THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
SECOND SERIES. 
YOL. VI.—No. I.—JULY 1st, 1864. 
THE CONDITIONS OE MEMBERSHIP. 
Since the period at which the Pharmaceutical Society was rising to the posi¬ 
tion of an established institution, there has never, we believe, been a more 
general and anxious desire manifested for admission to membership than exists 
at the present time. The question—“ What are the steps necessary for gaining 
admission to the Society ?”—is so frequently addressed to the Secretary, that it 
has been thought desirable to give in this form the information which is asked 
for by many, and is no doubt wished for by a still greater number. The inquiries 
to which we refer, do not emanate alone from young men who are studying with 
a view to their establishment as Pharmaceutical Chemists, but also and espe¬ 
cially from chemists and druggists already engaged in business on their own ac¬ 
count. This affords satisfactory evidence of the soundness of the principles 
upon which the decisions and established regulations of the Society have been 
founded. The public discussion of questions relating to the constitution, the ob¬ 
jects, and operations of our Institution appears to induce an increased desire to 
become connected with it, and the more firmly the application of a test of qua¬ 
lification is adhered to as a necessary condition to membership, the more is the 
attainment of the object desired, and the more when attained is it appreciated. 
It is a natural tendency of the human mind to try to escape from a pre¬ 
scribed task which interferes with the voluntary excursions of thought, and in¬ 
volves a daily or habitual application of the mental energies in a specified direc¬ 
tion. This prescribed work, although a wholesome discipline, essential to the 
proper training of the mind in youth, is always more or less irksome, and it 
becomes especially so to those who have passed from the age of pupilage and 
entered upon the duties and distracting occupations of manhood. Yet it is quite 
possible to give way to this feeling unduly, and no man will ever regret the re¬ 
sult of efforts made to stimulate the mind to increased activity, especially when 
this is made the means of attaining to a higher social or professional position. 
The more severe may be the mental discipline imposed, the greater will be the 
satisfaction felt when the object sought for has been attained. 
But we do not wish it to be thought that the ordeal imposed upon those who 
are seeking to enter the Pharmaceutical Society, is such as any man with mo¬ 
derate abilities and powers of application need fear to encounter. In an article 
following this the nature of an examination is described, and it will be found to 
be truly practical, and calculated fully and fairly to test the fitness of the candi¬ 
date for the duties he proposes to undertake. No one, of course, would think 
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