180 
TRANSACTIONS OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY. 
AVe are not at this moment advocating those higher and more abstruse walks 
of science which attract the few, for not to every one is it given to scale the 
Alps physical or mental; but we allude to the obvious gain which must inevit¬ 
ably result from the possession of a fair average acquaintance with the things 
which constitute the occupation of the pharmaceutist. 
Granted that in a certain sense there might be no direct, that is commercial, 
utility in recollecting the exact cheniical constituents of Epsom salt; granted that 
the business might still prosper, though the botanical distinctions between Monks¬ 
hood and Horseradish might not be recognized, we draw an argument from 
another source, and point to the known alternative of protracted and scarcely 
intelligent labour as it exists before our eyes. Thus far, at least, will be con¬ 
ceded that any change would be probably fur the better, and that any rational 
mode of effecting it is worthy of serious attention. 
Nevertheless there is a strange objection. No sooner is the subject men¬ 
tioned to those who are most concerned, than they express their disapprobation 
in no measured terms. The whole thing is scouted, and held up to ridicule in 
extremely Saxon English. Philanthropists must not be annoyed if the expected 
gratitude attendant on their laudable exertions is not in every case forthcoming. 
It might excite surprise that men weighed down and hemmed in by circum¬ 
stances apparently so uncongenial, should be passively indifferent to change ; 
but it is only another proof of the tyranny of habit. In like manner, the dog 
sleeps by the anvil while the sparks fly in all directions, and the smith ham¬ 
mering out the red-hot iron makes noise enough to wake the dead. But if 
knowledge, that stock in which there is no bankruptcy, be thus desirable, not 
less do the claims of a Society stand out in bright relief. It is not possible for 
a set of sensible men to meet together without doing each other good. All the 
books yet written cannot equal the electric influence of personal contact. De¬ 
duct the element of mental culture and of experience gained, there yet remains 
this strong inducement, namely, that companionship lifts a man out of bis own 
weak circle of ideas, and saves him from himself. But when the intellectual 
and the social element unite, there can be no question as to the personal claim 
of a Society. 
Such an organization is provided, and at the opening of a new session we 
would urge these brief considerations in the strongest manner. We would implore 
every pharmaceutist, for his own sake, as far as in him lies, to profit by the 
opportunities now offered. We commend the subject respectfully but urgently 
to every master, hoping that to his utmost he will place the advantages of the 
opening session within the reach of his apprentices and assistants; business will 
flourish quite as steadily, and no slight domestic misery will be avoided. 
During the past year new arrangements have been made with regard to labo¬ 
ratory work, to which special attention is invited. 
TRANSACTIONS 
OF 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY. 
AT A MEETING OF THE COUNCIL, 5th September, 1866, 
Present—Messrs. Bird, Deane, Haselden, Hills, Ince, Morson, Orridge, Eandall, 
Savage, Squire, and Waugh, 
Kobert Palmer was unanimously elected a Member of the Council in lieu of John 
Baker Edwards, resigned. 
