May 18, 1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
037 
with this small portion of their own money, as it were, 
hack again. That would encourage local effort to a very 
great extent; and, as it seems to me, encourage effort on the 
part of the students, who would desire to bring back to 
the schools some portion of the money expended upon 
them. And those who had the administration of the 
funds of the Society would feel that not one single penny 
given was being misapplied, inasmuch as it would all 
have been fairly earned. Again, it would serve to enlist 
the sympathy of the whole trade in the well-doing of the 
Society. Every one would feel he was repaying a posi¬ 
tive money reward from his association w r ith the institu¬ 
tion. I have just said this in order to elicit the views of 
those now assembled. 
Mit. Vizer (London): I have listened with great 
pleasure to the observations made by our friends this 
morning. They have thoroughly ventilated the subject of 
Provincial Education, and I am sincerely glad to see that 
there seems to be so general a feeling in favour of the 
Society’s extending its efforts in that direction. With re¬ 
gard to the Report, I will ask permission to make a 
remark or two on the second paragraph, which contains 
two very important points. The first is—a fact stated— 
that “ the entrance fees of chemists and druggists who 
’were in business previous to the passing of the Pharmacy 
Act, 1868, will ultimately cease.” The other is,—a 
hope expressed—“ that a large proportion of the rising 
generation will secure for themselves the highest posi¬ 
tion and title, that of Pharmaceutical Chemist, a title 
becoming every day better understood and more highly 
appreciated by the public; and, having achieved that 
object of ambition, will naturally desire to become 
members of the Society.’’ These are two very im¬ 
portant points; and as one who sincerely desires the 
welfare of this Society, I venture to make one or two 
observations upon them. Facts are stubborn things, 
•and we have here the fact plainly stated, that the entrance 
fees of chemists and druggists must ultimately cease. 
Now the question suggests itself, what are we gaining 
by those fees ? During the year we have received £222 
for entrance fees of this kind, representing 106 out¬ 
siders who have sought membership. Now, I must 
confess, and I have said the same before, that I do think it 
would be for the benefit of this Society if we could by 
-any means get rid of that entrance fee. We have got 
•£222 in cash, and with it £106 per annum ; the question 
is, whether, if that two-guinea fee were abolished, many 
persons who now remain outside the Society would not 
come in. I am aware that theory says why should we 
admit these persons who have never done anything for 
the benefit of the Society without making them pay some¬ 
thing for the privilege ? Now theory is very good, but 
it often has to give way to practical experience, and I 
think this is a case in point. If we could only get rid of 
this two-guinea entrance fee, it is my firm opinion, many 
would be inclined to join our Society; and instead of 
having £222 to invest at three per cent., you would get 
some hundreds of pounds per annum in the form of sub¬ 
scriptions, from those who would be willing to join the So¬ 
ciety, if not asked to pay an entrance fee. Therefore, for 
the sake of receiving £222 cash, according to my way of 
thinking, we shut out a considerable annual income. The 
mext point is—the hope expressed—“ that many members 
will join the Society;” this brings us to a most important 
•question. I do not believe there is a more important 
•one in connection with our Society. During the past year 
we have had fifty pharmaceutical chemists who have 
jpassed their examination ; and out of this fifty I under¬ 
stand from Mr. Bremridge that twenty-five have 
joined the Society. Of chemists and druggists there 
have been 234 who have passed the Minor examination, 
and 123 the Modified, making a total of 357, whilst 
•only fifty of these have aspired to the higher title of 
Pharmaceutical Chemists ; and out of those fifty, only ' 
twenty-five have joined the Society. Now we cannot 
forget that our Society to a large extent is governed by 
its members; the Council itself must consist of two- 
thirds of pharmaceutical chemists ; and if, during the 
year, we only increase our number by twenty-five, and 
at the same time a large number, by old age and in other 
ways, is removed from us, it follows that in course of 
time we shall absolutely be in danger of not having 
sufficient men to undertake the responsible duties of the 
Society. The question I should like to lay before you 
is this—In what way can we render the higher character 
of membership of the Society something to be desired 
and aimed at by these men ? We must bear in mind 
that at the present time a man may come up and pass 
the Minor examination, receive a certificate of qualifica¬ 
tion, and then go forth into the world with the stamp of 
competency. Previous to the Act of 1868, the Minor 
examination was but the stepping-stone to the higher 
one, which conferred the degree of pharmaceutical 
chemist; and it was the general expectation of those 
who were officially connected with the Society at that 
time, that those who passed the Minor examina¬ 
tion, would go on to the Major, and thus qualify 
themselves to become members. But now things are 
altered. Those who now join the Society, not 
being in business before 1868, are not called upon 
necessarily to pass the Major examination, but by 
simply passing the Minor, they are registered as 
Chemists and Druggists, and there is not the slightest 
necessity, unless they choose, for them to aim higher and 
take the title of Pharmaceutical Chemists. But unless 
they do so, they cannot become members of the Society, 
pharmaceutical chemists alone being eligible, and that is 
the important point. In what way, then, can we render 
that higher title more valuable and appreciated ? My 
suggestion would be this. The Minor examination is a 
sine qua non , without which no one can go into business ; 
but the Major is an honorary title; and those alone who 
have extra abilities or ambition will push forward to 
it. Still, with the Minor certificate, a man stands in 
the eyes of the Government and the public as pro¬ 
perly qualified to carry on business. 1 do not want 
to cast reflection, but I must say that some of those who 
only pass the Minor examination are not so fully quali¬ 
fied to take the responsible position of managers or 
masters of a business as they should be ; and I think if 
some alteration were made with regard to the fees and to 
the substance of these examinations, a material improve¬ 
ment might be brought about. At the present time, the 
fee for the Preliminary examination is two guineas ; 
for the Minor, three guineas; and five guineas for the 
Major; added to which again, when a man becomes a 
member—for that is what we should aim at—he must 
either pay one guinea per annum or twenty guineas 
commutation fee. Now, might not some alteration be 
made by increasing the fees for the Minor, retaining 
the five guineas for the Major, and abolishing altogether 
the fee on becoming a member. Two ideas suggest them¬ 
selves to my mind; either that the fee for the Minor 
should be eight guineas, making with the two guinea 
fee for the Preliminary, ten guineas; retaining the fee of 
five guineas for the Major, which should then entitle 
the person to be registered as a member of the Society; 
or that there should be a small additional commutation 
fee, say, five guineas. Education has always been 
our bond of membership from the earliest days. We 
have held out that one idea, let a man be qualified, 
and then let him come into the Society; and I say, if a man 
has sufficient nous in him to press forward for the higher 
title, let him have some reward for it, cither in the form 
of the freedom of the Society, or that a small fee only 
should be paid for life membership. I think also that 
the Minor examination, seeing it holds so important a 
position, and infers full qualification for business, should 
include rather more practical chemistry, analysis, toxico¬ 
logy, and so forth, which arc not included at present. 
I will not say any more at present on this point, and 
would only add, with regard to the Benevolent Fund 
