, a 
legitimate corporation, as old as the pharmacopoeia. 
This is an institution peculiar, as far as my expe¬ 
rience goes, to Austria; and as it occupies a very 
important position with regard to the practice of 
pharmacy, and the education of the pharmacist, it 
is well that the distinction should be correctly under¬ 
stood between the Gremium and the Austrian General 
Pharmaceutical Society. 
The Vienna Gremium dates from 1770, and includes 
all the pharmacists in that city, every pharmacist in 
Vienna being ipso facto a member of it. The same 
remark applies to the pharmacists of Prague and the 
other cities as regards their Gremiums. The Gre- 
miums in the different cities are called chief Gre¬ 
miums; these are independent of each other. There 
are also smaller Gremiums in the provincial towns, 
called Filial Gremiums, which also are independent 
of each other, but in connection with the chief 
Gremium of their district. 
The duties of the Gremium are to receive and 
examine apprentices, discuss trade matters, look after 
the strict observance of Government regulations, 
exercise a certain discipline over its members, make 
* Read at the Evening Meeting of the Pharmaceutical 
Society of Great Britain, May 1 , 1872. 
Third Series, No. 07. 
proposals and offer advice to the Government, besides 
making the latter acquainted with the wishes and 
wants of the body. It never meets for scientific, but 
only for administrative purposes. 
On the books of the Gremium every apprentice is 
entered as well as every assistant, and the name of 
the proprietor of every shop is registered. Before 
the Board of the Gremium the apprentice passes his 
“ Tirocinal” or Minor Examination. This board 
consists of a president, vice-president, a Govern¬ 
ment medical officer, and three members, phar¬ 
macists, chosen from the Gremium. The president 
and vice-president are elected by the members for a 
fixed period, generally three years; they are re¬ 
cognized by the Government as the representatives 
of the Gremium in any matter connected with the 
authorities. It is with the Gremium only that the 
Government confers on matters connected with 
pharmacy, and it generally applies to that of Vienna. 
The Gremium meets four times a year, and all 
pharmacists are of necessity members of it, but they 
are only connected with the Austrian Pharmaceutical 
Society in so far as they have voluntarily joined 
that body. 
In all the chief Gremiums there are benevolent 
funds for distressed members, and also pharmaceu¬ 
tical assistants. In that of Vienna, the fund is about 
<£‘3500 ; the members pay together about £'80 a year 
to it, and <£250 is spent yearly in affording immediate 
relief and permanent aid. 
In the gymnasia, or classical schools, a youth 
passes from one class to another by certificate, the 
result of an examination; the certificate must be 
signed by the director and all the professors. The 
candidate for apprenticeship to an apothecary must 
bring with him his last certificate, showing that he 
lias passed through four classes of the gymnasium 
satisfactorily. This would comprise such an educa¬ 
tion as I mentioned in connection with apprentice¬ 
ship in North Germany. The certificate must be 
presented to the Board of the Gremium to which the 
apothecary to whom the candidate is to be appren¬ 
ticed belongs, and in order to become an apprentice, 
no further examination is required. The term of 
apprenticeship is three years, during which time the 
candidate is engaged in learning practical pharmacy, 
with time for study, and the opportunity of attending 
lectures. At the expiration of his three years he is 
again taken to the Gremium by his principal, and 
has to pass before that Board his Tirocinal, or Minor 
Examination. 
This examination comprises botany, materia 
medica, chemical and pharmaceutical preparations. 
He must also read and translate prescriptions, 
and give proof of practical skill in pharmacy. 
Having passed this examination, he receives a cer¬ 
tificate, signed by all the examiners, with the seal 
of the Gremium attached to it. He now becomes an 
assistant, in which capacity he must serve two years 
in a shop, but he cannot yet become the proprietor 
of one; and for every young man in an establish¬ 
ment with this qualification only, the proprietor is 
responsible. 
At the expiration of two years thus spent, the 
assistant acquires the right of attending lectures at 
the university, where he must remain two years or 
four sessions. In the first year, he takes mine¬ 
ralogy, botany, zoology, and physics. At the. ex¬ 
piration of his first year, he must pass an examina¬ 
tion entitling him to enter the second year s classes 
