May 18, 1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
933 
Our worthy friend, Mr. Hills, who granted us money 
for prizes, did not invest his money in that way. Rus¬ 
sian Five per Cents, during the Crimean War occupied 
a better position than our own Consols; they went 
down less in the Money Market. I should like to see 
the funds of the Society and of the BenevolenPFund dif¬ 
ferently invested. I am a plain Yorkshireman, and I 
have come here to speak my mind ; and if I don’t speak 
it in courteous language, the truth is, I live so far dis¬ 
tant from Court. It is only occasionally we have the 
honour and pleasure of seeing our Sovereign and be¬ 
loved Queen, and when we do there are no people under 
heaven who are more willing to render her the respect 
which is due to so excellent a woman than Yorkshire- 
men. With these remarks I am quite willing to leave 
the subject of Pharmaceutical Education in the hands 
of the incoming Council; and I trust it will receive 
from them such a consideration as will result in some 
permanent system being adopted for the permanent as¬ 
sistance of our provincial schools of pharmacy. We 
do not expect to found anything of a kind equal to the 
Society here in London; but when I tell you that in 
our present botany classes we have twenty-six students, 
the great majority of whom arc members of the trade, I 
think I have given a substantial reason why we are 
entitled. I think it is no very bad beginning 
for a provincial school that twenty-six should be 
found willing to join its botany classses. I trust I 
have said something that will induce the members of 
the Council to give us a grant of money, for it is money 
that we want. 
Mr. Wheeler (London): I should like to ask the 
previous speaker how many provincial schools he wishes 
to establish, and how are the outlying towns to be pro¬ 
vided for ? Are the large towns only, such as Hull, 
Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester and Brighton, to be 
provided with provincial schools, and the small towns 
left unprovided for ? 
Mr. Pickering : I may say that we are anxious in 
Hull to make our school the focus of the neighbourhood; 
to establish lectures at such hours of the day as will en¬ 
able those who reside in the smaller towns around us to 
attend those lectures. I myself saw a member of the so- : 
ciety at Beverley, and endeavoured to induce him to pro¬ 
vide means, so that a number of young men might drive 
over to our lectures in Hull, and avail themselves of 
them. I can only say that we are quite as anxious in 
behalf of the apprentices and assistants of the smaller 1 
towns surrounding us as we are for ourselves. 
Mr. Radley (Sheffield): Sir, I have taken a great in¬ 
terest in the subject of provincial education, and I feel j 
exceedingly obliged to Mr. Pickering for the very lucid 
manner in which he has described the requirements, 
opinions and feelings of the country members of this 
Association. In reference to the outlying small places, 
I have no doubt that some arrangement might be made 
in other places as at Sheffield. The Midland Company 
have offered to charge one fare from various towns in 
connection with our association, and I have no doubt 
that the same thing will take place in other parts of the 
country. With respect to the amount of assistance re- j 
quired, for my own part, I think it will be a difficult 
matter for this Society to undertake to form and, 
sustain completely these country associations. Any as-' 
sistance must be supplementary to a large amount of 
local effort. Already in various centres a large amount 
of money has been expended by members of various asso¬ 
ciations ; and with a little encouragement from the parent 
Society, I am persuaded that they will still continue their 
efforts. It is not, as has been supposed, to give a pre¬ 
mium to idleness on the part of these young men that we 
ask for money, but it is to support and assist those who 
are in earnest in the matter. I feel quite sure that a 
good feeling throughout the country will be promoted. 
There are persons in Sheffield who have held aloof from 
this Society entirely on the groimd of what they 
have supposed to be a want of sympathy with the country 
associations shown by the London Society. In reference 
to the remark respecting the failures in the Preliminary 
examination, I think there is a remedy; for I find that 
the youths who are just coming from school, and are 
about entering the business, for the most part pass the 
examinations readily. It is those persons who have not 
been favoured with a generous education, and who have 
arrived at something like years of maturity, who fail. 
No doubt after a few years the number of failures will 
be comparatively small. Perhaps I may be allowed to 
make one or two remarks in reference to the Report and 
some other matters. I notice the statement in the Re¬ 
port with reference to the Journal, and it appears to cost 
the Society about £1000 a year. I think it is scarcely 
right that such a large sum of money should be disposed 
of in one way. It strikes me it would bo desirable to 
have a more full and particular account. As an old 
member, one of the founders of the Pharmaceutical 
Society, I feel exceedingly gratified to find that, after all 
expenses have been met during the past year, there is a 
balance of nearly £1700 in hand. I notice that during' 
the past two years there has been an expenditure for re¬ 
pairs and alterations to a very large amount. For two 
years the furniture, fixtures, fittings, repairs, etc., are 
£1368. I hope that there will be less outlay under those 
heads, and the funds available for educational purposes 
will be larger than they are. It is a matter of very 
great satisfaction to my own mind to find that upon the 
whole, the affairs of the Society are so prosperous; and I 
feel quite sure that any little movement that has been 
set on foot with reference to country education will re¬ 
ceive a further impetus. 
Mr. Mackay (Edinburgh): Allow me to say with refe¬ 
rence to the Journal account that the balance up to Doc. 
31st is represented by £164. 9 s. 7 cl. I may mention that 
at the time our Journal ceased to be a monthly publica¬ 
tion and became converted into a weekly one, it was a 
matter of considerable anxiety, and various calculations 
were made by the Council and Committee: first of all to 
see whether it would be desirable to change our publica¬ 
tion from a monthly to a weekly form; and very many 
calculations were gone into as to -whether it would 
please those who were interested to get a weekly publi¬ 
cation, and if so resolved, what would be the financial 
position of matters. It was agreed then that very 
probably there might be a balance against the Society 
of £300, £400, or £500 at the end of the year. Not¬ 
withstanding that probable balance, it was felt that it 
would be a desirable thing, at all events, to make the 
experiment. As we all know, the change was made, 
and it has resulted in this, that the balance last year is 
less than we estimated, being only, as I have said, £164. 
I do not wish the gentleman who has just spoken to 
entertain the idea that this is a mere haphazard sum. 
The Secretary has gone into the whole matter, and at our 
Council meetings there is published a regular statement, 
which is headed “ Journal Account,” in which all matters; 
are given, commencing with editor’s salary, sub-editor’s, 
contributors, and so on. I take it this is quite open to 
any member of the Society to look at; and if this meeting 
should so determine, I do not see any reason why the- 
whole statement should not be printed along with next 
year’s expenditure. But, I would press upon the meet¬ 
ing that the Council have not been at all careless in 
carrying out this Journal account. Bearing in mind the- 
enormous weekly gratuitous circulation, equal to about 
4,000 copies, the result is as I have already stated. 
Now, I desire to make one or two remarks upon tha 
very vexed question of provincial education. I am de¬ 
lighted beyond expression that we are at one mind inr 
this respect—that there is no difference of opinion what¬ 
ever in regard to the fact, that money must be given 
from the parent Society to assist some of the provincial 
associations; but, whilst I say that, I call it a vexed 
question, I repeat that the proper manner of bestow- 
