926 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[May 18, 1872. 
tottsatfOTS (if % fjjprarafol Swwtj. 
MEETING OF THE COUNCIL. 
May 15th, 1872. 
Mil. A. F. HASELDEN, F.L.S., PRESIDENT, IN THE CHAIR. 
Present,—Messrs. Atherton, Betty, Bottle, Brown, 
Carr, Frazer, Greenish, Groves, Hills, Mackay, Rey¬ 
nolds, Sandford, Savage, Shaw, Smith, Stoddart, Sutton, 
and Williams. 
The Secretary presented a list of 50 members, etc., 
whose subscriptions had been tendered subsequently 
to the 30th of April. 
Resolved—That they be restored to their original 
status upon payment respectively of a nominal fine 
of one shilling. 
The Council considered notices of motion which had 
been received for the Annual General Meeting. 
The business for the Annual Meeting was arranged. 
The Council adjourned to the Annual Meeting. 
THE THIRTY-FIRST 
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE 
PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY". 
Wednesday , May 1 5th, 1872. 
MR. A. F. HASELDEN, F.L.S., PRESIDENT, IN THE CHAIR. 
The Thirty-first Annual General Meeting of the Phar¬ 
maceutical Society of Great Britain was held at 17, 
Bloomsbury Square, on Wednesday, May, 15, 1872, at 
twelve o’clock. 
The Secretary having read the notice convening the 
Meeting, the President delivered the following ad¬ 
dress :— 
Gentlemen,—Again it is my privilege to address you 
at this our annual gathering, when we meet to express 
our opinions of the past and our wishes respecting the 
future,—a time when we see face to face many whom we 
had known only in imagination, whom we had pictured 
perhaps in the mind’s eye from what we had heard of 
them or from the tenor of their writings. May all that 
has been good and kind in our ideal portraitures be fully 
realized; and if by chance there have been any stray 
marks of a contrary character, may they fade rapidly 
away, 
“ Melt into thin air, 
** And like the baseless fabric of a vision, 
Leave not a rack behind.” 
I purpose limiting my observations to subjects which 
concern this Society, principally those which have been 
brought prominently before us during the past year. 
Education stands out in bold relief. The primary objects 
of the founders of the Pharmaceutical Society were the 
advancement of chemistry and pharmacy and promoting 
a uniform system of education of those who should 
practice the same, viz., the dispensers and vendors of 
medicines to the general public. Some may hold the 
opinion that the Society has not accomplished as much 
in this direction as they had looked for ; but, turning to 
the pages of the ‘ Pharmaceutical Calendar,’ and count¬ 
ing up some scores of names of good men and true who 
have taken our prizes between the years 1842 and 1872 
•—Robert Bentley the first upon the list, followed by 
many others, George F. Schacht prominent amongst them 
—who, some in the metropolis and some throughout the 
country, both by precept and example have promoted 
and are still promoting the cause of education, can I, can 
you, ignore this, and accept the opinion that our Society 
has accomplished so very little ? That it may do more, 
and that the time has arrived when it should do more, is 
an accepted fact. With the view of promoting pharma¬ 
ceutical education, lectures were given in the earliest 
days at the Society’s House; many professors whose 
names are held in honour by us at first gratuitously 
assisted these praiseworthy endeavours. Later on, the 
laboratory was established for practical chemistry, and 
thus, so far, education was promoted; and I shall be 
truly sorry to see the day when the young who come 
from all parts of the country to Bloomsbury Square to 
attend lectures and work in the laboratory (the best, I 
believe, in the United Kingdom) are sent ruthlessly 
away to obtain this particular course of study where 
they can. But this can hardly be called the education of 
a youth; it is simply the polish which should follow 
scholastic studies and ordinary instruction in the shop. 
I do not and cannot look upon the Society as being in 
the anomalous position ascribed to it by some of acting 
at one and the same time as an educating and an exam¬ 
ining body. The professors who deliver the lectures and 
the director of the laboratory are not members of the 
board of examiners, and the examiners are by no means 
bound to shape their questions in accordance with any 
special class-book, but rather upon a general acquaint¬ 
ance with and practical knowledge of the subject, whilst 
dispensing and the reading of prescriptions form no por¬ 
tion of the laboratory course of instruction or of the 
lectures delivered. 
It will naturally be expected that I should not pass 
over the examinations without a word of comment,—sub¬ 
stantially the Report of the Council contains all that is 
necessary. Experience has taught me that no examina¬ 
tion can by any possibility please all parties, especially 
in the transition state through which we are at present 
passing ; although more than three years have elapsed 
since the Pharmacy Act of 1868 came into force, that 
fact is, I think, scarcely realized by all who are interested 
therein. The questions for the Preliminary Examinations 
have been frequently adverted to by writers in the 
Journal, but whether they be based upon the system of 
teaching in use a quarter of a century ago, or upon that 
of the present day, the result has hitherto been the same. 
Although the number of failures is great, other ex¬ 
amining boards experience similar averages. With 
respect to the Minor and Major examinations, I am of 
opinion that by no other system, and no other class of ex¬ 
aminers, could they be more efficiently carried out; it may 
be found desirable after another year to make the Minor 
examination in chemistry a little more practical, and 
of w’hich proper and timely notice w r ould be given. 1 
pass on now to consider briefly education in connection 
with provincial associations. One wish I believe per¬ 
vades the whole pharmaceutic body; viz., that these 
associations should be encouraged, and some portion of 
the funds of the Society should be placed at their dis¬ 
posal,—the question for the future being, how shall it be 
carried out so as to be well done F For myself, without 
approaching details, I would say let it be done in a 
liberal spirit; let it be accomplished in such a way that 
those who are at present not of us, or with us, shall be 
constrained to join us in simple acknowledgment of the 
good things we have desired to do ; and from the seed so 
sown, I shall confidently lookjfor an abundant harvest. 
I remember well the old proverb, “ There is that 
scattereth and yet increaseth, and there is that with- 
holdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty.” 
The consideration of this point leads me on to another 
—early closing—inasmuch as “ time for study ” has been 
so frequently and persistently given as a reason for it. 
The advocates of early closing are in the main right. 
But look at it in its true light. Are two hours a day 
after the shop is closed the only and the proper time for 
study ? I think not; the apprentice should virtually be 
studying during the hours of business, that is, he should 
pay attention to all that occurs in connection with his 
avocations during the day: not a root, bark, seed, gum, 
powder or liquid which comes in, should pass unnoticed 
