398 
LEEDS chemists’ ASSOCIATION. 
Apothecaries' Company y. Croivtlier, 1852; vol. xiv. pp. 24G, 285, The Apothecaries'’ Com¬ 
pany y. Broivnridge, 1854 ; vol. xvi. pp. 105, lOG, The Apothecaries’ Company y. Broad- 
hent, 185G. After reading these cases, and bearing in mind that in the year folloiuing 
the case last cited, the Medical Keform Bill was introduced into Parliament, you will 
he able to contrast the facts disclosed with your President’s statement, that ‘ according 
to his recollection’ of the Apothecaries Act of 1815, ‘it came to pass that long 
before the Act was virtually repealed, it had become a dead letter, practically allowing 
every one to do that which was right in his own eyes ; that is to say, the Act produced 
very little legal effect in the earlier period of its history, and none at all in the 
later ’ (!). As I hope shortly to be at liberty to address you at more length on the 
subject, I have only at this moment to beg you to excuse a hurried communication, and 
have the honour to be, 
“ Gentlemen, your obedient servant, 
“ B. B. Oreidge.” 
It was resolved, “ That this meeting thanks Mr. Orridge for his communication, and 
begs to assure him that it will give the members of the Association much pleasure to 
have his presence at one of their subsequent meetings, if convenient to himself, and to 
hear his opinions more fully.” 
Mr. W. Smeeton then read the paper of the evening, upon “The Importance of Study 
to the Chemist.” 
“ Gentlemen,—Your Secretary has requested me to furnish you with a paper on the 
Importance of Study, especially to those who are to form our future chemists and 
druggists. The main difficulty I find in the subject is, its extent, and to treat it rightly 
would fairly demand the best efforts of an abler pen than my own. However, I do not 
wisn to point oat too glaringly the defects of my paper, feeling sure that they will soon 
be apparent enough to you all. I will only state, as some apology for my temerity in 
undertaking this subject, that there were two reasons which I thought might have some 
weight with you, and justify me for the course I have adopted. 
“ The first is that I am not, in point of age, very far removed from those to whom I 
specially address myself to-night, namely, the apprentices and assistants,—at any rate, I 
am still young enough to know hotv I felt when I occupied the position which they now 
fill, and, therefore, if what I have to say does not come with that grace and dignity 
which the weight of advanced years confers, it may perhaps seem to you more as a 
voice from one of yourselves,—one enough in advance to know the way you have to 
tread, but yet not so far ahead as to be quite out of sight and hearing of those who are 
coming after. My other claim on your attention is, that I have had two businesses in 
my care since I left your ranks ; one I made entirely, the other I bought; but though 
very different in style and character, the conclusion I have come to is, that to a great 
extent, the qualifications required are alike, and the steady prosecution of the same 
principles will produce a similar result in either case. 
“To commence at the beginning, I will suppose for the moment that I am talking to the 
apprentices only. You have then, probably, without any particular reason further than 
this, that you were tired of school, and wanted, as you thought, to be doing something, 
decided on being a chemist and druggist. Your friends have paid so much premium, 
and you have agreed to serve for a certain time, and be in all respects a true and faithful 
apprentice. Probably you have already discovered that all is not gold that glitters, that 
the business of a chemist is something more than glass tubes, retorts, and interesting 
experiments, and reminiscences of the cricket-ground, of holidays every week, do not 
brighten the prospect which every day opens out to you. The trade is not half so clean 
or respectable as you thought it would be ; to say nothing of the cattle-medicines and 
pill-masses, and powdering operations, more or less diabolical, there’s the dusting, the 
scale cleaning, the long hours, and, what to some is almost the greatest evil of all, the 
white apron, and this for the term of an apprenticeship, and perhaps longer. Even the 
clean part of the work has an amount of monotony about it; one day’s work is the same 
as the preceding, nothing new to be learnt in either capping bottles or weighing Seidlitz 
powders, but the same weary round over and over again. Now there is truth in all this, 
and it is best, once and for all, to admit that making horse-balls and dusting bottles are 
not dignified pursuits ; and lately you know that we have been taught in the ‘ Pharma¬ 
ceutical Journal ’ that some of these servile operations are not what apprentices ought 
