S88 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[May 4,18721 
necessity of providing for that want; and the ques¬ 
tion now to be considered is simply what part the 
Pharmaceutical Society should take in that direction. 
Since the time when the Society’s educational action 
assumed its present form, the general conditions to 
which the business of pharmacy is subject have been 
so far legislatively altered that there is, indeed, on 
this account alone, ample reason for reconsidering 
how far that action is sufficient or appropriate under 
existing circumstances ; and it must be remembered 
that since the Society is now acknowledged as the 
governing power for the entire trade, it is not only in 
regard to members that its functions, in this respect 
or otherwise, have to be considered. 
Regarding the subject from this point of view, and 
assuming that the attendance at the lectures and 
laboratory in Bloomsbury Square were very much 
more numerous than it ever has been, it may, never¬ 
theless, be taken for granted that a very large majo¬ 
rity of those who require pharmaceutical education 
could not come up to London for the purpose. To 
meet their case it would be necessary that they 
should have access to lectures during the time of 
their apprenticeship or while acting as assistants. 
But any measures taken to provide such a general 
system of teaching must evidently apply to the 
entire trade; and although it would be eminently in 
accord with the spirit of the Society’s charter to 
promote such an uniform system of education, the 
fact that only about one-fifth of the trade are con¬ 
nected with the Society raises a difficulty as to the 
application of the Society’s funds to the purpose. For 
tliis reason there seems to be some irrelevancy in the 
argument put forward by Mr. Baynes, Mr. Hadley and 
others, that grants should be made to provincial as¬ 
sociations as a return for the support heretofore 
given by country members to the Society. That 
argument might have considerable force as regards 
those connected with the Society, but it could not 
well be urged as a reason for the Society granting 
money to support provincial schools, unless at the 
same time it were seconded by the offer of liberal con¬ 
tributions from those who are not connected with the 
Society. Thus taking, for instance, the towns of 
Leeds, Sheffield and Hull, where the subject of provin¬ 
cial education has been very prominently mooted, it 
regret that so little has been done to carry out the' 
suggestions offered in a previous article* on the' 
subject, that our provincial friends should, by taking 
stock of their local wants and resources, ascertain 
what prospect they have of keeping up schools of' 
pharmacy, as well as the means they can command 
for the establishment of such schools; but we hope- 
the disposition since shown by the Council to deal 
with this subject in a liberal manner will yet be the- 
means of bringing about such a course as we then 
suggested. 
At the same time, we unhesitatingly deprecate- 
the idea of making the provision for pharmaceutical 
instruction in any way partake of an eleemosynary 
character. In starting provincial schools, there 
probably must be, in many cases, some expenditure 
which cannot be at once recouped; but we have no 
faith in the utility of attempting to establish such 
schools, unless there be some decisive evidence that 
they will continue to be self-supporting. It is,, 
moreover, very important to bear in mind that this 
condition has never yet been attained by our exist¬ 
ing school. 
Taking the general result of such attempts as have 
been made, it is too apparent that the aid required 
by “ provincial education ” is not so much mone}^ as 
interest on the part of those requiring to be taught. 
Without dwelling too much on the failure that lias 
characterized most attempts to establish schools 
of pharmacy in the provinces, it would be unwise to 
overlook tliis fact. It would be equally unwise to 
ignore the indifference to the claims for education 
prevailing in many cases among country chemists,. 
or to disregard the disinclination of young men to 
enter upon the serious study of those subjects which, 
should be mastered by every one who hopes to follow 
with credit the career of a pharmacist even in its- 
most humble form. 
How those obstacles are to be removed is a ques¬ 
tion well deserving the earnest consideration of every 
one desirous to raise the general status of the trade, 
and we hope those who have been active in making 
known the need of further educational facilities will, 
at the ensuing meeting, render the still greater 
service of demonstrating that there is also such a 
demand for them as would justify a liberal use of 
the Society’s funds in promoting their establishment 
throughout the country. 
appears that the great majority of pharmacists in those 
towns do not belong to the Society. Even the number 
of registered apprentices and associates is far less than 
might have been expected, as w: 
ill be 
seen from the 
following table :— 
Leeda. 
Sheffield. 
Hull. 
Total number in business 
112 
100 
102 
Connected with Society . . 
27 
27 
19 
Associates not in business and 
Registered Apprentices . . 
11 
9 
4 
It is, therefore, an important point to ascertain 
liow far any effort to establish provincial schools 
would be aided by the whole or even the majority 
of those in the trade. In regard to this point, we 
An address from the students attending the class 
of practical chemistry at the Royal Veterinary Col¬ 
lege, has recently been presented to Professor Richard 
V. Tuson, expressing their appreciation of the ad¬ 
vantages resulting from laboratory instruction, and 
congratulating him upon being the first to establish 
such a course in connection with that college. 
The Annual Oration before the Medical Society 
of London will be delivered on Monday evening next, 
at the Architectural Society’s rooms, Conduit Street, 
by F. J. Gant, Esq., F.R.C.S., upon “Modem 
Surgery as a Science and an Art.” After the address 
a conversazione will be held. 
* Phaem. Joukn. 3rd Ser. Vol. I. p. 388. 
